TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Chinese negotiators are reportedly demanding Taiwan Coast Guard Administration (CGA) personnel go to China for questioning, amid negotiations regarding two Chinese fishermen who died after entering Taiwan's territorial waters. 

A Chinese speedboat intruded into the waters around Kinmen on Feb. 14. After the boat's captain refused a request by the CGA to stop for inspection, the vessel was pursued and then capsized, killing two of the four men onboard.

Since then, the CGA and the Chinese have engaged in at least 11 rounds of heated negotiations on resolving disputes over the incident, with Beijing making demands such as a formal apology and compensation for the deceased fishermen.

In a Tweet on Monday (March 4), Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Wang Ting-yu (王定宇) said that one of the demands by the Chinese "includes Taiwanese Coast Guard personnel going to China for questioning." Wang described this demand as "absolutely absurd and unacceptable."

Wang made a Facebook post, asking if Taiwan agreed to this, "Will Taiwan sovereignty still exist?" He wrote that illegal Chinese vessels have "swaggered" Taiwan's waters and questioned whether the CGA can continue to enforce the law in the future.

Wang said that China pressures Taiwan by using illegal gray zone tactics and asked, "If Taiwan complies with the CCP's tactics, can Taiwan feel at ease?"

The lawmaker closed by posing the following question: "Between the Taiwan Coast Guard enforcing the law to protect Taiwan's fishing rights and maritime safety and the illegal "three nos" (vessels with no name, certificate, or registration), do those who choose to side with the lawbreakers know what they are supporting?"

Before the speedboat incident, the coast guards of both China and Taiwan enforced a similar "three nos" policy for vessels that entered their respective territorial waters. Liberty Times on Monday cited the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) as stating that the recent capsizing of the Chinese speedboat near Kinmen occurred because "the Chinese 'three nos' vessel refused to cooperate with Taiwanese law enforcement and took evasive actions."

The MAC stated that the incident's root cause is China's long-term failure to lawfully regulate its numerous "three nos" vessels, leading to these vessels "frequently and arbitrarily illegally intruding into Taiwan's prohibited and restricted waters."