A second meeting to discuss fishing disputes between Taiwan and the Philippines is set to be held after reports on the shooting death of a Taiwanese fisherman by Philippine Coast Guard personnel are released and the victim’s family receives compensation from Manila, officials said yesterday.
Taipei and Manila first held a meeting on June 14 to address fishing disputes in waters where their exclusive economic zones overlap.
The Philippines had proposed holding a second meeting in the first week of this month, but has not yet made a request for a firm date, Benjamin Ho (何登煌), director-general of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ Department of East Asian and Pacific Affairs, said yesterday.
Asked about the issue, Minister of Foreign Affairs David Lin (林永樂) said the fishery meeting “is tied to” the Philippine report on the shooting incident in May in which 65-year-old fisherman Hung Shih-cheng (洪石成) was killed, sparking a diplomatic row between the two countries and military exercises by the Republic of China Navy in waters near the incident.
According to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, both sides have completed their respective reports on the May 9 attack, in which the Taiwanese fishing boat the Kuang Ta Hsing No. 28 was strafed by a Philippine vessel while operating in the overlapping economic zones of the two nations.
However, more than two months after the shooting the reports have yet to be released.
The Philippine report, which was compiled by its National Bureau of Investigation (NBI), has been sent to Philippine President Benigno Aquino III and is awaiting his approval.
Lin said that Aquino has been discussing the issue with the Philippine Department of Justice and the NBI.
Lin expressed hope that the Philippines will release the report as soon as possible.
Meanwhile, Taiwan and the Philippines said they have reached a consensus to give priority to the reports and the Philippines’ compensation for the victim’s family, a Taiwanese diplomatic source said.
The second fishery meeting will not be held until the two issues have been resolved, the source added.
In the June 14 meeting, the two sides reached an initial consensus on several issues, including the non use of force to police fishing grounds and establishing a mechanism that will enable each side to notify the other in the event of fishery incidents.
Taiwan “will continue to push the Philippines” to keep its promise to revise its maritime law enforcement regulations, the source said.
“We expect concrete results on the issue to be reached during the second meeting,” the source added.
Taiwan yesterday condemned the recent increase in Chinese coast guard-escorted fishing vessels operating illegally in waters around the Pratas Islands (Dongsha Islands, 東沙群島) in the South China Sea. Unusually large groupings of Chinese fishing vessels began to appear around the islands on Feb. 15, when at least six motherships and 29 smaller boats were sighted, the Coast Guard Administration (CGA) said in a news release. While CGA vessels were dispatched to expel the Chinese boats, Chinese coast guard ships trespassed into Taiwan’s restricted waters and unsuccessfully attempted to interfere, the CGA said. Due to the provocation, the CGA initiated an operation to increase
CHANGING LANDSCAPE: Many of the part-time programs for educators were no longer needed, as many teachers obtain a graduate degree before joining the workforce, experts said Taiwanese universities this year canceled 86 programs, Ministry of Education data showed, with educators attributing the closures to the nation’s low birthrate as well as shifting trends. Fifty-three of the shuttered programs were part-time postgraduate degree programs, about 62 percent of the total, the most in the past five years, the data showed. National Taiwan Normal University (NTNU) discontinued the most part-time master’s programs, at 16: chemistry, life science, earth science, physics, fine arts, music, special education, health promotion and health education, educational psychology and counseling, education, design, Chinese as a second language, library and information sciences, mechatronics engineering, history, physical education
The Chinese military has boosted its capability to fight at a high tempo using the element of surprise and new technology, the Ministry of National Defense said in the Quadrennial Defense Review (QDR) published on Monday last week. The ministry highlighted Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) developments showing significant changes in Beijing’s strategy for war on Taiwan. The PLA has made significant headway in building capabilities for all-weather, multi-domain intelligence, surveillance, operational control and a joint air-sea blockade against Taiwan’s lines of communication, it said. The PLA has also improved its capabilities in direct amphibious assault operations aimed at seizing strategically important beaches,
‘MALIGN PURPOSE’: Governments around the world conduct espionage operations, but China’s is different, as its ultimate goal is annexation, a think tank head said Taiwan is facing a growing existential threat from its own people spying for China, experts said, as the government seeks to toughen measures to stop Beijing’s infiltration efforts and deter Taiwanese turncoats. While Beijing and Taipei have been spying on each other for years, experts said that espionage posed a bigger threat to Taiwan due to the risk of a Chinese attack. Taiwan’s intelligence agency said China used “diverse channels and tactics” to infiltrate the nation’s military, government agencies and pro-China organizations. The main targets were retired and active members of the military, persuaded by money, blackmail or pro-China ideology to steal
RSS