OPINION:
The Philippines should approach the Taiwan-Philippines dispute in the spirit of the U.N. Convention on the Law of the Seas, to which it is a signatory (“Taiwan-Philippines dispute erupts after fisherman’s killing,” Web, May 20). Section 73 of that convention sets out the responsibilities of a state in policing its exclusive economic zone, none of which includes the use of deadly force in circumstances involving an unarmed fishing boat.
Thus, even if it were the case that the fishing boat was unambiguously in the Philippines’ exclusive zone, the actions of the Philippine personnel in firing on the boat were unjustifiable. Given the relative size of the vessels, the placement of the shots fired and the absence of any evidence of an attempt to ram the coast guard vessel, the claim of self-defense is also insufficient to justify this action.
In fact, the fishing vessel was in waters that are legitimately claimed by both Taiwan and the Philippines under customary international law and the Law of the Seas Convention. Article 74 of the latter calls for nations in this situation to quickly come to an agreement on the use of such waters and to do nothing to jeopardize the reaching of such an agreement. So far, the Philippines government has not followed the spirit of this article.
There are important short- and long-term issues at stake here. In the short term, the resolution of the crisis would be reached by an official apology by the government of the Philippines speaking in its own name and taking responsibility for using unlawful force, and by issuing compensation to the victim’s family. Neither should pose an insurmountable problem for the Philippines’ “One-China Policy,” particularly the second.
The long-term issue is an agreement on the administration and use of the overlapping parts of the exclusive economic zones between Taiwan and the Philippines. Absent such an agreement, tensions will continue, and the probability of another tragic incident occurring will remain high.
DAVID J. LORENZO
Associate professor
College of International Affairs
National Chengchi University
Taipei, Taiwan
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