Taiwan's conclusion on February fishing boat incident unacceptable: mainland

BEIJING, Aug. 16 (Xinhua) -- The mainland will not accept the conclusion Taiwan authorities reached following their investigation into a fatal fishing boat incident that occurred in February this year, a mainland spokesperson said on Friday.

Their conclusion ignores the facts and deflects responsibility, Zhu Fenglian, a spokesperson for the State Council Taiwan Affairs Office, said in response to a media query on the investigation's conclusion, which the Taiwan side released on Friday.

On Feb. 14, a mainland fishing boat was chased and hit by a Taiwan patrol ship, leading to all four fishermen aboard falling into the sea, two of whom died.

Zhu urged the Taiwan side to disclose the truth, hand severe punishments to those responsible for the incident, and ensure no such incident occurs again.

The bodies of the two fishermen killed in the incident were returned to the mainland in July.