Taiwan hands out 72-hour ultimatum to Manila
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Publication Date : 12-05-2013
Respond to demands or face consequences, Ma warns
Taiwan President Ma Ying-jeou has given the Philippines 72 hours to respond to demands regarding the killing of a Taiwanese fisherman or face the consequences, Presidential Office spokesperson Garfie Li said yesterday.
The retaliation would include a freeze on all applications of Philippine labourers, the recalling of Taiwan's envoy in Manila and the expulsion of the Philippine envoy in Taipei, Li said.
The president yesterday called a national security meeting over the recent shooting of a Taiwan fishing boat by the Philippine coast guard.
The meeting, attended by Foreign Minister David Lin, Defence Minister Kao Hua-chu and other officials, signified an official upgrade of the case.
Chen Li-tung, a professor at National Taiwan Ocean University's Insitute of the Law of the Sea, said that under international law it was illegal for the Philippines vessel to shoot on an unarmed boat.
Meanwhile, Hu Nien-tsu, director of National Sun Yat-sen University's centre for Marine Policy Studies, said according to a 1982 U.N. convention, the Philippines must accept the traditional right of fishermen from neighbouring countries to fish in certain areas falling within archipelagic waters.
The Philippines must apologise, find and prosecute those responsible for the brutal killing, and offer compensation for the fisherman's death, Ma said earlier yesterday.
If the Philippines fails to do this and does not provide assurance that similar incidents will not happen again, Taiwan will consider imposing sanctions against the country, Ma said. A former high-ranking security official reportedly said that sanctions against the Philippines would not have a great effect.
The president should set up a task force and bring the Philippine suspects to Taiwan for trial on murder charges, the official said, adding that in the event of an arrest at sea, if the suspects resist, the Taiwanese Navy and Coast Guard should open fire and shoot to kill.
On Thursday, a Philippine government vessel opened fire on a Taiwanese boat that was fishing in disputed waters south of Taiwan.
In the ensuing gunfire, Hung Shih-cheng, a fisherman aboard the Taiwanese vessel, died from a bullet wound to the neck, investigators said.
Such excessive use of force is unacceptable in any country, Ma said, adding that the act of opening fire on an unarmed boat was inhuman, brutal and cold-blooded.
Meanwhile, footage of the event was brought back by a Philippines coast guard officer involved in the incident. The video, which will be given to investigators, will not be released for the time being.
Though the Philippines' top envoy to Taiwan has apologised to the family of the dead fisherman, its government has refused to apologise for the shooting, Ma said.
It is absolutely unacceptable for the Philippines to illegally kill someone and then refuse to apologise, the president said.
Ma noted that the tragedy once again highlights the issue of safety for Taiwanese fishing vessels operating on the high seas.
Taiwan's Coast Guard must beef up its operations in the South China Sea, he added.
The Philippines' top envoy to Taiwan, Antonio Basilio, yesterday visited Hung's family on outlying Siaoliouciou Island to offer his condolences and apology. Basilio was accompanied by Taiwan's foreign minister.
Basilio reiterated that his government welcomes a joint investigation led by law enforcement authorities from both countries to establish the location of the incident and the circumstances that led to the tragedy.
Should the investigation show that there was a violation of international law and practice...as well as our domestic law, we will let the law take its course so that justice will be served, Basilio said.
