Premier Jiang Yi-huah called an emergency Executive Yuan meeting at eight o'clock this morning with the heads of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA), Coast Guard Administration (CGA), Council of Agriculture (COA) and Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) about the May 9 shooting of a Taiwan-registered fishing vessel by a Filipino government vessel, which resulted in the death of Taiwanese fisherman Hong Shi-cheng. The premier strongly condemned the attack and instructed the agencies to be actively involved in the government's response.
Immediately after the event, the MOFA demanded that the government of the Philippines give a formal and open apology, apprehend those responsible and provide reasonable compensation for the victims. At today's meeting, the premier asked the MOFA to instruct Representative Raymond L. S. Wang of the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in the Philippines to contact the Filipino government and demand a quick and substantive response.
The CGA, which is responsible for protecting Taiwan's fishing boats in its maritime economic zones, will send two more large patrol ships into the waters where the incident took place to improve its capacity to escort Taiwanese vessels in the area.
The COA's Fisheries Agency will provide compensation to Hong Shi-cheng's family and grant a loan for the repair of the damaged vessel. Additionally, the nation's fishing associations will strengthen their communication and support networks, providing immediate support via radio broadcast to sailors in need so as to limit the damages should a similar incident occur in the future.
The premier called Hong Shi-cheng's daughter Hong Jin-fang at 9:40 A.M. to express his deep condolences for her loss. He promised that the government will provide her family comprehensive and appropriate care and help them manage their affairs.
"Our government strongly condemns and protests this shooting, which violates international law and the Law of the Sea," the premier said. "We are firmly resolved to defend our sovereignty, our fishing rights and the rights and interests of our people.
"While we will not yield an inch of sovereignty, we can share resources," he continued. "This is our fundamental principle with respect to overlapping maritime exclusive economic zones, as expressed in President Ma Ying-jeou's East China Sea peace initiative and put into practice with our recent fisheries agreement with Japan. We wish to establish formal cooperative relationships with other nations to ensure Taiwanese fishermen's rights are fully protected."