An agreement between Taiwan and the Philippines on law enforcement cooperation on fishery matters in their overlapping economic waters is expected to be inked “soon,” a Ministry of Foreign Affairs official said yesterday.
The two sides have reached a consensus on signing the agreement and are in the final stages of concluding it, Elliot Charng (常以立), director-general of the ministry’s Department of East Asian and Pacific Affairs, said at a news briefing.
Only some of the wording remains to be resolved, he said when asked about the pact’s progress.
Taiwanese and Philippine officials had previously estimated that the agreement would be signed by the end of this month, but when asked whether this was still the case, Charng refused to be drawn, saying only that it would be finalized “very soon.”
Since last year, Taipei and Manila have been discussing an agreement on maritime law enforcement cooperation, after a Taiwanese fisherman was shot dead on May 9 last year by Philippine Coast Guard officers in waters overlapping the exclusive economic zones of the two countries.
The shooting and Manila’s handling of the incident caused bilateral relations to plunge to their worst in years, with Taiwan imposing a freeze on hiring Filipino workers, among other sanctions.
Bilateral relations returned to normal in August last year, after the Philippines met four Taiwanese demands that included a formal apology and the start of talks on fishery cooperation.
During a subsequent series of fishery meetings, the two sides reached consensus on several issues. These include a ban on the use of force or violence when patrolling fishing grounds, the establishment of a mechanism to inform each other in the event of fishery incidents and the release of detained fishermen and boats as soon as possible.
Alain Robert, known as the "French Spider-Man," praised Alex Honnold as exceptionally well-prepared after the US climber completed a free solo ascent of Taipei 101 yesterday. Robert said Honnold's ascent of the 508m-tall skyscraper in just more than one-and-a-half hours without using safety ropes or equipment was a remarkable achievement. "This is my life," he said in an interview conducted in French, adding that he liked the feeling of being "on the edge of danger." The 63-year-old Frenchman climbed Taipei 101 using ropes in December 2004, taking about four hours to reach the top. On a one-to-10 scale of difficulty, Robert said Taipei 101
Nipah virus infection is to be officially listed as a category 5 notifiable infectious disease in Taiwan in March, while clinical treatment guidelines are being formulated, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) said yesterday. With Nipah infections being reported in other countries and considering its relatively high fatality rate, the centers on Jan. 16 announced that it would be listed as a notifiable infectious disease to bolster the nation’s systematic early warning system and increase public awareness, the CDC said. Bangladesh reported four fatal cases last year in separate districts, with three linked to raw date palm sap consumption, CDC Epidemic Intelligence
Two Taiwanese prosecutors were questioned by Chinese security personnel at their hotel during a trip to China’s Henan Province this month, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said yesterday. The officers had personal information on the prosecutors, including “when they were assigned to their posts, their work locations and job titles,” MAC Deputy Minister and spokesman Liang Wen-chieh (梁文傑) said. On top of asking about their agencies and positions, the officers also questioned the prosecutors about the Cross-Strait Joint Crime-Fighting and Judicial Mutual Assistance Agreement, a pact that serves as the framework for Taiwan-China cooperation on combating crime and providing judicial assistance, Liang
US climber Alex Honnold left Taiwan this morning a day after completing a free-solo ascent of Taipei 101, a feat that drew cheers from onlookers and gained widespread international attention. Honnold yesterday scaled the 101-story skyscraper without a rope or safety harness. The climb — the highest urban free-solo ascent ever attempted — took just more than 90 minutes and was streamed live on Netflix. It was covered by major international news outlets including CNN, the New York Times, the Guardian and the Wall Street Journal. As Honnold prepared to leave Taiwan today, he attracted a crowd when he and his wife, Sanni,
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