Illustration: Xia Qing/GT

October 1 marked the 77th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China. On this solemn day, Taiwan region's "Coast Guard Administration (CGA)" used high-pressure water cannons against a fishing boat from the Chinese mainland in waters near the Dongsha Islands, disabling the vessel's power system and leaving its crew stranded at sea for a time.

No rhetorical whitewashing can hide this reckless disregard for human life

Though the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) has framed the operation as a so-called "lawful expulsion", facts can never be altered by rhetorical embellishment. 

Cross-Straits fishermen have long operated in relevant waters, forming established traditional fishing grounds. Against the normal temporary fishing activities of civilian vessels, the DPP dispatched large official patrol ships and continuously fired high-pressure water cannons at close range toward the vessel's wheelhouse. The reckless operations caused the boat to lose power and left crew members stranded at sea. Such excessive handling goes far beyond reasonable law-enforcement limits, and carries clear elements of danger, coercion and provocation.

Maritime conditions are complex and volatile, and vessel equipment can malfunction at any time. Continuous use of high-pressure water cannons from a large patrol ship at close range against a civilian fishing vessel poses substantial risks to the hull, power systems and crew safety. Should a serious accident occur, no explanations after the fact can reverse the outcome or remedy the harm suffered by the families of those involved.

Taiwan's CGA claimed it deliberately avoided crew members on the deck while spraying water, yet such arguments in no way justify its dangerous conduct. If the Taiwan side was fully aware that high-pressure water cannons carry injury risks, why did it keep firing toward the vessel's wheelhouse? Proceeding with the operation despite knowing the risks reveals cold disregard for the life and safety of fishermen from the mainland.

Ordinary residents from the mainland head out to sea for fishing or recreational activities, yet the DPP treats them as targets to project a tough stance. Using civilian vessels from the mainland as props for political posturing and wagering the safety of ordinary people as bargaining chips in confrontation is outrageous.

Post-rescue actions cannot offset responsibility for risks created beforehand

The DPP has deliberately highlighted the so-called "humanitarian rescue" carried out by the Yunlin after the fishing boat lost power, including boarding operations and supply provision. However, this does not exempt them from liabilities over their earlier handling. 

It was the impact of high-pressure water cannons that disabled the vessel's power system and left mainland crew members stranded at sea in peril. Post-incident remedies cannot alter the objective fact that the danger had already materialized, nor erase the fright and hardship endured by the mainland fishermen on the water.

At its core, this incident is a tangible manifestation of the DPP's long-standing confrontational agenda. In recent years, ignoring the history and reality of cross-Straits fishermen operating in these waters for generations, the DPP has repeatedly framed normal maritime activities from the mainland as alleged security threats, wrapping ordinary fishery issues in political and security narratives. As a result, the atmosphere of maritime standoffs across the Taiwan Straits keeps escalating, and the rights and interests of fishermen on both sides of the Straits have suffered severe damage.

Anger must translate into well-calibrated countermeasures.

It is fully understandable that netizens from the mainland are outraged by this provocative incident perpetrated by the DPP.

The mainland's capacity to safeguard national sovereignty and people's rights and interests is vastly stronger than before. Faced with maritime provocations, the mainland has ample capabilities and a range of tools to defend its legitimate rights and interests, enabling reciprocal, targeted, steady and effective countermeasures. On the basis of preserving evidence, verifying facts and clarifying accountability, China will pursue legal accountability where warranted, and keep up efforts to uphold rights as appropriate.

Countermeasures target the dangerous provocative acts and the responsible parties behind them, and are meant to protect the personal safety and legitimate rights and interests of people on both sides of the Taiwan Straits. The mainland does not equate the DPP's confrontational agenda with the will of Taiwan compatriots. Still less will we force ordinary people in Taiwan to bear the costs of political confrontation.

Warnings must be heard, countermeasures must be forceful, and accountability must be imposed on specific responsible parties. The Chinese mainland's resolve to protect people's legitimate rights and interests, oppose dangerous provocations and crack down on "Taiwan independence" separatist acts remains unshakable. Anyone who recklessly endangers the lives and property of ordinary people must face serious consequences. Anyone bent on undermining peace and stability across the Taiwan Straits must bear full consequences for their actions.

The momentum toward reunification is irresistible. Every provocation by "Taiwan independence" separatist forces will bring our countermeasures one step forward, steadily advancing the process of national reunification.