The Philippines yesterday said that it was studying a draft fisheries agreement with Taiwan as tensions in rich border fishing grounds re-emerged two years after Philippines Coast Guard personnel killed a Taiwanese fisherman.
The proposed deal would not define borders, but is to set protocols on the arrest and detention of fishermen, Philippine Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman Charles Jose told a news conference.
“The mechanism will provide guidelines for incidents at sea,” Jose said. “It will not be an agreement on maritime boundary delimitations.”
The draft agreement was prepared by the two nation’s trade representatives.
Several new fisheries-related scrapes have been reported between Taiwan and the Philippines in recent months.
A Philippines Coast Guard ship attempted to arrest a Taiwanese fishing vessel off the Batan island group last month, but Coast Guard Administration vessels intervened, resulting in a four-hour standoff.
Manila broadcaster ABS-CBN yesterday aired footage of a June 6 standoff between coast guard ships from the two nation’s, which ended with the Taiwanese vessel turning back after a tense exchange of radio messages.
These incidents recalled the May 2013 shooting of 65-year-old fisherman Hung Shih-cheng (洪石成) in the same area. The Philippines indicted eight coast guard members over Hung ‘s death and their case is now before a Manila court.
Jose said there was a “huge overlapping” of the exclusive economic zones in the Philippines’ northern waters and the waters off Taiwan’s south coast.
Philippine President Benigno Aquino III’s office is reviewing the proposed pact and is to decide within the year whether to sign it, Jose said.
“With this agreement, we hope to talk about [sea incidents] in an easier manner,” he said.
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