Taiwanese investigators quit shooting probe, calling Philippine officials 'dishonest'

Taiwanese investigators yesterday described their Philippines counterparts as "capricious and dishonest" in their dealings with them over the shooting death of a Taiwanese fisherman by the Philippine coastguard.

Meanwhile, as concern over the incident spread to Beijing and Washington, the Global Times - a hawkish affiliate of People's Daily - called on the mainland, Hong Kong and Macau to join Taiwan's boycott of the Philippines, possibly through tourism and trade.

The 17 Taiwan investigators, led by Chen Wen-chi, a senior justice ministry official, returned to Taipei yesterday empty-handed a day after arriving in Manila for what was originally meant to be a joint investigation over whether the coastguard intentionally killed the fisherman aboard an unarmed Taiwanese fishing boat.

"The Philippine authorities agreed to hold a joint probe into the shooting case, but their attitude became capricious and dishonest after we arrived in Manila," Chen said at a Taoyuan International Airport.

After a fruitless wait, they decided to return to Taipei, Chen said, showing reporters a letter signed by a Philippine representative, welcoming Taiwan's involvement in a joint probe with Philippine authorities.

Hung Shih-cheng, 65, was shot dead by a Philippine coastguard officers on May 9, while his 15-tonne trawler was fishing in waters where the "exclusive economic zones" claimed by both two sides overlap.

The coastguard later insisted the shooting was an act of self-defence within Philippine territorial waters against what they described as "bad guys". They claimed the fishing boat was trying to sink their patrol vessel, which was 10 times heavier than the Taiwanese boat.