The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) legislative caucus yesterday urged the government to abolish its temporary enforcement line in the Bashi Channel and assert its rights in its 200 nautical mile (370km) exclusive economic zone (EEZ) amid escalated tensions with the Philippines.
The Fisheries Agency has unilaterally designated the 20° north latitude line as its temporary enforcement line, marking the area where the navy will provide protection for Taiwanese fishermen on the South China Sea.
DPP Legislator Pan Men-an (潘孟安) told a press conference that Taiwan should abolish the line since Manila has never recognized it.
Given the public’s outrage over at Philippine Coast Guard personnel’s killing of 65-year-old fisherman Hung Shih-cheng (洪石成) on May 9, Taiwan should be more assertive in exercising its full rights in the EEZ to provide better protection to Taiwanese fishing boats, the lawmaker said.
The Philippines does not recognize Taiwan’s self-proclaimed EEZ, the majority of which overlaps with Manila’s 200 nautical mile EEZ, because Taiwan was not given the opportunity to sign the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), which President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) cited yesterday as the legal basis for Taiwan’s maritime rights in the Bashi Channel.
Asked about UNCLOS, Philippine presidential spokesperson Edwin Lacierda told a press conference at Manila yesterday that the shooting incident occurred in the Philippines’ EEZ.
Meanwhile, the DPP caucus said Ma must explain the abrupt change in the government’s assessment of Manila’s response to its ultimatum seen between a press conference at 1am on Wednesday and a news conference at 10pm on the same day.
At the first press conference held at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the ministry described Manila’s response as “positive,” but needed more “clarity.”
The Ma government announced a series of sanctions against the Philippines at the second press conference held at the Executive Yuan, saying that Manila’s apology was “insincere.”
DPP Legislator Chiu Yi-ying (邱議瑩) said Ma, as a president, “cannot and should not evade his responsibilities by making Minister of Foreign Affairs David Lin (林永樂) a scapegoat in the mix-up.”
“Lin would not have called the press conference and made those comments if he was not authorized to do so by Ma,” she said.
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫), spokeswoman Yang Chih-yu (楊智伃) and Legislator Hsieh Lung-chieh (謝龍介) would be summoned by police for questioning for leading an illegal assembly on Thursday evening last week, Minister of the Interior Liu Shyh-fang (劉世芳) said today. The three KMT officials led an assembly outside the Taipei City Prosecutors’ Office, a restricted area where public assembly is not allowed, protesting the questioning of several KMT staff and searches of KMT headquarters and offices in a recall petition forgery case. Chu, Yang and Hsieh are all suspected of contravening the Assembly and Parade Act (集會遊行法) by holding
PRAISE: Japanese visitor Takashi Kubota said the Taiwanese temple architecture images showcased in the AI Art Gallery were the most impressive displays he saw Taiwan does not have an official pavilion at the World Expo in Osaka, Japan, because of its diplomatic predicament, but the government-backed Tech World pavilion is drawing interest with its unique recreations of works by Taiwanese artists. The pavilion features an artificial intelligence (AI)-based art gallery showcasing works of famous Taiwanese artists from the Japanese colonial period using innovative technologies. Among its main simulated displays are Eastern gouache paintings by Chen Chin (陳進), Lin Yu-shan (林玉山) and Kuo Hsueh-hu (郭雪湖), who were the three young Taiwanese painters selected for the East Asian Painting exhibition in 1927. Gouache is a water-based
Taiwan would welcome the return of Honduras as a diplomatic ally if its next president decides to make such a move, Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) said yesterday. “Of course, we would welcome Honduras if they want to restore diplomatic ties with Taiwan after their elections,” Lin said at a meeting of the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee, when asked to comment on statements made by two of the three Honduran presidential candidates during the presidential campaign in the Central American country. Taiwan is paying close attention to the region as a whole in the wake of a
OFF-TARGET: More than 30,000 participants were expected to take part in the Games next month, but only 6,550 foreign and 19,400 Taiwanese athletes have registered Taipei city councilors yesterday blasted the organizers of next month’s World Masters Games over sudden timetable and venue changes, which they said have caused thousands of participants to back out of the international sporting event, among other organizational issues. They also cited visa delays and political interference by China as reasons many foreign athletes are requesting refunds for the event, to be held from May 17 to 30. Jointly organized by the Taipei and New Taipei City governments, the games have been rocked by numerous controversies since preparations began in 2020. Taipei City Councilor Lin Yen-feng (林延鳳) said yesterday that new measures by
RSS