Qiandao Lake incident

Lai Ching-te (DPP) Hsiao Bi-khim (DPP) Cho Jung-tai (DPP) 11th Legislative Yuan Han Kuo-yu (KMT) Shieh Ming-yan acting Vacant Vacant Vacant Control Yuan Chen Chu Lee Hung-chun Local government Central Election Commission Kuomintang Democratic Progressive Party Taiwan People's Party Others New Power Party Taiwan Statebuilding Party People First Party Taiwan Solidarity Union New Party Non-Partisan Solidarity Union Newspapers United Daily News Liberty Times China Times Taipei Times Propaganda Censorship Film censorship Lin Chia-lung Cross-Strait relations Special state-to-state relations One Country on Each Side 1992 Consensus Taiwan consensus Chinese Taipei Australia–Taiwan relations Canada–Taiwan relations France–Taiwan relations Russia–Taiwan relations Taiwan–United Kingdom relations Taiwan–United States relations Republic of China (1912–1949) Chinese Civil War One-China policy China and the United Nations Chinese unification Taiwan independence movement Taiwanese nationalism Tangwai movement The Qiandao Lake incident (simplified Chinese: 千岛湖事件; traditional Chinese: 千島湖事件; pinyin: Qiāndǎo hú shìjiàn) refers to the 1994 kidnap and murder of Taiwanese tourists and local guides and staff in the Qiandao Lake scenic area, in Zhejiang, People's Republic of China.

On March 31, 1994, a ferry named Hai Rui (海瑞号) was hijacked by three men in Qiandao Lake, located in Chun'an County, Hangzhou, in Zhejiang Province.

This led to the public's belief that the local government was blocking information, concealing the events and controlling the media.

On April 2, 1994, the Hangzhou police department arranged medical experts to analyze all the discovered bodies.

China's Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Straits (ARATS) set up receptions in various cities to accommodate the families; at the same time, the Taiwanese Straits Exchange Foundation (SEF) requested assistance in getting the families to the scene of the incident, to deal with related issues, but this was refused by ARATS.

On April 12, the vice president of the ARATS Tang Shubei met the deputy general secretary of the SEF Shi Qiping, and proclaimed that the incident was only a ship fire, and stressed that China authorities would deal with the problems created by the incident to their best ability.

The Taiwanese authority responded to this by announcing "all interflows between the two straits to be temporarily stopped", and halted all tour travels to China starting May 1.

On June 12, the verdict was made, and the three suspects Wu Lihong, Hu Zhihan, Yu Aijun were all charged of robbery and murder, and were sentenced to death.

The Taiwanese Mainland Affairs Council announced a statement on June 15 that criticized the way the PRC authorities treated the Qiandao Lake Incident, which may lead the case to be unsettled.

Eventually, the Qiandao Lake Incident turned from a regular criminal case into a serious political event.

To a greater extent, the Qiandao Lake Incident jeopardized the reconciliation of the relations between Taiwan and China.