President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) yesterday defended the legality of the government’s sanctions against Manila over the killing of a Taiwanese fisherman last week, appealing for international condemnation of what he called outrageous behavior by the Philippines.
Speaking at a forum on international law and disputes organized by the Chinese (Taiwan) Society of International Law, Ma said the Philippine government vessel’s “excessive use of force” against a Taiwanese fishing boat in the two nations’ overlapping exclusive economic zones violated both international law and the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea.
“We believe such outrageous behavior cannot be tolerated by the international community,” he said.
Photo: Pichi Chuang, Reuters
The Taiwanese boat was fired upon by a joint patrol of the Philippine Coast Guard and the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources on Thursday last week in waters where the exclusive economic zones of Taiwan and the Philippines overlap, resulting in the death of 65-year-old fisherman Hung Shih-cheng (洪石成).
The Ma administration on Sunday demanded that the Philippine government apologize for the killing, compensate Hung’s family, launch a full investigation into the incident and start negotiations on a fisheries agreement.
Ma yesterday said the government issued the four demands in accordance with international law, adding that 11 punitive measures were implemented on Wednesday because the Philippine government had failed to meet the demands by Taipei’s deadline.
Photo: Sam Yeh, AFP
“I do hope [the Philippine government] will understand they have to be a responsible stakeholder in the international community. Killing unarmed innocent people on the open seas is not an act tolerated by civilized nations,” he said.
The government announced on Wednesday it had suspended Philippine worker applications, recalled Taiwan’s representative to the Philippines and asked the Philippine representative to Taiwan to return to Manila.
The eight other sanctions are a travel warning that discourages Taiwanese from visiting the Philippines, the suspension of high-level meetings at the World Health Assembly, the suspension of economic exchanges, the suspension of cooperation on agriculture and fisheries, the suspension of cooperation on technology, the suspension of negotiations on air space rights, the suspension of the visa-free program for Philippine nationals and that Taiwan would hold military exercises in disputed waters.
While condemning the Philippine government for its irresponsible handling of the incident, Ma also called on Taiwanese to treat Philippine workers and visitors rationally and in a friendly manner.
“Philippine workers work as hard as Taiwanese … I ask all Taiwanese to judge the matter as it stands and not to vent their anger on Philippine nationals living in Taiwan,” he said later on his Facebook page.
FREEDOM OF NAVIGATION: The UK would continue to reinforce ties with Taiwan ‘in a wide range of areas’ as a part of a ‘strong unofficial relationship,’ a paper said The UK plans to conduct more freedom of navigation operations in the Taiwan Strait and the South China Sea, British Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs David Lammy told the British House of Commons on Tuesday. British Member of Parliament Desmond Swayne said that the Royal Navy’s HMS Spey had passed through the Taiwan Strait “in pursuit of vital international freedom of navigation in the South China Sea.” Swayne asked Lammy whether he agreed that it was “proper and lawful” to do so, and if the UK would continue to carry out similar operations. Lammy replied “yes” to both questions. The
Two US House of Representatives committees yesterday condemned China’s attempt to orchestrate a crash involving Vice President Hsiao Bi-khim’s (蕭美琴) car when she visited the Czech Republic last year as vice president-elect. Czech local media in March last year reported that a Chinese diplomat had run a red light while following Hsiao’s car from the airport, and Czech intelligence last week told local media that Chinese diplomats and agents had also planned to stage a demonstrative car collision. Hsiao on Saturday shared a Reuters news report on the incident through her account on social media platform X and wrote: “I
SHIFT PRIORITIES: The US should first help Taiwan respond to actions China is already taking, instead of focusing too heavily on deterring a large-scale invasion, an expert said US Air Force leaders on Thursday voiced concerns about the Chinese People’s Liberation Army’s (PLA) missile capabilities and its development of a “kill web,” and said that the US Department of Defense’s budget request for next year prioritizes bolstering defenses in the Indo-Pacific region due to the increasing threat posed by China. US experts said that a full-scale Chinese invasion of Taiwan is risky and unlikely, with Beijing more likely to pursue coercive tactics such as political warfare or blockades to achieve its goals. Senior air force and US Space Force leaders, including US Secretary of the Air Force Troy Meink and
Czech officials have confirmed that Chinese agents surveilled Vice President Hsiao Bi-khim (蕭美琴) during her visit to Prague in March 2024 and planned a collision with her car as part of an “unprecedented” provocation by Beijing in Europe. Czech Military Intelligence learned that their Chinese counterparts attempted to create conditions to carry out a demonstrative incident involving Hsiao, which “did not go beyond the preparation stage,” agency director Petr Bartovsky told Czech Radio in a report yesterday. In addition, a Chinese diplomat ran a red light to maintain surveillance of the Taiwanese
RSS