Qiandao Lake incident
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The Qiandao Lake incident (
Incident
On March 31, 1994, a ferry named Hai Rui (海瑞号) was hijacked by three men in Qiandao Lake, located in
The Hai Rui ferry was supposed to have returned on the night of the 31st. Instead, on the morning of April 1, it was discovered ablaze. The local civilians immediately reported it to the police. The police did not find any passengers or sailors on the ship initially, and the Chun'an County government organized police, on-duty troops and civilians to search in the Qiandao Lake region, but did not discover any of the missing passengers. After the fire was put out, the police discovered 32 bodies in the lower cabin of the ship. However, during the investigation of the case, the local police department did not inform the general public of the progress of the investigation. This led to the public's belief that the local government was blocking information, concealing the events and controlling the media.
Investigation
On April 2, 1994, the
On the same day, the Zhejiang government invited Master Jiyun of the Hangzhou Lingyin Temple to do the ceremony that release souls from purgatory, but denied the families of the victims to visit the remains of the victims and the request to review the autopsy report. Under the protest of the families, the remains were cremated in Tonglu County in Hangzhou. The remains of the victims were given to the families to bury; the ashes of the Taiwanese tourists were given to their family for them to bring back to Taiwan with the assistance of the Taiwanese Changfeng Travel Agency.
The People's Republic of China local government initially reported this as a ship fire, but this statement was strongly opposed by the families of the victims and other Taiwanese people. The foreign media also issued all kinds of reports and speculations. On April 9, the then president of
However, the Taiwanese side strongly disagreed with the statement by Tang. They believed that China local government initially blocked the information, and then refused to change its attitude. The Taiwanese authority responded to this by announcing "all interflows between the two straits to be temporarily stopped", and halted all tour travels to China starting May 1. The Board of Trade of the Taiwan stopped the discussion on the investment case to the China, and the Board of Education stopped the culture interflow between the two straits. The travel agencies were also halted from going on tour to the PRC. All the connections between Taiwan and China were nearly completely cut off.
On April 15 the three suspects were arraigned by the court. On April 17, the PRC Zhejiang provincial police department announced that the case had been solved, and that it was a "major robbery, arson and murder case". Three suspects were arrested. Two of the suspects were military personnel, one being a retired serviceman, another being the brother of an armed police officer. Regardless, the families of the victims questioned the possibility of 32 men subdued by three criminals. On April 18 the PRC Premier Li Peng announced talks to explain the case. On May 8, the Taiwanese SEF organized a group to go to the scene of the incident to comprehend the case. On June 3, PRC authorities in Hangzhou City announced public prosecution. On June 10, the common pleas of the Hangzhou City reached the last instance. During the trial, the ARATS invited the SEF to visit the public prosecution, and contacted the SEF once again before the last instance, but was refused by the SEF. The families of the victims also refused to visit the process of the trial.
On June 12, the verdict was made, and the three suspects Wu Lihong, Hu Zhihan, Yu Aijun were all charged of robbery and murder, and were sentenced to death. On June 19, the three convicted were executed.
Consequences
The Chinese government avoided further clarification of several disputed points that the Taiwanese authorities addressed. The Taiwanese Mainland Affairs Council announced a statement on June 15 that criticized the way the PRC authorities treated the Qiandao Lake Incident, which may lead the case to be unsettled. Because the evidence was unclear, information about the case could not be verified and therefore led to speculations and rumors. Eventually, the Qiandao Lake Incident turned from a regular criminal case into a serious political event.
To a greater extent, the Qiandao Lake Incident jeopardized the reconciliation of the relations between Taiwan and China. It was a crucial event that turned the public opinion of Taiwan around on the matters of
Footnotes
- Taiwan Independencewent up by 42%.
- ^ Total Arrival of Visitors from Taiwan to the Mainland