950819

China accuses Taiwan

of 'inhuman outrages'

in S China Sea

BEIJING: China has accused Taiwan of a range of "inhuman outrages" in the Taiwan Straits, demanding that the island immediately stop killing mainland fishermen, the China Daily said Saturday.

"The Taiwanese side should immediately stop committing inhuman outrages of wilful harassment, injuring or killing mainland fishermen whose boats operate regularly in the sea," the report cited a letter from the Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Strait (ARATS) as saying.

The latter was sent on Friday to the semi-official organisation's Taiwanese counterpart, the Straits Exchange Foundation (SEF), it said.

The accusation came as relations between the long-time rivals are severely strained over a visit by Taiwanese President Lee Teng-hui to the United States in June.

China, which regards Taiwan as a renegade province, is now conducting its second set of military exercises in a month in the sea off the north of the island in a move widely seen as an attempt at intimidation.

ARATS, in a previous letter, accused the Taiwanese navy of killing a Chinese fisherman off southeastern Fujian province in June and demanded action be taken against those responsible.

In its latest letter, the association expressed China's opposition to the designation of "so-called limited and forbidden waters" by Taiwan, demanding compensation for the relatives of all fishermen killed or injured.

China suspended talks between the two groups, set up to skirt a ban on official ties between the two sides of the straits, in retaliation for Lee's visit. Settlement of fishing disputes was one of the issues tackled by the two sides during their talks.

LEE CONFIDENT

TOKYO: Taiwan President Lee Teng-hui has expressed confidence that tension that has arisen between China and Taiwan following his visit to the United States in June would eventually ease, a Japanese newspaper reported Saturday.

A series of Chinese military drills in the Taiwan Straits that followed the visit, had long been planned but were advertised dramatically for "political effects," Lee was quoted as saying in an interview with the Sankei Shimbun.

Lee admitted that the relationship between Taiwan and mainland China was "at its nadir" after the United States granted him a visa for a private visit in June, the daily said.

But he added that Taiwan would keep its door open for "dialogue and cooperation" with China, it said.-AFP