Philippine President Benigno Aquino III has received a copy of a report by the Philippine National Bureau of Investigation on the fatal shooting of Taiwanese fisherman Hung Shih-cheng (洪石成) by Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) personnel, Philippine Department of Justice Secretary Leila de Lima reportedly said yesterday.
Philippine newspaper the Sun Star yesterday quoted De Lima as saying that the report would not be released until Aquino gave his approval.
De Lima declined to disclose the contents of the report, which, according to Philippine media reports, recommends charging the coast guard personnel involved in the incident.
Photo: CNA
Taiwanese and Philippine investigators last week compared notes in their separate, but cooperative investigations into the incident that occurred on May 9 about 164 nautical miles (304km) off Taiwan’s southernmost tip.
Their reports have not yet been released.
The Philippine Daily Inquirer reported yesterday that it had learned from a source that the bureau has recommended filing criminal charges against the coast guard personnel.
However, there was a debate within the bureau over whether to bring murder charges against the personnel because although “superior strength” was used “against an unarmed civilian,” the death of Hung was not premeditated, the source was quoted as saying by the Philippine Daily Inquirer.
The report includes the identities of the PCG personnel who fired at the Kuang Ta Hsing No. 28 and the identity of the officer who fired the bullet that killed Hung, the daily reported.
The daily said that the bureau’s report disproved an earlier claim by the PCG that the Taiwanese fishing boat tried to ram the Philippine patrol vessel, but the bureau insisted that the shooting happened in Philippine waters.
The PCG has said its personnel fired on the fishing boat because it was moving toward them aggressively and that they had aimed for the engine to incapacitate the boat. However, the bureau’s report said that the results of ballistic tests and trajectory examination of the fishing boat showed that the shooters did not know where the engine was, the source said.
In response to the disclosure of the report, Philippine Senator Gringo Honasan reportedly said yesterday that Aquino should be very careful in dealing with the alleged recommendations.
According to an ABS-CBN news report, Honasan told reporters that filing charges against the personnel who killed Hung could demoralize the PCG.
Honasan reportedly urged the Aquino administration to clarify its policy toward China and Taiwan, particularly on the issue of territorial rights, as he said that the Taiwanese fishing boat was poaching in Philippine territory.
Taiwan’s Fisheries Agency has flatly rejected Manila’s claim that the Kuang Ta Hsing No. 28 was intruding into the territorial waters of the Philippines.
The agency says information recorded by the fishing boat’s voyage data recorder system proves that it was operating within Taiwan’s exclusive economic zone, which overlaps that of the Philippines.
The CIA has a message for Chinese government officials worried about their place in Chinese President Xi Jinping’s (習近平) government: Come work with us. The agency released two Mandarin-language videos on social media on Thursday inviting disgruntled officials to contact the CIA. The recruitment videos posted on YouTube and X racked up more than 5 million views combined in their first day. The outreach comes as CIA Director John Ratcliffe has vowed to boost the agency’s use of intelligence from human sources and its focus on China, which has recently targeted US officials with its own espionage operations. The videos are “aimed at
STEADFAST FRIEND: The bills encourage increased Taiwan-US engagement and address China’s distortion of UN Resolution 2758 to isolate Taiwan internationally The Presidential Office yesterday thanked the US House of Representatives for unanimously passing two Taiwan-related bills highlighting its solid support for Taiwan’s democracy and global participation, and for deepening bilateral relations. One of the bills, the Taiwan Assurance Implementation Act, requires the US Department of State to periodically review its guidelines for engagement with Taiwan, and report to the US Congress on the guidelines and plans to lift self-imposed limitations on US-Taiwan engagement. The other bill is the Taiwan International Solidarity Act, which clarifies that UN Resolution 2758 does not address the issue of the representation of Taiwan or its people in
US Indo-Pacific Commander Admiral Samuel Paparo on Friday expressed concern over the rate at which China is diversifying its military exercises, the Financial Times (FT) reported on Saturday. “The rates of change on the depth and breadth of their exercises is the one non-linear effect that I’ve seen in the last year that wakes me up at night or keeps me up at night,” Paparo was quoted by FT as saying while attending the annual Sedona Forum at the McCain Institute in Arizona. Paparo also expressed concern over the speed with which China was expanding its military. While the US
SHIFT: Taiwan’s better-than-expected first-quarter GDP and signs of weakness in the US have driven global capital back to emerging markets, the central bank head said The central bank yesterday blamed market speculation for the steep rise in the local currency, and urged exporters and financial institutions to stay calm and stop panic sell-offs to avoid hurting their own profitability. The nation’s top monetary policymaker said that it would step in, if necessary, to maintain order and stability in the foreign exchange market. The remarks came as the NT dollar yesterday closed up NT$0.919 to NT$30.145 against the US dollar in Taipei trading, after rising as high as NT$29.59 in intraday trading. The local currency has surged 5.85 percent against the greenback over the past two sessions, central
RSS