Philippines admits coastguard fired at Taiwanese fishing boat
Taiwan expresses outrage after Filipino coastguard admits firing at unarmed vessel
The Philippines yesterday admitted that its coastguard fired at a Taiwanese fishing boat on Thursday, but said the action took place within its waters and that it had no idea it had killed one of the four crewmen on the boat.
The shooting triggered public outrage on the island and intensified tensions over territorial disputes around the Spratly Islands in the South China Sea, claimed wholly or in part by the mainland, Taiwan, the Philippines, Brunei, Malaysia and Vietnam.
An angry Taiwanese President Ma Ying-jeou condemned the Philippine government over the attack, which saw coastguard personnel aboard a Filipino surveillance vessel fire at the unarmed Taiwanese fishing boat in waters 170 nautical miles off the southernmost tip of Taiwan.
The shooting took place in the Bashi Channel, about midway between southern Taiwan and the northern Philippines, in their overlapping exclusive economic zones.
"No country should use force against an unarmed fishing boat … and foreign officials can at most board a fishing boat for inspection," Ma told reporters.
Describing the shooting as "uncivilised acts," Ma said the machine-gun shots by the surveillance vessel left more than 30 bullet holes on the vessel, killing the 65-year-old fisherman, Hung Shih-cheng.