China, Taiwan setting aside grudge to search for crash victims
China, Taiwan setting aside grudge to search for crash victims
Taipei/Beijing
Agencies
The crash of a Taiwanese airliner inspired a rare moment of
cooperation on Sunday between Taiwan and China.
The China Airlines flight with 225 people aboard went down on
Saturday in the Taiwan Strait, the 160-kilometer-wide (100-mile-
wide) body of water that separates the island of Taiwan from
mainland China. The two rivals split amid civil war in 1949.
The plane crashed in Taiwan's half of the strait, but strong
currents were carrying bodies into waters controlled by China,
said Taiwanese Premier Yu Shyi-kun.
Taiwanese Defense Minister Tang Yiau-ming said the two sides
have a tacit agreement that Taiwan's military ships would be
allowed to search for crash victims in Chinese waters, Taiwan's
state-run radio station Broadcasting Corp. of China reported.
"There will be no political considerations in our rescue
effort," the premier said. "If the bodies were floating across
the mid-point of the strait, we will search for them there."
Normally, incursions into Chinese waters by Taiwan's ships
would raise tensions with Beijing, which has repeatedly
threatened to attack Taiwan if the self-governing island rejects
eventual unification and seeks formal independence.
Most of the passengers on the Taipei-Hong Kong flight were
Taiwanese, but nine were from China, according to China Airlines.
China sent condolences to Taiwan on Saturday, and the
Taiwanese quickly thanked Beijing for the kind words.
Beijing extended sympathies and offered "any assistance
necessary" to Taiwan to help it deal with the aftermath of the
China Airlines (CAL) plane crash, the official Xinhua news agency
said, adding that China's maritime rescue center has contacted
Taiwan's rescue center to offer help.
Meanwhile, distraught relatives of the 225 people feared dead
in the plane crash gathered at the island of Penghu on Sunday as
the frantic search was underway for survivors.
The relatives, many of them weeping, were whisked away by
officials to submit DNA samples to help identify the bodies of
victims.
Three dentists also flew into Penghu to help identify the
remains of victims of the crash using dental records.
Officials fear there will be no survivors from the crash of
the China Airlines (CAL) flight CI 611, which disappeared from
radar screens about 10 nautical miles (18.5 kilometers) northwest
of Makung some 20 minutes after it took off at 3:08 p.m. (2:08
p.m. Jakarta time) on Saturday.
Taiwan on Sunday grounded China Airlines' four remaining
Boeing 747-200 aircraft, used for cargo delivery, following the
crash of a passenger jet of the same model the day before, an
official said.
"Upon request of Civil Aeronautics Administration, we
immediately grounded the four Boeing 747-200 cargo aircraft of
the China Airlines for safety checks," Transport Minister Lin
Ling-san said.
U.S. aerospace giant Boeing offered condolences to the family
members of passengers and crew who perished on Saturday in the
crash of a Boeing 747 operated by Taiwan's China Airlines.
"All of us at Boeing offer our heartfelt sympathy to the
families, friends and co-workers of those on board the May 25
China Airlines flight lost off the coast of Taiwan," the company
said in a statement issued on Saturday.
"Boeing is providing immediate technical assistance to the
investigating authorities," the statement continued.