Manila yesterday defended the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) officer involved in an incident that led to a Taiwanese fisherman’s death.
“It was an aggressive act. The [Taiwanese fishing boat] rammed into our vessel, which was certainly an aggressive act, so the PCG responded accordingly,” deputy presidential spokesperson Abigail Valte was quoted by media as saying.
PCG spokesman Commander Armand Balilo said “they [PCG officials] fired at the machinery to disable it [the Taiwanese fishing boat] ... if somebody died, they deserve our sympathy, but not an apology.”
Photo: AFP
Manila yesterday admitted that Hung Shih-cheng (洪石成), who was on board the fishing boat Kuang Ta Hsing No. 28, died in the incident.
Media said a report regarding the incident was sent to the Malacanang Palace yesterday that said PCG personnel on board the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) vessel “reacted to an attempt by one of the four Taiwanese fishing boats to ram the former’s ship.”
A Maritime Control Surveillance vessel spotted four Taiwanese fishing boats about 43 nautical miles (80km) east of Balintang island in the nation’s economic zone on Thursday, reports said.
“When they [PCG personnel] tried to board one of the fishing boats, one of the [Taiwanese] vessels rammed the BFAR vessel that was being manned by the coast guard,” Valte said. “So a warning shot was fired, but the [Taiwanese] vessels reportedly did not stop in their attempts to continuously ram the BFAR vessel and another shot was fired at the machinery portion of the ship.”
Valte was quoted as saying that the Philippines would decide whether it needs to apologize after the investigation is complete.
Meanwhile, PCG Commander Rodolfo Disorena said 11 law enforcement personnel with the PCG and BFAR had been suspended for their roles in the incident.
Rodolfo Isorena, the PCG commandant, promised that the Philippines would investigate the incident in a “transparent and impartial” manner.
‘GLOBAL WARNING’: The infiltration is not just a local problem, as Beijing has been deploying the same tactics worldwide against Western democracies, a report said Between 50,000 and 100,000 Chinese spies are operating in Taiwan, far more than the National Security Bureau’s previous estimate of 5,000, German journalist and author Jurgen Kremb said on Monday. Kremb presented his research, titled “The War of Spies: How China’s Intelligence Services Are Infiltrating Taiwan — and What Europe Must Learn from It,” at a joint event held by the Taiwan offices of the Friedrich Naumann Foundation and the European Values Center for Security Policy. The report was published in June in the Ministry of Justice Investigation Bureau’s Prospect & Exploration Monthly (展望與探索月刊). By spies, he said he was referring to informants,
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More than 100 Taiwanese-Americans, Taiwanese lawmakers and members of civic groups on Saturday marched through New York City to call for Taiwan’s participation in the UN, with Marshall Island Permanent Representative to the UN John Silk joining the event to show support. Participants chanted: “UN for Taiwan” and “Keep Taiwan Free” as they marched through central Manhattan, passing Times Square and Bryant Park before ending near the New York Public Library. The annual march brought together Taiwanese community groups from across the US East Coast. Silk expressed hope that Taiwan would one day be able to participate in UN meetings
Two aides at independent Legislator May Chin’s (高金素梅) office were ordered detained incommunicado yesterday in a broadening probe into alleged Chinese espionage by Chin’s former chief of staff, Chang Chun-chieh (張俊傑). The move to hold Lin I-chun (林怡君) and current chief of staff Chen Chih-huang (陳智葟) in custody came four days after Chang, indicted on corruption charges, cut off his electronic monitoring wristband and jumped bail. The High Prosecutors’ Office said that it believes Chang had developed a Chinese spy ring, which might have operated for more than a decade, with funding from China, and that Lin and Chen were suspected of
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