Taiwan urges joint probe into shooting
Source: AFP |
May 20, 2013, Monday
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Print Edition
Print Edition
TAIWAN yesterday repeated calls for a joint investigation into the killing of a fisherman by Philippine coast guards.
A team of investigators returned to Taiwan on Saturday, accusing the Philippines of failing to honor an agreement on a joint probe.
"The decision to send the investigators to Manila came only after the Philippine government had agreed to let us do so," Chen Ming-tang, Taiwan's deputy justice minister, told reporters.
Chen said a joint inquiry was the only way to establish the truth of the May 9 shooting of Hung Shih-cheng.
"While our investigators can provide them with evidence they have collected, Filipino investigators can come to Taiwan to gather evidence, including talking to the other witnesses on board the fishing boat at the time of the shooting," Chen said.
The coast guard has said the fishing vessel intruded into Philippine waters and tried to ram its patrol boat. Chen denied any intrusion, citing a voyage data recorder on the fishing boat.
Taiwan has rejected Manila's apology and slapped sanctions on the Philippines, including a ban on the hiring of new workers, recalling its representative to Manila and staging a drill in waters off the northern Philippines.
Amadeo Perez, a personal envoy from Philippine President Benigno Aquino was forced to return home last Thursday after Taipei rejected an apology he conveyed from Aquino.
Taipei has repeatedly pressed Manila to issue a formal government apology, to compensate the fisherman's family and to apprehend the killer.
In Manila, Perez said his country was waiting for tempers to cool.
Comments by Taiwanese investigators branding the incident as murder have complicated the situation, Perez, chairman of the Manila Economic and Cultural Office, said.
"We are waiting for the right time because I was told by the secretary-general for Asian affairs, we should wait for the temperature in Taiwan to cool," Perez told DZMM radio.
Perez said Taiwan wanted Aquino personally to write a letter of apology, but this could be considered a violation of Manila's one-China policy.
But he thanked Ma for his promise to protect Filipinos working in Taiwan after a Filipino worker was attacked.
A team of investigators returned to Taiwan on Saturday, accusing the Philippines of failing to honor an agreement on a joint probe.
"The decision to send the investigators to Manila came only after the Philippine government had agreed to let us do so," Chen Ming-tang, Taiwan's deputy justice minister, told reporters.
Chen said a joint inquiry was the only way to establish the truth of the May 9 shooting of Hung Shih-cheng.
"While our investigators can provide them with evidence they have collected, Filipino investigators can come to Taiwan to gather evidence, including talking to the other witnesses on board the fishing boat at the time of the shooting," Chen said.
The coast guard has said the fishing vessel intruded into Philippine waters and tried to ram its patrol boat. Chen denied any intrusion, citing a voyage data recorder on the fishing boat.
Taiwan has rejected Manila's apology and slapped sanctions on the Philippines, including a ban on the hiring of new workers, recalling its representative to Manila and staging a drill in waters off the northern Philippines.
Amadeo Perez, a personal envoy from Philippine President Benigno Aquino was forced to return home last Thursday after Taipei rejected an apology he conveyed from Aquino.
Taipei has repeatedly pressed Manila to issue a formal government apology, to compensate the fisherman's family and to apprehend the killer.
In Manila, Perez said his country was waiting for tempers to cool.
Comments by Taiwanese investigators branding the incident as murder have complicated the situation, Perez, chairman of the Manila Economic and Cultural Office, said.
"We are waiting for the right time because I was told by the secretary-general for Asian affairs, we should wait for the temperature in Taiwan to cool," Perez told DZMM radio.
Perez said Taiwan wanted Aquino personally to write a letter of apology, but this could be considered a violation of Manila's one-China policy.
But he thanked Ma for his promise to protect Filipinos working in Taiwan after a Filipino worker was attacked.
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