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.
Rainfall is expected to become more widespread and persistent across central and southern Taiwan over the next few days, with the effects of the weather patterns becoming most prominent between last night and tomorrow, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Independent meteorologist Daniel Wu (吳德榮) said that based on the latest forecast models of the combination of a low-pressure system and southwesterly winds, rainfall and flooding are expected to continue in central and southern Taiwan from today to Sunday. The CWA also warned of flash floods, thunder and lightning, and strong gusts in these areas, as well as landslides and fallen
WAITING GAME: The US has so far only offered a ‘best rate tariff,’ which officials assume is about 15 percent, the same as Japan, a person familiar with the matter said Taiwan and the US have completed “technical consultations” regarding tariffs and a finalized rate is expected to be released soon, Executive Yuan spokeswoman Michelle Lee (李慧芝) told a news conference yesterday, as a 90-day pause on US President Donald Trump’s “reciprocal” tariffs is set to expire today. The two countries have reached a “certain degree of consensus” on issues such as tariffs, nontariff trade barriers, trade facilitation, supply chain resilience and economic security, Lee said. They also discussed opportunities for cooperation, investment and procurement, she said. A joint statement is still being negotiated and would be released once the US government has made
SOUTH CHINA SEA? The Philippine president spoke of adding more classrooms and power plants, while skipping tensions with China over disputed areas Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr yesterday blasted “useless and crumbling” flood control projects in a state of the nation address that focused on domestic issues after a months-long feud with his vice president. Addressing a joint session of congress after days of rain that left at least 31 dead, Marcos repeated his recent warning that the nation faced a climate change-driven “new normal,” while pledging to investigate publicly funded projects that had failed. “Let’s not pretend, the people know that these projects can breed corruption. Kickbacks ... for the boys,” he said, citing houses that were “swept away” by the floods. “Someone has
‘CRUDE’: The potential countermeasure is in response to South Africa renaming Taiwan’s representative offices and the insistence that it move out of Pretoria Taiwan is considering banning exports of semiconductors to South Africa after the latter unilaterally downgraded and changed the names of Taiwan’s two representative offices, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) said yesterday. On Monday last week, the South African Department of International Relations and Cooperation unilaterally released a statement saying that, as of April 1, the Taipei Liaison Offices in Pretoria and Cape Town had been renamed the “Taipei Commercial Office in Johannesburg” and the “Taipei Commercial Office in Cape Town.” Citing UN General Assembly Resolution 2758, it said that South Africa “recognizes the People’s Republic of China (PRC) as the sole