China asks Taiwan to explain missile blunder

China's top official said Friday that Taiwan should provide a "responsible" explanation for launching a missile accidentally into the Taiwan Strait earlier in the day, calling it a "serious" matter, Focus Taiwan News Channel‎ reported.

Zhang Zhijun, the head of China's Taiwan Affairs Office, said the incident had "a serious impact," coming at a time when Beijing has stressed the importance of maintaining the peaceful development of the cross-strait relations, with the "1992 consensus" as the political foundation.

"This requires Taiwan to provide a responsible explanation on what had happened," Zhang said in response to reporters' questions on the incident on the sidelines of an event promoting cross-strait student exchanges.

The locally developed missile was accidentally launched from one of the Navy's 500-ton Chinchiang-class corvettes from Zuoying Military Harbor in Kaohsiung at 8:15 a.m. and hit the fishing boat "Hsiang Li Sheng" about two minutes later, causing the death of its captain and injuring the other crew members. 

Source: MENA