JEDDAH — Taipei is still trying to come up with solutions to its intensifying conflict with Manila following a shooting attack carried out by a Philippine government vessel on a Taiwanese boat that killed crew member Hung Shih-cheng, 65, and sparked outrage in Taiwan and a series of economic sanctions against the Philippines. On Saturday President Ma Ying-jeou of the Republic of China (Taiwan) instructed that the investigation into the shooting attack be dealt with on the basis of “parity and reciprocity,” and that a “consensus should be reached so as to quickly resolve the issue.” This week the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) of the Republic of China (Taiwan) established the Foreign Press Liaison in an effort to straightening the government's communication with the international community and therefore the latter's understanding of what Taipei has concluded was coldblooded murder.
So far the Foreign Press Liaison has proved a valuable entity. According to a MOFA spokesman, Taipei Bureau Chief at Bloomberg News Debra Mao and two of her colleagues traveled to Xiao Liuqiu in Pingdong County, with the assistance of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, to interview the three fishermen who survived the attack. Her May 21 report, headlined “Taiwan Fishing Crew Hid to Escape Hail of Philippine Bullets,” recounted the entire incident. In the Bloomberg report, captain Hung Yu-chi recalled the Philippine Coast Guard vessel firing at the Taiwanese boat, saying that “bullets sprayed the boat, puncturing the hull, the glass windshield of the cockpit and a rice cooker.” Thirty minutes into the attack, the rudder had been damaged. According to MOFA, the media in the Philippines have also begun to take a more positive attitude toward Taiwan following the Philippines' failure to make an official apology to the Republic of China (ROC) after so many days. On Monday, The Daily Tribune ran an editorial criticizing Philippine President Benigno S. Aquino III for sending a “half-hearted note of apology” from the Philippine people, more than a week after the incident, which the ROC government would naturally find unacceptable.
Another report in The Daily Tribune pointed out that Taiwan had completed its bullet trajectory report very quickly, showing that the Philippine coast guard had fired at the hull of the fishing boat from the rear and the port side, and that it was obvious that the boat could not have rammed the Philippine patrol vessel. Yet 11 days on, the Philippine Coast Guard has still not released the videotape it claims to have of the incident. — SG
