China wants to Taiwan responsible that the missile launch event

BEIJING: China on Saturday asked Taiwan to provide a "responsible explanation" a day after the Taiwanese navy mistakenly fired a missile that hit a fishing boat killing one person coinciding with the ruling Communist Party of China's 95th anniversary celebrations.

A Taiwanese warship had accidentally fired a supersonic anti-ship missile towards mainland China. One fisherman was killed and three others injured after the missile, with a range of 300 kilometres, flew about 75 kilometres before plunging into waters off Penghu, a Taiwanese-administered island in the Taiwan Strait. Taiwan military authorities had apologised for the casualties caused by the "missile blunder", state-run Xinhua news agency reported.

"The incident occurred and caused severe impact at a time when the mainland has repeatedly emphasized safeguarding peaceful development of cross-strait relations based on the political foundation of the 1992 Consensus," Zhang, head of the Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council said. Zhang told media that "the Taiwan side should offer a responsible explanation of the matter".

The missile launch caused ripples as China on Friday observed the 95th anniversary of the CPC with grand celebrations marked by a tough speech by President Xi Jinping during which he firmly ruled out independence for Taiwan.