Family members of the Taiwanese fisherman who was shot dead during a confrontation with a Philippine government vessel lambasted the Philippine Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) for what they said was its attempt to avoid taking responsibility for the incident.
Hung Shih-cheng (洪石成), 65, was on the Kuang Ta Hsing No. 28 — which was operating about 164 nautical miles (304km) off the southern coast of Taiwan — when he was killed by Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) personnel on the vessel on Thursday morning.
On Friday, Phillippine Presidential Office deputy spokesperson Abigail Valte was quoted by media as saying in response to the incident that “it was an aggressive act. The [Taiwanese fishing boat] rammed into our vessel, which was certainly an aggressive act, so the PCG responded accordingly.”
Photo: CNA
Hung’s daughter Hung Tzu-chien (洪慈綪) accused the Philippine government of lying.
“No fishermen in their right mind would intentionally crash into an armed Philippine ship because they are afraid of having their ship impounded,” Hung Tzu-chien said.
“Anyone with an ounce of common sense would know that the Philippine government is making excuses to try to get them off the hook,” she added.
Photo: Lee Lee-fa, Taipei Times
Hung Yu-chih (洪育智), captain of the ship and Hung shih-cheng’s son, denied the incident was triggered by an attempt to ram the Philippine vessel.
Hung Yu-chih said it was not possible for his boat to ram the much bigger Philippine ship and that the crew had not taken any aggressive action, contrary to what the Phillippine Presidential Office official claimed.
After the shooting began, the unarmed fishing boat attempted to flee as fast as possible, he said, stressing that it was the other vessel that opened fire.
According to Hung Yu-chih, the Philippine vessel simply showed up to board the fishing boat for inspection, adding that the Philippine vessel had started shooting from less than 30m away.
“My father told everyone to go below deck and we were all scared when we heard the sound of continuous gunfire,” Hung Yu-chih said.
“We thought they were just shooting as a warning and immediately turned northeast,” Hung Yu-chih said, adding that he did not expect the Philippine ship to give chase for an hour, ultimately causing his father’s death.
“The bullets rained down on us,” he said, adding that “during the entire hour that we were trying to escape, they just kept shooting at us.”
According to Pingtung County’s Haili Borough (海里) Warden Hsu Wen-piao (許文標), who is an experienced ocean fisherman, armed Philippine ships have long menaced Taiwanese fishermen.
“They have never apologized nor offered compensation,” Hsu said, adding that the Philippine government has crossed a line.
Hsu added that armed ships from Vietnam frequently harassed fishing boats from Pingtung’s Donggang Township (東港) and often took their catch at gunpoint, adding that the fishermen could do nothing about it.
“Like this current incident with Philippine armed ships, fishermen have always hoped to see ships from Taiwan’s navy sail to the rescue, but they have always been disappointed,” Hsu said.
“If the government does not toughen up and crack down on the Philippines, Taiwanese fishermen will surely turn their backs on such a government,” Hsu said, adding that authorities must set an example.
Liouciou Fishermen’s Association chief executive Tsai Pao-hsing (蔡寶興) said the explanation given by the Philippine government was flimsy at best.
The Kuang Ta Hsing No. 28 displaces only 15 tonnes, much too small to threaten an armed Philippine coast guard ship, Tsai said.
The Fisheries Agency said it has looked at data on the Kuang Ta Hsing No. 28’s movements and said it potentially shows that the Philippine government may be lying.
The Coast Guard Administration said Manila should provide video footage to back up claims that the Kuang Ta Hsing No. 28 initiated the conflict.
The Coast Guard Administration added it originally intended to use data from Kuang Ta Hsing No. 28’s voyage data recorder (VDR) — the equivalent of an aircraft’s black box — for investigation, but said that because the ship did not have a VDR system or a vessel monitoring system (VMS), the situation may deteriorate into a “he said, she said” scenario.
Coast Guard Administration officials added that even if a fishing vessel attempted to ram a ship in a foreign nation’s territorial waters, maritime authorities would only be justified in trying to forcibly board the ship for an inspection.
That the Philippine government was seeking to justify shooting at unarmed civilians was beyond belief, officials said.
According to the officials, the Taiwanese fishing boat only had a cargo of mahi mahi and albacore totaling 380kg.
Hung Shih-cheng was a seasoned fisherman who enjoyed some fame in Siaoliouciou (小琉球) for catching a 7m squid with his son-in-law while working on another ship in December 2006.
Additional reporting by Chiu Chun-fu, Wu Po-hsuan and CNA
US climber Alex Honnold is to attempt to scale Taipei 101 without a rope and harness in a live Netflix special on Jan. 24, the streaming platform announced on Wednesday. Accounting for the time difference, the two-hour broadcast of Honnold’s climb, called Skyscraper Live, is to air on Jan. 23 in the US, Netflix said in a statement. Honnold, 40, was the first person ever to free solo climb the 900m El Capitan rock formation in Yosemite National Park — a feat that was recorded and later made into the 2018 documentary film Free Solo. Netflix previewed Skyscraper Live in October, after videos
NUMBERS IMBALANCE: More than 4 million Taiwanese have visited China this year, while only about half a million Chinese have visited here Beijing has yet to respond to Taiwan’s requests for negotiation over matters related to the recovery of cross-strait tourism, the Tourism Administration said yesterday. Taiwan’s tourism authority issued the statement after Chinese-language daily the China Times reported yesterday that the government’s policy of banning group tours to China does not stop Taiwanese from visiting the country. As of October, more than 4.2 million had traveled to China this year, exceeding last year. Beijing estimated the number of Taiwanese tourists in China could reach 4.5 million this year. By contrast, only 500,000 Chinese tourists are expected in Taiwan, the report said. The report
Temperatures are forecast to drop steadily as a continental cold air mass moves across Taiwan, with some areas also likely to see heavy rainfall, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. From today through early tomorrow, a cold air mass would keep temperatures low across central and northern Taiwan, and the eastern half of Taiwan proper, with isolated brief showers forecast along Keelung’s north coast, Taipei and New Taipei City’s mountainous areas and eastern Taiwan, it said. Lows of 11°C to 15°C are forecast in central and northern Taiwan, Yilan County, and the outlying Kinmen and Lienchiang (Matsu) counties, and 14°C to 17°C
STEERING FAILURE: The first boat of its class is experiencing teething issues as it readies for acceptance by the navy, according to a recent story about rudder failure The Hai Kun (海鯤), the nation’s first locally built submarine, allegedly suffered a total failure of stern hydraulic systems during the second round of sea acceptance trials on June 26, and sailors were forced to manually operate the X-rudder to turn the submarine and return to port, news Web site Mirror Daily reported yesterday. The report said that tugboats following the Hai Kun assisted the submarine in avoiding collisions with other ships due to the X-rudder malfunctioning. At the time of the report, the submarine had completed its trials and was scheduled to begin diving and surfacing tests in shallow areas. The X-rudder,
RSS