Concrete results in 1st Taipei - Manila preparatory fishing talks

The first preparatory meeting on fisheries cooperation between the ROC and the Philippines was held June 14 in Manila, with both sides guaranteeing to avoid the use of armed force or violence in the implementation of fisheries laws.

The meeting follows on the ROC government’s four demands to the Philippines after its government vessel made an armed attack May 9 on a Taiwan fishing boat, the Guang Da Xing No. 28, killing fisherman Hong Shi-cheng. One of the demands, for the speedy arrangement of negotiations on fishery matters, was designed to prevent similar incidents from recurring.

The two sides agreed in the meeting to share their respective maritime law enforcement procedures, establish means for notifying each other without delay whenever law enforcement actions are taken against vessels and crews of the other party, and develop a mechanism for the prompt release of detained fishing vessels and their crews, consistent with international practice.

It was further concluded that both parties would meet again in the near future to discuss provisional arrangements on fisheries cooperation, including management and conservation schemes for fishery operations. In upcoming talks the two sides will refer to the substantive content of the Taiwan-Japan fishery agreement to help resolve the longstanding fisheries dispute between Taiwan and the Philippines.

Summary conclusions from the meeting were signed by Samson T.L. Chang, acting head of mission for the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in Manila, and Antonio I. Basilio, resident representative of the Manila Economic and Cultural Office in Taipei, and witnessed by Tsay Tzu-yaw, deputy director-general of the Fisheries Agency, ROC Council of Agriculture, and Asis G. Perez, director of the Philippine Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources.

Colin Stevens

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