The Taiwanese fishing boat detained by the Philippines on Thursday on suspicion of poaching was caught within that country’s territorial waters, but the reasons behind the intrusion have not yet been determined, government officials said yesterday.
The Sheng Fong No. 12 (昇豐12) was at 21.3o north latitude and 122.2o east longitude, 6.5 nautical miles (12km) southeast of Mavulis Island, called Yami Island by Taiwan, the northernmost island of the Batan Islands, when it was stopped for inspection by a Philippine Coast Guard patrol vessel, officials said.
Speaking to reporters in Taipei by telephone yesterday morning, Representative to the Philippines Gary Lin (林松煥) said the fishing boat was taken in Philippine territorial waters, but it was not fishing there.
Lin said he had talked to Hung Tien-ting (洪添丁), captain of the 36.13-tonne vessel registered in Pingtung County’s Liouciou Township (琉球) on Thursday.
Any foreign fishing vessel that enters Philippine territorial waters without a permit can be fined or persecuted, Lin said, adding that his office is working to have the case settled out of court.
The captain’s son, Hung Wen-kuang (洪文廣), said the Sheng Fong No. 12 entered Philippine waters in an attempt to escape rough seas caused by a typhoon.
“It is unreasonable for the Philippines to detain the vessel and its crew and demand a fine of NT$1.5 million [US$48,760],” Hung Wen-kuang said.
Taipei and Manila have been in talks to clarify details of the incident since Thursday, Ministry of Foreign Affairs Department of East Asian and Pacific Affairs Director-General Elliot Charng (常以立) told a news conference in Taipei.
Investigations into the poaching allegation are ongoing, Charng said.
“We urge the Philippines to release the vessel and its crew as soon as the investigation is completed,” he said.
Hung Tien-ting, the boat’s Taiwanese chief engineer and four Indonesian crew members are being detained at Basco Harbor on Batan, ministry spokesperson Anna Kao (高安) said.
“They are safe and freedom of movement and communications have not been restricted,” Kao said.
Separately, Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Lin Tsang-min (林滄敏) and two others called a news conference at the legislature to urge the government to toughen its negotiating position against the Philippines over the case.
“The Philippines arbitrarily detained the fishing vessel when it was harmlessly passing through its waters due to severe weather conditions,” Lin said.
The government should demand the immediate and unconditional release of the boat and its crew, KMT Legislator Su Ching-chuan (蘇清泉) said.
Some academics say that Batan, where some residents are descendants of people from Siaoliouciou Island (小琉球), which is part of Liouciou Township, is the territory of the Republic of China, Su said.
Taiwan is projected to lose a working-age population of about 6.67 million people in two waves of retirement in the coming years, as the nation confronts accelerating demographic decline and a shortage of younger workers to take their place, the Ministry of the Interior said. Taiwan experienced its largest baby boom between 1958 and 1966, when the population grew by 3.78 million, followed by a second surge of 2.89 million between 1976 and 1982, ministry data showed. In 2023, the first of those baby boom generations — those born in the late 1950s and early 1960s — began to enter retirement, triggering
GLOBAL ISSUE: If China annexes Taiwan, ‘it will not stop its expansion there, as it only becomes stronger and has more force to expand further,’ the president said China’s military and diplomatic expansion is not a sole issue for Taiwan, but one that risks world peace, President William Lai (賴清德) said yesterday, adding that Taiwan would stand with the alliance of democratic countries to preserve peace through deterrence. Lai made the remark in an exclusive interview with the Chinese-language Liberty Times (sister paper of the Taipei Times). “China is strategically pushing forward to change the international order,” Lai said, adding that China established the Asia Infrastructure Investment Bank, launched the Belt and Road Initiative, and pushed for yuan internationalization, because it wants to replace the democratic rules-based international
ECONOMIC BOOST: Should the more than 23 million people eligible for the NT$10,000 handouts spend them the same way as in 2023, GDP could rise 0.5 percent, an official said Universal cash handouts of NT$10,000 (US$330) are to be disbursed late next month at the earliest — including to permanent residents and foreign residents married to Taiwanese — pending legislative approval, the Ministry of Finance said yesterday. The Executive Yuan yesterday approved the Special Act for Strengthening Economic, Social and National Security Resilience in Response to International Circumstances (因應國際情勢強化經濟社會及民生國安韌性特別條例). The NT$550 billion special budget includes NT$236 billion for the cash handouts, plus an additional NT$20 billion set aside as reserve funds, expected to be used to support industries. Handouts might begin one month after the bill is promulgated and would be completed within
The National Development Council (NDC) yesterday unveiled details of new regulations that ease restrictions on foreigners working or living in Taiwan, as part of a bid to attract skilled workers from abroad. The regulations, which could go into effect in the first quarter of next year, stem from amendments to the Act for the Recruitment and Employment of Foreign Professionals (外國專業人才延攬及僱用法) passed by lawmakers on Aug. 29. Students categorized as “overseas compatriots” would be allowed to stay and work in Taiwan in the two years after their graduation without obtaining additional permits, doing away with the evaluation process that is currently required,
RSS