STATEMENT
On behalf of the Government of the Republic of China (Taiwan, ROC), the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office (TECO) in the Philippines hereby issues a statement on the incident of a brief standoff between the Philippine and Taiwanese Coast Guard vessels on May 25, 2015. The statement is read as follows:
1. The location of the incident happened was in the disputed waters of the overlapping EEZs between Taiwan/ROC and the Philippines, not inside the Philippine territorial waters, as incorrectly reported by certain Philippine media. The exact location of the incident occurred at 21.6 nautical miles from Batanes, not within the Philippine 12 nautical miles territorial waters.
In accordance of the international law and the UNCLOS, the location is part of the EEZs (contiguous zone), it is lawful for the Taiwanese fishing vessels to engage in fishing activities in the EEZs, except smuggling or drug trafficking, and it is not in conformity with the international law, for the Philippine agencies to arrest or detain the fishing vessels in the EEZs. Therefore, the Taiwanese Coast Guard is entitled to exercise its rights and to do its obligation to protect Taiwanese fishing vessels in the EEZs.
2. In order to find out what had really happened, the Taiwanese authorities has already investigated into this incident. According to the report of the investigation and the video tape taken during the course of encounter, the two Coast Guard officers were friendly and amicable with one another, and that no Taiwanese personnel had ever threatened to shoot the Filipinos. Actually, they greeted each other in a friendly atmosphere. The allegation was simply attributable to mutual language barriers and miscommunication.
3. As soon as the incident happened, both Governments and relevant agencies have worked together to promptly consulted and coordinated with each other to resolve this incident. It was after the bilateral consultations and sincere dialogue that the TFV “Ming Jin Cai No. 6” (Min Jiang Tsai No. 6) was released.
4. Taiwan Government is fully supportive of the Philippine DFA’s position. As the Spokesperson of the DFA, Assistant Secretary Charles Jose, said in a text message yesterday that “The incident highlights the need for an early conclusion of the Agreement (Concerning the Facilitation of Cooperation and Law Enforcement in Fisheries Matters between MECO and TECO) that would formalize how to resolve fishing disputes, including procedures on the detention and release of any fishing vessels or fisherman, so as to prevent the occurrence of similar incidents in the future.”
5. In line with the above position, the TECO hereby appeals to the Philippine Government to take concrete actions to expedite the conclusion of the above-mentioned Agreement, to restrain from apprehending or arresting the Taiwanese fishing vessels in the disputed waters of the overlapping EEZs or in the Philippine contiguous zones (part of the EEZs) in contravention of the international law, and working together with Taiwan, ROC to prevent the occurrence of similar incidents in the future.
6. The Taiwan authorities earnestly believe that with the conclusion of the said Agreement, there will be a mechanism, namely the Joint Technical Working Group (TWG) comprises the officials and officers from both sides to discuss the disputes and the procedure of law enforcement in a peaceful and mutually agreeable manner.
Taipei Economic and Cultural Office (TECO)
Manila, 4 June 2015
