(CNN) A Taiwan warship mistakenly launched a supersonic "aircraft carrier killer" missile toward China Friday, hitting a fishing boat and killing the boat's captain in an incident China called "a serious matter."

A spokesman for Taiwan's Ministry of National Defense apologized on behalf of the military.

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"The Ministry of National Defense sincerely apologizes for the incident that caused the death of the captain (of the boat) and injured other crew members," Maj. Gen. Chen Chung-Chi said in a news conference. The ministry has also asked the Navy to provide assistance and compensation to the family of the victims.

The deceased captain has been identified as Huang Wen-Chung, the defense ministry confirmed, according to Taiwan Focus, the English-language service of state-run Central News Agency.

Chung-Chi said the missile, the "Hsiung Feng III," ripped through the fishing boat but did not explode.

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