Fisheries Agency Director-General James Sha (沙志一) yesterday said the recent Taiwan-Japan fishing pact shows how Taiwan and the Philippines could resolve their long-standing dispute over fishing rights in their overlapping exclusive economic zones.
The Taiwan-Japan agreement designates an area in overlapping waters in which fishermen from both sides can operate freely, Sha said.
This could serve as a model for addressing a similar dispute with Manila, which has flared up since a Taiwanese fisherman was shot on May 9, he said in an interview with the Philippine TV network GMA and the Taiwanese media.
A joint patrol of the Philippine Coast Guard and the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources strafed the Taiwanese fishing boat, the Kuang Ta Hsing No. 28, while it was operating in the overlapping exclusive economic zones of the two countries. Hung Shih-cheng (洪石成), 65, was killed in the incident.
Sha said the records from the Kuang Ta Hsing No. 28’s voyage data recorder (VDR) showed that it was not trespassing in the Philippines’ territorial waters when the attack occurred.
“The incident took place within the Republic of China’s exclusive economic zone, not in Philippine territorial waters,” he said, denying reports in the Philippine media that the boat had been poaching in Philippine territory.
The patrol that opened fire on the fishing boat did not board the vessel to see if there were any casualties after the shooting, Sha said.
More than 50 bullet holes were found in the boat after it was towed back to Taiwan, he said.
In response to questions from the GMA, Sha displayed a photograph of the Kuang Ta Hsing No. 28’s log, which he said proved that the vessel had not entered the Philippines’ territorial waters since it left Pingtung County on May 4.
Asked about the precision of the recording equipment, Sha said the VDR has a 90 percent accuracy to within 7m.
One of the purposes of installing VDRs on Taiwanese fishing boats is to pinpoint their location in the event of fishing disputes, Sha said.
“This would be important evidence for us to determine the location,” he added.
The VDRs are usually sealed once they are installed and are constantly checked by Fisheries Agency officials, Sha said.
If a VDR was found to have been tampered with, the boat owner will be punished, he said.
The Central Weather Administration (CWA) today issued a sea warning for Typhoon Fung-wong effective from 5:30pm, while local governments canceled school and work for tomorrow. A land warning is expected to be issued tomorrow morning before it is expected to make landfall on Wednesday, the agency said. Taoyuan, and well as Yilan, Hualien and Penghu counties canceled work and school for tomorrow, as well as mountainous district of Taipei and New Taipei City. For updated information on closures, please visit the Directorate-General of Personnel Administration Web site. As of 5pm today, Fung-wong was about 490km south-southwest of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan's southernmost point.
Almost a quarter of volunteer soldiers who signed up from 2021 to last year have sought early discharge, the Legislative Yuan’s Budget Center said in a report. The report said that 12,884 of 52,674 people who volunteered in the period had sought an early exit from the military, returning NT$895.96 million (US$28.86 million) to the government. In 2021, there was a 105.34 percent rise in the volunteer recruitment rate, but the number has steadily declined since then, missing recruitment targets, the Chinese-language United Daily News said, citing the report. In 2021, only 521 volunteers dropped out of the military, the report said, citing
A magnitude 5.3 earthquake struck Kaohsiung at 1pm today, the Central Weather Administration said. The epicenter was in Jiasian District (甲仙), 72.1km north-northeast of Kaohsiung City Hall, at a depth of 7.8km, agency data showed. There were no immediate reports of damage. The earthquake's intensity, which gauges the actual effects of a temblor, was highest in Kaohsiung and Tainan, where it measured a 4 on Taiwan's seven-tier intensity scale. It also measured a 3 in parts of Chiayi City, as well as Pingtung, Yunlin and Hualien counties, data showed.
Nearly 5 million people have signed up to receive the government’s NT$10,000 (US$322) universal cash handout since registration opened on Wednesday last week, with deposits expected to begin tomorrow, the Ministry of Finance said yesterday. After a staggered sign-up last week — based on the final digit of the applicant’s national ID or Alien Resident Certificate number — online registration is open to all eligible Taiwanese nationals, foreign permanent residents and spouses of Taiwanese nationals. Banks are expected to start issuing deposits from 6pm today, the ministry said. Those who completed registration by yesterday are expected to receive their NT$10,000 tomorrow, National Treasury
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