5 months after the death of fishermen off Quemoy, can Beijing and Taiwan put an end to the tragedy?

While talks scheduled for Wednesday on Quemoy were postponed due to Typhoon Gaemi, Taiwanese media reports and Beijing’s latest tone on the tragedy signaled signs of progress.

Taiwan’s Mainland Affairs Office said the deceased’s family members and the mainland delegation were unable to arrive as planned because all shipping was halted as the deadly typhoon headed toward the Taiwan Strait.

The two sides will decide on a new date for the talks, he said in a statement.

According to the Taipei-based United Daily News, Taiwanese authorities plan to return the bodies of the deceased and their boat, and pay compensation to their families.

Beijing’s comments also indicated a constructive tone toward resolving the incident, in contrast to earlier strong accusations that Taiwanese authorities were covering up the truth.

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Zhu Fenglian, a spokesperson for Beijing’s Taiwan Affairs Office (TAO), said the two sides were in contact on the issue and it was “hoped that relevant issues can be properly resolved through negotiation.”

Her tone was markedly different from that in June, when she accused Taiwan’s ruling Democratic Progressive Party of “continuously throwing obstacles” to negotiations.

Taiwan’s coast guard earlier said the mainland boat had entered restricted waters near Quemoy, also known as Kinmen, which lies just a few nautical miles off the southeastern mainland province of Fujian.

By early March, the two sides had held 15 rounds of negotiations, but each time the talks had broken down in an intense exchange of accusations.

Taiwan said the boat was unlicensed and entered restricted waters, while Beijing said the Taiwanese coast guard treated mainland fishermen in a brutal and dangerous manner.

Beijing also disputes the existence of “forbidden waters,” saying they are a traditional fishing zone used by both sides of the Taiwan Strait.

She called on Taiwan to reveal the truth behind what she described as a “malicious event” and hold those responsible to account.

Taiwan, for its part, has urged mainland China to respect its judicial system and allow prosecutors to complete their investigation.

Cai Zhansheng, the mayor of Quanzhou, the Fujian city where the doomed speedboat was registered, told the National Assembly in March that he was “extremely angry” with Taiwanese authorities for using violence against mainland fishing boats.

The tragedy occurred at a time when cross-Strait relations were already strained after William Lai Ching-te Taiwanese President Lai Lai of the pro-independence DPP party has been elected the island’s new leader. Beijing had repeatedly warned against a Lai victory.

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Beijing considers Taiwan to be a part of China that should be reunified by force if necessary. Most countries, including the United States, do not recognize Taiwan as an independent state. However, Washington opposes any attempt to take the self-ruled island by force and has pledged to supply it with weapons.

Days after the fishing tragedy, Beijing launched what it called “due process enforcement.” patrols“in the waters around Quemoy, activities which were rare in the past.

Patrols intensified in the months that followed, including the seizure of a Taiwanese boat and five crew members off the coast of mainland China earlier this month. The last time such an incident occurred was 17 years ago.

Zhu Songling, a professor at the Institute of Taiwan Studies at Peking University, welcomed the potential breakthrough.

The latest comments from both sides are “certainly a positive development in the context of tensions in cross-strait relations,” he said. “It’s been a long time, and it’s time to resolve the issue.”

Taiwan’s Mainland Affairs Office could not be reached for comment on the case. The Taiwan Affairs Office in Quanzhou also declined to comment “due to the confidentiality” of the case.

Chen Yu-jen, a lawmaker from Taiwan’s pro-Beijing opposition Kuomintang party, also said she hoped ending the tragedy would help bring positive momentum to other pending cross-Strait issues.

In a Facebook post, Chen cited the example of a veteran Taiwanese soldier who was arrested by mainland authorities while on a fishing trip off Quemoy in March.

Mainland authorities accuse the man, surnamed Hu, of “intentionally concealing information” about his military service.

Hu’s family then helped him fill out the paperwork necessary for “voluntary demobilization” from the Taiwanese military.