Philippines coastguard fires on Taiwan fishing vessel

Manila: The Philippine Coast Guard fired at a Taiwanese fishing vessel in the South China Sea, prompting a strong protest from Taiwan’s Foreign Ministry, which demanded a formal apology and compensation after a 65-year-old person on board the boat was killed in the incident.

The incident occurred as a Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) was on the lookout for fishing vessels that had ventured illegally into Philippine territory in the South China Sea, said PCG spokesperson Commander Armand Balilo.

Giving details of the incident, Balilo said, “They [PCG] fired at the machinery [of the Taiwanese vessel] to disable it; if somebody died, they deserve our sympathy but not an apology.”

Hung Shih-cheng, 65, was killed when the vessel, Guang Ta Hsin 28, was fired upon by a “Philippine government boat” 154 nautical miles off Taipei’s southernmost tip early on Thursday, a detailed statement from Taiwan’s Foreign Ministry said.

Holding the Philippine Navy responsible for the incident, the statement said, “We strongly protest and condemn that a Philippine government boat attacked our fishing boat and demand the Philippines formally apologise, apprehend the murderer and compensate.”

Taiwan’s coast guard also sent out a rescue ship to the aid of the fishing vessel, which was carrying a crew of three Taiwanese and one Indonesian at the time it was attacked, the statement said.

Before the Philippine Coast Guard admitted it had acted to drive back an illegal fishing boat, the Philippine Navy had denied the Taiwanese Foreign Ministry’s accusations, saying it had no ship in the area at the time of the reported incident.

Experts said that if the incident had occurred 164 nautical miles off Taiwan’s southern coast, it would be deemed a violation of Taiwan’s exclusive economic zone, based on provisions of the United Nations Convention of the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) which states that countries can consider an area of 200 nautical miles from their shores as exclusive economic zones.

China, Taiwan, and Vietnam claim the whole of the South China Sea based on their respective historical records of the contentious sea lane. Brunei, Malaysia, and the Philippines claim some parts of the Spratly archipelago in the South China Sea based on provisions of UNCLOS.

China has imposed a one-China policy on allies worldwide, implying that Taiwan is China’s territory even if it has exercised self-rule since 1949.

The Philippines has diplomatic ties with China, but maintains a distinct economic arrangement with Taiwan.