Red Cross to aid in return of Kinmen incident fisherman

The Red Cross authority in Quanzhou, Fujian province, will accompany the families of two surviving fishermen involved in the recent fishing boat incident to Kinmen on Tuesday to bring them back, a Chinese mainland spokeswoman said on Monday.

A fishing boat from the mainland was forcefully driven into the waters near Kinmen by Taiwan authorities on Wednesday, causing all four people on board to fall into the sea and resulting in the two fatalities.

Zhu Fenglian, a spokeswoman for the Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council, said authorities in Fujian have been in continuous communication with the families of the crew members, and they have decided to have representatives from the Red Cross authority in Quanzhou accompany the families to Kinmen to bring back the two surviving crew members and handle related post-incident matters.

Zhu said that Taiwan authorities should facilitate the visit of the crew members' families and other relevant individuals to Kinmen, make appropriate arrangements, take their legitimate concerns seriously, and cooperate in handling post-incident matters to avoid further harming the feelings of compatriots on both sides of the Taiwan Strait.