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Taiwanese investigators to return from Manila after probe

ROC Central News Agency

2013/05/30 15:43:45

Manila, May 30 (CNA) Taiwanese investigators continued Thursday to question Filipino patrol personnel suspected of strafing a Taiwanese fishing boat and killing a crewman May 9, an incident that has sparked a diplomatic rift between the two countries.

Questioning of three staff members of the Philippine Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources and eight Filipino coast guard officers began the previous day.

The Filipino personnel were quoted as having told the Taiwanese investigators that the Taiwanese fishing boat Kuang Ta Hsing No. 28 neither rammed nor collided with their patrol vessel.

The Philippine officials also said the commander of their ship ordered the eight coast guard officers to open fire at the Taiwanese boat after it failed to observe a broadcast warning to leave what it claimed was the Philippines' exclusive economic zone (EEZ).

The Filipino coast guard officers sprayed bullets at the Kuang Ta Hsing with machine guns and rifles, leaving crewman Hung Shih-cheng dead and the boat seriously damaged.

The investigators said the latest round of questioning would involve speaking separately with the eight coast guard officers to clarify whether any of them violated rules of engagement, whether they had fired warning shots and whether any of them were aware that a man had been hit by their bullets.

They added that they would try to ascertain the veracity of the men's testimonies by comparing them with the other evidence the team has collected.

The team was also expected to question the Philippine patrol boat's commander later in the day to find out why he ordered the attack on the unarmed Taiwanese fishing boat, as well as the precise location of the incident.

The team arrived in Manila at the beginning of the week and was scheduled to depart for home Friday.

Over the past few days, the team has boarded the Philippine vessel to inspect the guns used in the attack and has obtained evidence, including images from a video recording of the incident that Philippine Secretary of Justice Leila De Lima has described as "revealing."

Meanwhile, a team of Philippine investigators are currently in Taiwan, conducting a parallel probe into the tragic incident.

(By Page Tsai and Sofia Wu)