Taiwan and the Philippines have entered the final stage of a deal to give each other legal assistance in investigating the May shooting death of a Taiwanese fisherman by Philippine Coast Guard personnel, an official said yesterday.
“Both sides are in the final phase of the mutual legal assistance process,” Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokeswoman Anna Kao (高安) told reporters when asked when Taiwan’s investigative report on the shooting case would be released.
However, she would not elaborate on what the final stage of the process entails. It has been almost a month since investigators from Taiwan and the Philippines wrapped up visits to each other’s countries to collect evidence related to the case.
The reciprocal visits were a vital part of the mutual legal assistance agreement.
According to the ministry, both sides have completed their reports on the May 9 attack, in which Taiwanese fishing boat Kuang Ta Hsing No. 28 was fired on by personnel aboard a Philippine patrol vessel while operating in the overlapping exclusive economic zones of the two countries.
A 65-year-old fisherman named Hung Shih-cheng (洪石成) was killed in the attack.
The Philippine report, compiled by the National Bureau of Investigation, has been sent to Philippine President Benigno Aquino III and is awaiting his approval.
Once the Philippine president approves the report, the Philippines will share their results with Taiwan, and Taiwan will also share the results of its report with the Philippines, a Taiwanese diplomatic source said.
The Philippines has also agreed to inform Taiwan of when it will release its report, the source said.
The Taiwanese investigation found that the Philippine Coast Guard personnel who fired the fatal shots at Hung could be charged with “intentional killing,” sources close to the Taiwanese probe said last month.
Philippine Secretary of Justice Leila de Lima also confirmed that criminal and administrative charges have been recommended against those involved in the shooting, but she did not disclose what the suggested charges were.
US President Donald Trump said "it’s up to" Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) what China does on Taiwan, but that he would be "very unhappy" with a change in the "status quo," the New York Times said in an interview published yesterday. Xi "considers it to be a part of China, and that’s up to him what he’s going to be doing," Trump told the newspaper on Wednesday. "But I’ve expressed to him that I would be very unhappy if he did that, and I don’t think he’ll do that," he added. "I hope he doesn’t do that." Trump made the comments in
Tourism in Kenting fell to a historic low for the second consecutive year last year, impacting hotels and other local businesses that rely on a steady stream of domestic tourists, the latest data showed. A total of 2.139 million tourists visited Kenting last year, down slightly from 2.14 million in 2024, the data showed. The number of tourists who visited the national park on the Hengchun Peninsula peaked in 2015 at 8.37 million people. That number has been below 2.2 million for two years, although there was a spike in October last year due to multiple long weekends. The occupancy rate for hotels
A cold surge advisory was today issued for 18 cities and counties across Taiwan, with temperatures of below 10°C forecast during the day and into tonight, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. New Taipei City, Taipei, Taoyuan and Hsinchu, Miaoli and Yilan counties are expected to experience sustained temperatures of 10°C or lower, the CWA said. Temperatures are likely to temporarily drop below 10°C in most other areas, except Taitung, Pingtung, Penghu and Lienchiang (Matsu) counties, CWA data showed. The cold weather is being caused by a strong continental cold air mass, combined with radiative cooling, a process in which heat escapes from
Snow this morning fell on Alishan for the first time in seven years, as a strong continental cold air mass sent temperatures plunging across Taiwan, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The Alishan weather station, located at an elevation of about 2,200m in central Taiwan, recorded snowfall from 8:55am to 9:15am, when the temperature dropped to about 1°C, the CWA said. With increased moisture and low temperatures in the high-altitude Alishan area, the conditions were favorable for snow, CWA forecaster Tsai Yi-chi (蔡伊其) said. The last time snow fell at the Alishan weather station was on Jan. 10, 2018, while graupel fell there
RSS