NCKU Nan-Ying forum on diplomatic relations between Taiwan and the Philippines
Tainan, Taiwan, May 31, 2013
As Taiwan-Philippines relations continue to be tense due to the accident on Kuang Ta Hsing No. 28 fishing boat, the 5th session of the Nan-Ying National Affairs Forum was organized by the National Cheng Kung University (NCKU) College of Social Sciences on May 29, to analyze the situation with the topic - “The Development and Challenges of Diplomatic Relations between the Philippines and Taiwan: Fishing Rights and Sovereignty Disputes.”
Scholars generally believed that Taiwan government lacked understanding of Filipino sentiments and culture, and faced dilemma in handling this incident. According to suggestions made by scholars, if Taiwan government is unable to hold diplomatic negotiations, coast guards should be deployed to provide 24-hour protection of the country’s fishing rights and fishery resources.
The 5th session of the Nan-Ying National Affairs Forum was hosted by Southern Taiwan University of Science and Technology (STUST) Vice President Hsin-Hsing Wu. Other scholars invited to this forum were Dr. Xin-Zho Song of Tunghai University (THU) Department of Political Science, Tamkang University Graduate Institute of Asia Studies professor and National Cheng Chi University (NCCU) Department of History Adjunct Professor Dr Hurng-Yu Chen, Cheng Shiu University (CSU) Department of International Business Associate Professor Dr. Wan-Ping Tai, Chien Hsin University of Science and Technology (UCH) Department of Business Administration and Institute of Business and Management Associate Professor Dr. Jiann-Fa Yan and others.
NCKU Vice President Chih-Chin Ho, also the Dean of NCKU College of Social Sciences welcomed the distinguished guests. He claimed that the main goal of NCKU’s Nan-Ying National Affairs Forum is to establish interactions between the North and the South, thus exchanging ideas and concepts.
“In the occasion of the Philippines-Taiwan tensions, the most urgent issue that requires our attention is to find ways to brainstorm on how to look at the relations between both countries objectively in the future,” said Vice President Ho, who hoped that scholars could offer different viewpoints to analyze the diplomatic relations between Taiwan and the Philippines.
STUST Vice President Hsin-Hsing Wu, also the former Special Representative for Taiwan R.O.C to the Philippines, had a deeper understanding of the political scenario in the Philippines. He added that there was a huge difference in sentiments and culture between Filipinos and Taiwanese.
In his opinion, the 72-hour ultimatum issued by the Taiwanese government was the most erroneous political move in this whole incident.
“As the Philippines were preparing for the general elections, there was no such thing as replying an ultimatum within 72 hours for the Filipinos,” explained Vice President Wu. “The Taiwanese government has wrongly judged the situation, this giving both countries no way out of this incident.”
Wu suggested that the very least the Taiwan government can do is to protect the fishing rights of the country and the lives and properties of Taiwanese fishermen if the government is unable to strongly advocate these rights.
Dr. Xin-Zho Song of THU revealed that Taiwan’s past efforts of protecting the country’s fishing rights were often criticized. However, the incident has caused an uproar among Taiwanese, thus prompting the government to act tough on this issue.
Dr. Hurng-Yu Hong of Tamkang University looked at the fishing rights and sea border issues from historical and legal perspectives. He believed that Filipino nationalism is aggressive, thus explaining why Filipinos would not compromise on what they own.
“In 1961, the Philippines advocated the Archipelagic Baseline Laws and the country’s waters, as well as expelled Taiwanese fishermen at waters near Batanes,” revealed Dr. Hong. “In reality, the Philippines’ advocates had violated the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea. Therefore, the Philippines have no right to unilaterally advocate that Taiwanese fishermen had crossed the Philippines sea borders.”
CSU’s Dr. Wan-Ping Tai, who served as visiting professor for Far Eastern University at the Philippines, pointed out that the fishing boat incident was a sudden, unexpected one-off incident which was not a systematic assault on Taiwanese fishermen launched by the Philippines’ government.
Hence, Taiwan government will need a longer time to call for diplomatic negotiations, obtain international opinions, as well as establish clearer strategies on South China Sea.
UCH’s Dr. Jiann-Fa Yan, the former chairman of the Research and Planning Committee of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, described Taiwan’s response to this issue as “swift and fiery”, thus transforming an incident involving the killing of a fisherman into fishing rights and sovereignty issues.
In the history of Taiwan’s foreign affairs, examples of such swift transformation of incidents into retaliation were rare. However, Taiwan’s handling of the incident has caused bilateral relations between both countries to reach an unprecedented low, hence the government’s measures in this incident should be reviewed.
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As Taiwan-Philippines relations continue to be tense due to the accident on Kuang Ta Hsing No. 28 fishing boat, the 5th session of the Nan-Ying National Affairs Forum was organized by the National Cheng Kung University (NCKU) College of Social Sciences on May 29, to analyze the situation with the topic - “The Development and Challenges of Diplomatic Relations between the Philippines and Taiwan: Fishing Rights and Sovereignty Disputes.”
Scholars generally believed that Taiwan government lacked understanding of Filipino sentiments and culture, and faced dilemma in handling this incident. According to suggestions made by scholars, if Taiwan government is unable to hold diplomatic negotiations, coast guards should be deployed to provide 24-hour protection of the country’s fishing rights and fishery resources.
The 5th session of the Nan-Ying National Affairs Forum was hosted by Southern Taiwan University of Science and Technology (STUST) Vice President Hsin-Hsing Wu. Other scholars invited to this forum were Dr. Xin-Zho Song of Tunghai University (THU) Department of Political Science, Tamkang University Graduate Institute of Asia Studies professor and National Cheng Chi University (NCCU) Department of History Adjunct Professor Dr Hurng-Yu Chen, Cheng Shiu University (CSU) Department of International Business Associate Professor Dr. Wan-Ping Tai, Chien Hsin University of Science and Technology (UCH) Department of Business Administration and Institute of Business and Management Associate Professor Dr. Jiann-Fa Yan and others.
NCKU Vice President Chih-Chin Ho, also the Dean of NCKU College of Social Sciences welcomed the distinguished guests. He claimed that the main goal of NCKU’s Nan-Ying National Affairs Forum is to establish interactions between the North and the South, thus exchanging ideas and concepts.
“In the occasion of the Philippines-Taiwan tensions, the most urgent issue that requires our attention is to find ways to brainstorm on how to look at the relations between both countries objectively in the future,” said Vice President Ho, who hoped that scholars could offer different viewpoints to analyze the diplomatic relations between Taiwan and the Philippines.
STUST Vice President Hsin-Hsing Wu, also the former Special Representative for Taiwan R.O.C to the Philippines, had a deeper understanding of the political scenario in the Philippines. He added that there was a huge difference in sentiments and culture between Filipinos and Taiwanese.
In his opinion, the 72-hour ultimatum issued by the Taiwanese government was the most erroneous political move in this whole incident.
“As the Philippines were preparing for the general elections, there was no such thing as replying an ultimatum within 72 hours for the Filipinos,” explained Vice President Wu. “The Taiwanese government has wrongly judged the situation, this giving both countries no way out of this incident.”
Wu suggested that the very least the Taiwan government can do is to protect the fishing rights of the country and the lives and properties of Taiwanese fishermen if the government is unable to strongly advocate these rights.
Dr. Xin-Zho Song of THU revealed that Taiwan’s past efforts of protecting the country’s fishing rights were often criticized. However, the incident has caused an uproar among Taiwanese, thus prompting the government to act tough on this issue.
Dr. Hurng-Yu Hong of Tamkang University looked at the fishing rights and sea border issues from historical and legal perspectives. He believed that Filipino nationalism is aggressive, thus explaining why Filipinos would not compromise on what they own.
“In 1961, the Philippines advocated the Archipelagic Baseline Laws and the country’s waters, as well as expelled Taiwanese fishermen at waters near Batanes,” revealed Dr. Hong. “In reality, the Philippines’ advocates had violated the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea. Therefore, the Philippines have no right to unilaterally advocate that Taiwanese fishermen had crossed the Philippines sea borders.”
CSU’s Dr. Wan-Ping Tai, who served as visiting professor for Far Eastern University at the Philippines, pointed out that the fishing boat incident was a sudden, unexpected one-off incident which was not a systematic assault on Taiwanese fishermen launched by the Philippines’ government.
Hence, Taiwan government will need a longer time to call for diplomatic negotiations, obtain international opinions, as well as establish clearer strategies on South China Sea.
UCH’s Dr. Jiann-Fa Yan, the former chairman of the Research and Planning Committee of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, described Taiwan’s response to this issue as “swift and fiery”, thus transforming an incident involving the killing of a fisherman into fishing rights and sovereignty issues.
In the history of Taiwan’s foreign affairs, examples of such swift transformation of incidents into retaliation were rare. However, Taiwan’s handling of the incident has caused bilateral relations between both countries to reach an unprecedented low, hence the government’s measures in this incident should be reviewed.
Enditem/
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