'Did nothing wrong': Taiwan defends coast guard after 2 Chinese fisherman drown off Kinmen island

After two Chinese fishermen died off Taiwan's Kinmen archipelago as a result of a chase-off by the coast guard, the island nation defended its action by saying that it "did nothing wrong."

On Wednesday, a Chinese vessel with four people on board capsized after it tried to flee from a Taiwanese coast guard vessel, the coast guard said, leading to the death of two people.

China’s Taiwan Affairs Office strongly condemned the deaths and called for an investigation, saying “Such a malicious event during the Spring Festival seriously hurts the feelings of compatriots on both sides of the Taiwan Strait.”

Taiwan's Chinese policy-making Mainland Affairs Council said that a preliminary investigation into the matter proves that the Coast Guard acted in accordance with the law and "did nothing wrong."

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It instead blamed China for not stopping Chinese ships from illegally dredging for sand, using explosives and poison to fish and dumping garbage in Taiwanese waters and complained that the situation has not improved even after strong opposition.

"We deeply regret that the mainland crew members refused to cooperate with our law enforcement work this time and an unfortunate incident occurred," it said in a statement.

"We also hope that the relevant mainland authorities can restrain similar behaviour by people on the other side" of the Taiwan Strait, the council added.

Four fishermen fell into the water and two survived and are in “good shape,” while resuscitation efforts on the other two failed, the vice-captain of the Coast Guard in Kinmen, Chen Jien-wen, told a local TV channel.

Taiwan’s head of the Mainland Affairs Council, Chiu Tai-san, who oversees the island’s relations with China, told reporters Thursday morning that “we keep a certain level of contact with the other side and our Coast Guard, and will promptly let them know of related developments.”

With inputs from agencies