Fisheries agreement and cool heads needed

Media provided coverage that employed an uncalled-for ultranationalist tone regarding the death of Hung Shih-cheng, the 65-year-old fisherman from the small island the Dutch, who ruled Taiwan in the early 17th century, called Golden Lion. It was so named because some of the crew of the Dutch ship of the same name were killed by indigenous tribesmen, and an army contingent was sent to punish the culprits.

Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) leaders called on President Ma Ying-jeou to get tougher with Taiwan’s impertinent neighbour to the south. Ma complied, condemning the shooting as an uncivilised act and demanding justice and retribution, which he promised to pursue to the end.

“We demand the Philippines investigate and clarify the truth, to apologise, apprehend the killer and compensate, and we will not stop our pursuit until the issue is appropriately resolved,” the president declared, but said, when asked if the attack was an act of war, there was no need to over-interpret the incident.

Then, as if that were not tough enough, he called a National Security Council meeting last Saturday, handing out a 72-hour ultimatum to Manila and threatening to recall Taipei’s representative in the Philippines and bar Filipino migrant workers from Taiwan. The mass-circulation China Times published an eight-page extra to accentuate Taiwan’s ire at the Filipino “atrocity”.

Taiwan is overreacting. The incident isn’t an isolated case. Quite a few Golden Lion fishermen have been killed by personnel aboard Philippine patrol boats in the past. But Taiwan never demanded official apologies and compensation, and as a result, the Filipinos refused to apologise and compensate this time around, convinced that there wouldn’t be any serious consequences.

Times have changed, however. As late as 2006, Chen An-lau, the skipper of the Man Chun Yi tuna boat, was shot dead off the northern Philippines. Taipei merely protested to Manila over what it said was the improper use of weapons, while the Kuomintang (KMT) in opposition didn’t demand that the DPP government get tough. The DPP, now in opposition, is urging the KMT administration to punish the Filipinos, and governing party leaders, who don’t like to be outdone, one-upped them by calling for confrontation if Manila doesn’t submit. One KMT lawmaker is insisting that Ma order retaliation by sinking one of the Filipino coast guard boats. Kaohsiung district prosecutors are trying to prosecute the Philippine coast guards for murder on the high sea.

Manila insists that the shooting was legitimate and done in self-defence, though its representative in Taipei, Antonio Basilio, offered an apology to Hung’s bereaved family. The Philippine Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources said the incident occurred in Philippine territorial waters and its personnel had been properly carrying out their duties to stop illegal fishing. “If somebody died, they deserve our sympathy but not an apology,” a spokesman, Commander Armand Balilo, said.

Moreover, he declared, coast guardsmen fired after the Taiwan fishing boat tried to ram their vessel. He added that “they were able to disable the vessel although they were not aware at the time that somebody had been hit”. Asis Perez, director of the bureau, promised a transparent and impartial investigation, which may be a joint inquiry, according to Basilio.

The joint inquiry should satisfy Taipei. Just to be fair, Taipei has to hear what Manila has to say about the incident. If the shooting is found to have taken place in the overlapping EEZ, the Philippines will officially apologise and punish those involved in accordance with its law. But compensation has to be paid to the victim. And Taiwan and the Philippines have to conclude a fisheries agreement, like the one Taipei signed with Tokyo on April 10, to prevent disputes over fishing rights and fishing grounds.