Political observers yesterday offered contrasting opinions about Taiwan’s “exit strategy” for its diplomatic row with the Philippines over the death of a Taiwanese fisherman.
Former presidential adviser Koo Kwang-ming (辜寬敏), who runs a fishing business in the Marshall Islands and is familiar with Taiwan’s fisheries issues, in response to media queries, advised President Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) administration to push the envelope by asserting Taiwan’s rights within its 200 nautical mile (370km) exclusive economic zone (EEZ).
Since Manila refused to recognize Taiwan’s EEZ because of its “one China” policy, Koo said, Taiwan should send vessels to protect Taiwanese fishing boats, block Philippine fishing boats from entering the EEZ and detain those Filipino fishermen who enter the EEZ to force Manila agree to negotiate a fisheries agreement, which the Philippines has been refusing to do for decades.
Extra pressure is needed, Koo said, to resolve the bilateral dispute over the death of 65-year-old Hung Shih-cheng (洪石成), who was shot by Philippine Coast Guard personnel on May 9.
Escalation of the dispute and an increase in animosity between both sides is unwelcome and it is not too late to open another round of negotiation after Taiwan bungled the first round of talks, National Taipei Medical University professor Chang Kuo-cheng (張國城) said.
Resorting to military measures simply because of Taiwan’s overwhelming advantage in military capability would “likely give the impression that Taiwan is prepared to bully its Asian neighbors like China does,” Chang said.
Ma’s hardline position would not be helpful in clearing up the shooting incident and sanctions imposed by Taipei are unlikely to cause major inconvenience for Manila, Chang added.
He urged the government to do its best to re-open bilateral talks with Manila about fishing and be creative with a possibly mutually beneficial arrangement, such as special fishing arrangements for fishermen from Pingtung County’s Siaoliouchio (小琉球) and the Philippines’ Batan Islands.
Meanwhile, Chang Jung-feng (張榮豐), a former National Security Council deputy secretary-general, wrote on his Facebook page that the biggest mistakes made by the Ma administration were its advance announcement of planned sanctions, making a military exercise in the Bashi Channel a non-live fire drill and shutting down communication channels by recalling its representative to Manila and expelling Antonio Basilio, Manila Economic and Cultural Office (MECO) director and MECO Chairman Amadeo Perez, Philippine President Benigno Aquino III’s personal envoy.
Taiwan’s decision to issue a 72-hour “ultimatum” rather than adopting a brinkmanship strategy was in question, he added, and the worse decision was letting the Philippines know what the consequences would be after the deadline, which was why Manila was not intimidated by the sanctions.
A better strategy would have been to impose punitive measures without advance notice, according to the progress of negotiations, he said.
Starlux Airlines, Taiwan’s newest international carrier, has announced it would apply to join the Oneworld global airline alliance before the end of next year. In an investor conference on Monday, Starlux Airlines chief executive officer Glenn Chai (翟健華) said joining the alliance would help it access Taiwan. Chai said that if accepted, Starlux would work with other airlines in the alliance on flight schedules, passenger transits and frequent flyer programs. The Oneworld alliance has 13 members, including American Airlines, British Airways, Cathay Pacific and Qantas, and serves more than 900 destinations in 170 territories. Joining Oneworld would also help boost
A new tropical storm formed late yesterday near Guam and is to approach closest to Taiwan on Thursday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. Tropical Storm Pulasan became the 14th named storm of the year at 9:25pm yesterday, the agency said. As of 8am today, it was near Guam traveling northwest at 21kph, it said. The storm’s structure is relatively loose and conditions for strengthening are limited, WeatherRisk analyst Wu Sheng-yu (吳聖宇) said on Facebook. Its path is likely to be similar to Typhoon Bebinca, which passed north of Taiwan over Japan’s Ryukyu Islands and made landfall in Shanghai this morning, he said. However, it
Taiwan's Gold Apollo Co (金阿波羅通信) said today that the pagers used in detonations in Lebanon the day before were not made by it, but by a company called BAC which has a license to use its brand. At least nine people were killed and nearly 3,000 wounded when pagers used by Hezbollah members detonated simultaneously across Lebanon yesterday. Images of destroyed pagers analyzed by Reuters showed a format and stickers on the back that were consistent with pagers made by Gold Apollo. A senior Lebanese security source told Reuters that Hezbollah had ordered 5,000 pagers from Taiwan-based Gold Apollo. "The product was not
COLD FACTS: ‘Snow skin’ mooncakes, made with a glutinous rice skin and kept at a low temperature, have relatively few calories compared with other mooncakes Traditional mooncakes are a typical treat for many Taiwanese in the lead-up to the Mid-Autumn Festival, but a Taipei-based dietitian has urged people not to eat more than one per day and not to have them every day due to their high fat and calorie content. As mooncakes contain a lot of oil and sugar, they can have negative health effects on older people and those with diabetes, said Lai Yu-han (賴俞含), a dietitian at Taipei Hospital of the Ministry of Health and Welfare. “The maximum you can have is one mooncake a day, and do not eat them every day,” Lai