TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Kinmen prosecutors will not lay charges against members of the Taiwan Coast Guard after a pursuit in February that ended in the deaths of two Chinese fishers, the Ocean Affairs Council (OAC) said on Friday (Aug. 16).

“Prosecutors carried out an objective investigation of the relevant evidence and confirmed that the Coast Guard did not act illegally,” the OAC said in a press release provided by the Coast Guard Administration (CGA). The CGA repeated that it regrets the deaths occurred while carrying out enforcement action against vessels operating illegally.

The fishers died after their boat capsized in waters near the outlying Kinmen Islands on Feb. 14. They were being pursued by the Taiwan Coast Guard when their boat capsized, and the incident caused an increase in cross-strait tensions felt internationally. 

OAC Minister Kuan Bi-ling (管碧玲) also posted a message on Facebook Friday, and said similar incidents must never be repeated. “Even though it has been proven that the Coast Guard patrol did not break the law, people died, and we are deeply saddened,” Kuan wrote.

The OAC said that after the deaths of the fishers, it immediately instructed the Coast Guard to organize ceremonial rites in accordance with local customs.

Kuan said members of the Coast Guard lit incense for the deceased each morning and night. She said this began on the day of the incident until negotiations were concluded between the fishers’ families and the Taiwan side on July 30.

Few details of the agreement between both sides were provided after it was reached. The Coast Guard has always maintained the deaths were an accident, but apologized for not recording the incident when negotiations concluded.

Kuan said “mini cameras” were distributed to every member of the Coast Guard this week, and will be in service by Aug. 22. She also said that all of the Coast Guard’s CP class patrol boats are expected to be equipped with surveillance equipment by the end of this year.

Kuan also called on the Chinese side to "effectively manage the problem of illegal ships and restore the calm in the waters on both sides of the Taiwan Strait that existed before the incident.”