Taiwan lifts sanctions vs Philippines

MANILA, Philippines - Taiwan has finally lifted all of its sanctions against the Philippines after President Benigno Aquino III apologized over the fatal shooting of a Taiwanese fisherman in waters off Batanes last May.

The development came after Amadeo Perez, chairman of the Manila Economic and Cultural Office (MECO), travelled to Taiwan to express the apology of Aquino and of the Filipinos to the family of crewmember Hong Shi-cheng, the victim of the fatal shooting incident involving a Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) vessel.

"Given that the Philippines has expressed its good will and apology both in writing and in deed, the ROC (Repuplic of China) government hereby pronounces that all sanctions imposed against the Philippines are lifted as of today," Taiwan's foreign ministry said in a statement.

The statement said that the Philippines has responded positively to the four demands proposed by the ROC (Taiwan's official title) including the issuance of an apology.

The other demands are the compensation for losses, a prompt and thorough investigation and severe punishment for those responsible, and initiation of fishery agreement negotiations between the two countries.

As the Philippines did not respond positively to the demands within the 72-hour deadline, the ROC government imposed a total of 11 sanctions on the Philippines, including a hiring freeze on overseas Filipino workers.

Earlier this week, the National Bureau of Investigation formally revealed the results of its investigation on the incident, where they recommended that eight PCG personnel be prosecuted for homicide and four more for obstruction of justice. The Department of Justice has promised to file charges against them as soon as possible.

But after the lifting of sanctions against the Philippines, the foreign ministry said Taiwan is also demanding that the Philippines should promptly prosecute and severely punish the perpetrators and hold the next round of fishery talks so as to strengthen fishery cooperation.

Taiwan also wants the Philippines to continue to enhance the mechanism for strengthening maritime law enforcement without the use of force or violence, and prevent similar tragedies from recurring and promptly mend the bilateral cooperative relationship, especially in the economy and trade, and promote the signing of an economic cooperation agreement.

The foreign ministry also said that in order to ensure the fishing operation rights and safety of its fishermen, the Taiwanese government will continue routine patrols of its exclusive economic zone to the south.