The government yesterday reacted strongly to the killing of a 65-year-old Taiwanese fisherman who was shot by personnel aboard a Philippine government vessel on Thursday, saying the preliminary explanations provided by the Philippines were “totally unacceptable.”
A Philippine Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) patrol boat opened fire on Pingtung-based fishing boat Kuang Ta Hsing No. 28 at 10am on Thursday in disputed waters between Taiwan and the Philippines, killing Hung Shih-cheng (洪石成), the Philippine government said.
Following meetings with Philippine officials since the incident, Taiwanese officials said they were not satisfied with the explanations provided by Philippine authorities.
Photo: Chen Chi-chu, Taipei Times
Since the incident involved a Philippine government vessel, Taiwan has demanded that the Philippine government “offer a formal apology to the [Republic of China] government, provide compensation for [Hung’s] family and bring those responsible to justice,” Minister of Foreign Affairs David Lin (林永樂) said.
“The Philippines should take complete responsibility for the incident,” Lin said.
Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Joseph Shih (石定) said the ministry was told by the Philippines that the shooting involved “warning shots” aimed at “driving Kuang Ta Hsing No. 28 out of what the Philippines considers its territorial waters.”
Representative to the Philippines Raymond Wang (王樂生) told Manila that the explanation was “totally unacceptable,” Shih said.
As the Coast Guard Administration (CGA) has discovered that the Kuang Ta Hsing No. 28 was riddled with 32 bullet holes, “clearly it was not warning shots,” he said.
According to international law, “a warning shot” should be fired “across the bows” of a vessel rather than at the ship itself, said Perry Shen (申佩璜), director-general of the ministry’s Department of Treaty and Legal Affairs.
CGA Deputy Minister Cheng Chang-hsiung (鄭樟雄) said the government has learned that the BFAR patrol vessel had BFAR and Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) personnel on board when the shooting took place and that “PCG officials opened fire.”
“I expressed strong anger at the Philippines’ savage act,” Cheng said.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs held a press conference on the incident, after Premier Jiang Yi-huah (江宜樺) called an impromptu meeting at which he instructed Cabinet members to make strenuous efforts to negotiate with Manila.
Cheng vowed that the CGA would strengthen patrols in the area where the incident occured.
“The CGA has sent two vessels equipped with 20mm machine guns and 40mm machine guns to patrol the waters. We have sufficient weaponry to ensure the safety of fishing vessels,” Cheng said.
According to government officials, there were some discrepancies between Taiwanese and Philippine sources on the circumstances that led to the shooting.
“The Philippines has begun its investigation. We have a different understanding of the causes of the incident and the exact location where it took place than those presented by the Philippines in its preliminary examination,” Shih said, without elaborating.
Government officials declined to comment further on the Philippines’ account of the incident.
“They [the Philippines] have their explanation for the incident, but our understanding was that [Kuang Ta Hsing No. 28] was not engaged in illegal fishing,” Lin said.
The Kuang Ta Hsing No. 28 was fishing in waters in which the exclusive economic zones claimed by Taiwan and the Philippines overlap, Lin said.
“Under no circumstances should Philippine government vessels use force against unarmed fishing boats from Taiwan or from any other country,” Lin said.
Furthermore, the actions of the Philippine vessel left the Kuang Ta Hsing No. 28 disabled and without power, which “was a violation of the duty to rescue at sea enshrined in international laws,” Lin said.
It was not the first time the Philippines has shot dead Taiwanese fishermen in the disputed waters.
In 2006, the Man Chun Yi, a Taiwanese fishing boat registered in Taitung County, was shot at by two Philippine marine police officers, causing one death and one injury.
The two Philippine police officers responsible for the shooting were charged by Taitung prosecutors, but they never came to Taiwan to appear in court and the case remains unresolved.
Family members of those shot in the 2006 incident said they did not receive any compensation from the Philippines, “not even an apology.”
Lin pledged yesterday that the government would work to discover the truth behind Thursday’s incident and “will continue with its three demands until they are fulfilled.”
The Kuang Ta Hsing No. 28 was scheduled to be towed back to Pingtung early today.
Upon arrival, prosecutors will investigate the shooting and the government would then produce an report, Lin said.
After both sides present their respective reports on the incident, both countries would launch a joint investigation if there are still differences of opinion over the circumstances in which the shooting took place, Lin said.
Meanwhile, President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) condemned the Philippines for using force against the fishing boat and demanded that Manila investigate the incident and provide compensation to the victims.
“It is an extremely uncivilized act for the Philippine ship to fire 34 shots at an unarmed fishing boat ... We demand that the Philippines uncover the truth behind the incident, and we will not stop our pursuit until the issue is resolved,” he said during a visit to Greater Kaohsiung.
In addition to demanding an apology, the president said the government also asked the Philippine government to punish the officials involved in the attack, pay due compensation and ensure that no similar incident happens again.
Ma said no country should use force against an unarmed fishing boat, adding that the government would not dispatch naval ships to protect Taiwanese fishing ships, as the protection of the fishermen is the responsibility of the CGA.
“A country has the authority to enforce laws in its exclusive economic zone, but it can only send officials to board a fishing ship for inspection. No countries should use force against civilian boats,” he said.
Antonio Basilio, the Philippine Representative to Taiwan, was summoned by Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Joseph Shih (石定) over the matter.
In a statement read to reporters, Basilio said the Philippine authorities are investigating the incident and the circumstances that led to such tragic outcome and will issue a report shortly.
“Regardless of the circumstances that led to the shooting, no words can express our sorrow at the loss of a precious life. We would like to express our sincerest condolences and apologies to the family of Mr Hung for their loss,” Basilio said.
Basilio said his government welcomes the participation of Taiwanese authorities to help determine the exact nature of the incident - including its location and the circumstances that led to the shooting.
“Should the investigation show that there has been wrongdoing on the part of any individual involved, they will be punished to the full extent of the law,” he said. “We cherish very much the friendly and historic relations between the people of the Philippines and Taiwan, and we do not wish nor will we allow such incident to harm those relations.”
Additional reporting by Mo Yan-chih
GEARING UP: An invasion would be difficult and would strain China’s forces, but it has conducted large-scale training supporting an invasion scenario, the report said China increased its military pressure on Taiwan last year and took other steps in preparation for a potential invasion, an annual report published by the US Department of Defense on Wednesday showed. “Throughout 2023, Beijing continued to erode longstanding norms in and around Taiwan by employing a range of pressure tactics against Taiwan,” the report said, which is titled “Military and Security Developments Involving the People’s Republic of China (PRC) 2024.” The Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) “is preparing for a contingency to unify Taiwan with the PRC by force, if perceived as necessary by Beijing, while simultaneously deterring, delaying or denying
‘LAGGING BEHIND’: The NATO secretary-general called on democratic allies to be ‘clear-eyed’ about Beijing’s military buildup, urging them to boost military spending NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte mentioning China’s bullying of Taiwan and its ambition to reshape the global order has significance during a time when authoritarian states are continuously increasing their aggression, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) said yesterday. In a speech at the Carnegie Europe think tank in Brussels on Thursday, Rutte said Beijing is bullying Taiwan and would start to “nibble” at Taiwan if Russia benefits from a post-invasion peace deal with Ukraine. He called on democratic allies to boost defense investments and also urged NATO members to increase defense spending in the face of growing military threats from Russia
PEACEFUL RESOLUTION: A statement issued following a meeting between Australia and Britain reiterated support for Taiwan and opposition to change in the Taiwan Strait Canada should support the peaceful resolution of Taiwan’s destiny according to the will of Taiwanese, Canadian lawmakers said in a resolution marking the second anniversary of that nation’s Indo-Pacific strategy on Monday. The Canadian House of Commons committee on Canada-Chinese relations made the comment as part of 34 recommendations for the new edition of the strategy, adding that Ottawa should back Taiwan’s meaningful participation in international organizations. Canada’s Indo-Pacific Strategy, first published in October 2022, emphasized that the region’s security, trade, human rights, democracy and environmental protection would play a crucial role in shaping Canada’s future. The strategy called for Canada to deepen
TECH CONFERENCE: Input from industry and academic experts can contribute to future policymaking across government agencies, President William Lai said Multifunctional service robots could be the next new area in which Taiwan could play a significant role, given its strengths in chip manufacturing and software design, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) chairman and chief executive C.C. Wei (魏哲家) said yesterday. “In the past two months, our customers shared a lot of their future plans with me. Artificial intelligence [AI] and AI applications were the most talked about subjects in our conversation,” Wei said in a speech at the National Science and Technology Conference in Taipei. TSMC, the world’s biggest contract chipmaker, counts Nvidia Corp, Advanced Micro Devices Inc, Apple Inc and
RSS