Publication Date : 10-05-2013
President Ma Ying-jeou expressed great concern over the attack and has instructed the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) to demand that the Philippine government investigate the incident and arrest the culprit.
A sailor on the Kuang Ta Hsing No. 28 said they were fishing 170 nautical miles off the southern tip of Taiwan when they came under attack.
Philippines naval forces opened fire with machine guns without any warning, killing 65-year-old Hung Shih-cheng, the father of the boat's skipper.
Another witness account says that the fishing boat was attacked by Philippine naval cannon.
The boat suffered engine failure after the attack.
Another sailor said he could not determine whether the shots were fired from a military frigate or an armed private vessel.
The CGA dispatched its Tainan vessel to rescue the stricken boat. Two Taiwanese fishing vessels helped to tow the Kuang Ta Hsing No. 28 back to Taiwan under the escort of the CGA.
Ma said he was greatly concerned by the incident.
He has instructed the Foreign Ministry to demand that the Philippine government investigate the attack incident and punish those responsible to ensure that the sovereignty of the Republic of China is maintained.
After consultation with Premier Jiang Yi-huah, Ma ordered MOFA, the CGA and the Fisheries Agency to stay on top of the case. He also expressed condolences to the victim's family and ordered that all necessary assistance be offered to them, said Presidential Office spokesperson Garfie Li.
The death of the sailor mandates further investigation, said Chou Yin-hwou, deputy director-general of MOFA's Department of East Asian and Pacific Affairs.
Chou added that the ministry has expressed its concern to the Philippines over the case and has lodged a protest over the attack.
As of press time the Philippines' naval authorities said they had not received any relevant reports on the incident. The Philippine navy, coast guard, sea police and fisheries and water resource bureau all indicated that they had not received any notices of the attack.
“If a naval vessel was involved in such an incident, we would have received a notice immediately,” said a Philippine naval public relations officer.
“The location where the attack occurred is far from the coast, and our boat was not present at the time,” said Philippine seawater police.
No comments:
Post a Comment