Rep. Steve Chabot, chairman of the U.S. House of Representatives Foreign Affairs’ Subcommittee on Asia and the Pacific, and ranking member Del. Eni F.H. Faleomavaega urged the Philippines May 15 to apologize for the recent killing of a Taiwan fisherman.
On May 9, Taiwan fishing boat Guang Da Xing No. 28 “was fired upon by a Philippine government vessel in waters 164 nautical miles southeast of Eluanbi, the southernmost part of Taiwan in waters considered by both Taiwan and the Philippines to be within Taiwan’s 200 nautical-mile-from-shore Exclusive Economic Zone,” Chabot and Faleomavaega said in a joint statement.
The fishing boat was severely damaged, suffering engine failure, and crew member Hung Shih Cheng was shot and killed, but the government ship “sailed away without offering any assistance,” the lawmakers said.
Noting that it is a violation of international law for a government vessel to shoot an unarmed fishing boat, they called on the Philippines to “promptly and sincerely respond to the requests of the Taiwan government to apologize, punish the perpetrators, and provide proper compensation to the victim’s family based on humanitarian grounds.”
The two congressmen said further that a marine fishing agreement should be negotiated between Manila and Taipei to prevent the recurrence of such an incident.
Separately, an ROC delegation of 17 officials from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ministry of Justice, Criminal Investigation Bureau, Coast Guard Administration and Fisheries Agency arrived in Manila May 16 to investigate the shooting.
But Edwin Lacierda, spokesman for the Presidential Office of the Philippines, said the secretary of justice was unaware that investigative personnel had arrived from Taiwan.
According to Anna A. Kao, spokeswoman for the ROC MOFA, however, Antonio I. Basilio, representative of the Manila Economic and Cultural Office in Taiwan, had earlier promised that a Taiwan team could go to the Philippines to conduct a thorough inquiry. Moreover, investigative units from the two sides had already been in direct contact regarding the matter, she added. “It’s unclear what Lacierda’s remarks are based on.”
ROC Deputy Minister of Justice Chen Ming-tang said that the team had departed only after the MOFA received a positive reply from the Philippines government on its request for judicial assistance.
Manila-based GMA News reported May 16 that Philippines Secretary of Justice Leila M. De Lima said, “I don’t think we can agree to a joint investigation because we’re a sovereign country.”
She also said the Philippines National Bureau of Investigation would coordinate with MECO to request permission to send agents to Taiwan to conduct interviews and inspect the fishing boat.
After landing in Manila, the Taiwan delegation spent the day at the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office discussing protocol for an investigation with Philippines officials. Inquiries will get under way May 17 at the earliest.
Before leaving for Manila, the team had requested that it be allowed to take custody of the Philippine government vessel used in the attack, as well as the weapons and personnel involved, according to Chen Wen-chi, head of the MOJ Department of International and Cross-Strait Legal Affairs. (THN)
Write to Taiwan Today at ttonline@mofa.gov.tw