The administration of President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) yesterday gave the Philippines 72 hours to arrest those responsible for the death of a Taiwanese fisherman, issue a formal apology and compensate the victim’s family.
If Manila failed to respond to these demands within 72 hours, the government will freeze Philippine worker applications, recall the Republic of China (ROC) representative in Manila and ask the Philippine representative to return to Manila to help in the investigation, Presidential Office spokesperson Lee Chia-fei (李佳霏) told a news conference last night following a national security meeting presided over by Ma.
The 72-hour deadline started from "12am on May 12," Lee said.
Photo: CNA
The meeting, attended by top officials including Minister of Foreign Affairs David Lin (林永樂) and Minister of National Defense Kao Hua-chu (高華柱), lasted about two hours from 7pm to 9pm in the Presidential Office.
The incident took place on Thursday, when a Philippine Coast Guard vessel opened fire on the Pingtung-based fishing boat Kuang Ta Hsing No. 28 in waters 164 nautical miles (304km) southeast of Taiwan’s southernmost tip, killing 65-year-old Taiwanese fisherman Hung Shih-cheng (洪石成).
The boat was fishing in waters in which the exclusive economic zones of Taiwan and the Philippines overlap.
“The Philippine government’s attitude is outrageous and unacceptable,” Ma said earlier yesterday while inspecting a coastguard drill at Taichung Harbor.
He also instructed the Coast Guard Administration to dispatch ships to the exclusive economic zone and increase patrols over territorial waters to protect Taiwanese fishermen.
“The Philippines shot at an unarmed fishing boat. This violates international safety regulations. Firing 40 to 50 shots at the boat is brutal and cold-blooded,” the president said.
The Ma administration has come under pressure from the public and lawmakers across party lines to take a tougher stand on the incident.
Taipei Mayor Hau Lung-bin (郝龍斌) yesterday also urged the Ma administration to initiate action against Manila, such as suspending all exchanges with the Philippines and banning the recruitment of Filipino workers.
He also proposed sending naval ships and extending their patrol scope beyond the exclusive economic zone to better protect Taiwanese fishermen.
“Only by doing this can we better protect our fishermen’s rights and defend our national dignity. We should take a hardline approach in handling this incident,” he said at Taipei City Hall.
Hau added that the Taipei City Government would retract its invitation to the Philippines to attend the Dragon Boat Festival next month.
“The Taipei City Government stands behind Taiwanese fishermen. Unless the Philippine government brings the killers to justice and compensates [the victim’s family], we will stop inviting the [Philippines’] dragon boat team to this year’s festival,” he said.
Taipei will also suspend all exchanges with Manila and Quezon City — both sister cities of Taipei — as well as the city government’s plan to donate two ambulances to the Philippines.
The Philippines has sent dragon boat teams to compete in the city’s annual dragon boat race for the past two years. Taipei City’s Department of Sports said it would cancel this year’s invitation tomorrow.
New Taipei City (新北市) Mayor Eric Chu (朱立倫) also condemned the shooting and said that the city would suspend exchanges with Manila until the Philippine government offers an apology, compensate the victim’s family and apprehends the perpetrators.
A storm of indignation also broke out among Taiwanese netizens, with several calling for a boycott on travel to the Philippines, or action to paralyze Philippine government Web sites that are not related to medicine.
Additional reporting by Ho Yu-hua and staff writer
LONG FLIGHT: The jets would be flown by US pilots, with Taiwanese copilots in the two-seat F-16D variant to help familiarize them with the aircraft, the source said The US is expected to fly 10 Lockheed Martin F-16C/D Block 70/72 jets to Taiwan over the coming months to fulfill a long-awaited order of 66 aircraft, a defense official said yesterday. Word that the first batch of the jets would be delivered soon was welcome news to Taiwan, which has become concerned about delays in the delivery of US arms amid rising military tensions with China. Speaking on condition of anonymity, the official said the initial tranche of the nation’s F-16s are rolling off assembly lines in the US and would be flown under their own power to Taiwan by way
‘OF COURSE A COUNTRY’: The president outlined that Taiwan has all the necessary features of a nation, including citizens, land, government and sovereignty President William Lai (賴清德) discussed the meaning of “nation” during a speech in New Taipei City last night, emphasizing that Taiwan is a country as he condemned China’s misinterpretation of UN Resolution 2758. The speech was the first in a series of 10 that Lai is scheduled to give across Taiwan. It is the responsibility of Taiwanese citizens to stand united to defend their national sovereignty, democracy, liberty, way of life and the future of the next generation, Lai said. This is the most important legacy the people of this era could pass on to future generations, he said. Lai went on to discuss
OBJECTS AT SEA: Satellites with synthetic-aperture radar could aid in the detection of small Chinese boats attempting to illegally enter Taiwan, the space agency head said Taiwan aims to send the nation’s first low Earth orbit (LEO) satellite into space in 2027, while the first Formosat-8 and Formosat-9 spacecraft are to be launched in October and 2028 respectively, the National Science and Technology Council said yesterday. The council laid out its space development plan in a report reviewed by members of the legislature’s Education and Culture Committee. Six LEO satellites would be produced in the initial phase, with the first one, the B5G-1A, scheduled to be launched in 2027, the council said in the report. Regarding the second satellite, the B5G-1B, the government plans to work with private contractors
MISSION: The Indo-Pacific region is ‘the priority theater,’ where the task of deterrence extends across the entire region, including Taiwan, the US Pacific Fleet commander said The US Navy’s “mission of deterrence” in the Indo-Pacific theater applies to Taiwan, Pacific Fleet Commander Admiral Stephen Koehler told the South China Sea Conference on Tuesday. The conference, organized by the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), is an international platform for senior officials and experts from countries with security interests in the region. “The Pacific Fleet’s mission is to deter aggression across the Western Pacific, together with our allies and partners, and to prevail in combat if necessary, Koehler said in the event’s keynote speech. “That mission of deterrence applies regionwide — including the South China Sea and Taiwan,” he