Argentines Attack 2 Taiwan Boats; Crewman Killed
An Argentine naval ship fired on two Taiwanese trawlers Wednesday, setting one ablaze, killing one crewman and injuring three, a Taiwanese official said.
An Argentine coast guard source in the port of Rio Gallegos, requesting anonymity, confirmed the death and injuries and said another Taiwanese fisherman was missing after a coast guard ship attacked a Taiwanese fishing vessel poaching in Argentine waters.
In Buenos Aires, the news agency DYN said the warship reported sinking the Taiwanese vessel.
The Argentine vessel said the 22-man Taiwanese crew of the blazing squid trawler Chain Der 3 took to lifeboats. In a radio message, the vessel said it picked up 22 fishermen, one of them dead and three injured.
Tsu-Kang Lei, who represents Taiwanese squid fishermen in these disputed British-owned islands in the frigid South Atlantic, monitored radio messages between the vessels and said the Chain Der 3 was hit by cannon fire after it refused to accompany the warship to an Argentine port for allegedly fishing inside Argentina’s declared 200-mile fishing limit.
The Argentine ship earlier fired on another Taiwanese vessel, the Chii-Fu 6.
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