China Holds Taiwan Boat After Collision; 1 Dead, 8 Missing

China said Saturday that “serious problems” must be resolved before it will release a Taiwanese freighter involved in a collision with a Chinese fishing boat that killed one and left eight others missing.

In Taipei, Taiwanese officials ruled out direct negotiations with Peking for the return of the 498-ton Ching Hung No. 941, being held in the southern Chinese port of Xiamen. The rival governments in Peking and Taipei do not recognize each other.

Tang Maoxiang, deputy director of the Xiamen Municipal Foreign Affairs Office, confirmed that the Taiwan vessel was taken to Xiamen, which lies across a 2-mile-wide channel from the heavily fortified Nationalist island of Quemoy, after it collided with a fishing boat Thursday evening.

“These are serious problems because one person was killed and eight people were lost,” Tang said. “After we resolve these serious problems, it can leave. Until then, it cannot be released.”