President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) yesterday said the government would lift its sanctions on the Philippines if Manila responds positively to Taiwan’s requests with regard to the May 9 shooting death of a Taiwanese fisherman by Philippine Coast Guard personnel.
Ma said the government stands firm on its position that the Philippine government should offer a formal apology, compensate the victim’s family, investigate the case, bring those responsible to justice and open fishery negotiations with Taiwan.
He said these were reasonable requests that are consistent with the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea and the UN Charter.
“We are waiting for a response from the Philippines. If there is a positive response, we definitely will lift the sanctions,” Ma said while addressing a military commissioning and promotion ceremony.
The shooting took place in waters about 70km east of Balintang Island in the northern Philippines.
Manila has contended that the Taiwanese boat was poaching in its waters, while Taipei argues that the boat was operating in Taiwan’s exclusive economic zone.
On May 15, Taiwan imposed a series of retaliatory measures against the Philippines, which include suspending the issuance of visas to Filipino workers, issuing a red travel alert for the Philippines and suspending high-level exchanges between the two countries.
Also halted were bilateral economic exchanges, agricultural and fishery cooperation, technology research exchange and cooperation projects, aviation rights negotiations and visa-free treatment for Filipinos.
The two sides have completed their respective investigations into the case, but have yet to release their reports or bring charges against those responsible for the death of the Taiwanese fisherman, 65-year-old Hung Shih-cheng (洪石成).
They have begun talks on fishing rights in waters where the two nations’ exclusive economic zones overlap, which they hope will lead to a formal fisheries agreement. The first meeting was held on June 14.
Ma said that Taiwan signed a similar fisheries agreement with Japan in April that gave Taiwanese fishermen an additional 4,530km2 near the disputed Diaoyutai Islands (釣魚台) in which they can operate free of harassment by the Japanese authorities.
The agreement provides a tentative resolution to the decades-long fisheries dispute between the two nations without undermining each other’s territorial claims over the Diaoyutais, he said.
He pledged that the government would continue its efforts to protect Taiwanese fishermen who are operating legally in the nation’s exclusive economic zone and on the high seas.
PEACE AND STABILITY: Maintaining the cross-strait ‘status quo’ has long been the government’s position, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said Taiwan is committed to maintaining the cross-strait “status quo” and seeks no escalation of tensions, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) said yesterday, rebutting a Time magazine opinion piece that described President William Lai (賴清德) as a “reckless leader.” The article, titled “The US Must Beware of Taiwan’s Reckless Leader,” was written by Lyle Goldstein, director of the Asia Program at the Washington-based Defense Priorities think tank. Goldstein wrote that Taiwan is “the world’s most dangerous flashpoint” amid ongoing conflicts in the Middle East and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. He said that the situation in the Taiwan Strait has become less stable
Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi yesterday lavished US President Donald Trump with praise and vows of a “golden age” of ties on his visit to Tokyo, before inking a deal with Washington aimed at securing critical minerals. Takaichi — Japan’s first female prime minister — pulled out all the stops for Trump in her opening test on the international stage and even announced that she would nominate him for a Nobel Peace Prize, the White House said. Trump has become increasingly focused on the Nobel since his return to power in January and claims to have ended several conflicts around the world,
REASSURANCE: The US said Taiwan’s interests would not be harmed during the talk and that it remains steadfast in its support for the nation, the foreign minister said US President Donald Trump on Friday said he would bring up Taiwan with Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) during a meeting on the sidelines of the APEC Summit in South Korea this week. “I will be talking about Taiwan [with Xi],” Trump told reporters before he departed for his trip to Asia, adding that he had “a lot of respect for Taiwan.” “We have a lot to talk about with President Xi, and he has a lot to talk about with us. I think we’ll have a good meeting,” Trump said. Taiwan has long been a contentious issue between the US and China.
GLOBAL PROJECT: Underseas cables ‘are the nervous system of democratic connectivity,’ which is under stress, Member of the European Parliament Rihards Kols said The government yesterday launched an initiative to promote global cooperation on improved security of undersea cables, following reported disruptions of such cables near Taiwan and around the world. The Management Initiative on International Undersea Cables aims to “bring together stakeholders, align standards, promote best practices and turn shared concerns into beneficial cooperation,” Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) said at a seminar in Taipei. The project would be known as “RISK,” an acronym for risk mitigation, information sharing, systemic reform and knowledge building, he said at the seminar, titled “Taiwan-Europe Subsea Cable Security Cooperation Forum.” Taiwan sits at a vital junction on
RSS