Taiwan recalls envoy and freezes hiring of Filipinos in row over death of a fisherman

May 15th, 2013

Peter Nolan

“If the Philippine government cannot satisfy our side’s four demands by 6:00pm (1000 GMT) today, our government will adopt a second wave of sanctions,” Lee said.

Taipei made the decision despite an apology by Basilio after a closed-door meeting with Foreign Minister David Lin on Tuesday.

The Philippines will send special envoy Amadeo Perez to repeat his “deep regret and apology from the people of the Philippines” to the people of Taiwan and the fisherman’s family, according to Basilio.

However, Taiwan’s Premier Jiang Yi-huah said it was unacceptable that the apology comes from the “people of the Philippines” rather than the government as it was the coastguard that shot the fisherman.

Perez is chairman of the Manila Economic and Cultural Office (MECO) that represents the Philippines’ interest in Taiwan.

The incident sparked outrage in Taiwan and comes at a time of heightened tensions around the region over rival claims to the nearby South China Sea.

Taiwan has threatened to conduct a naval exercise in waters near the Philippines.

Source Article from http://telegraph.feedsportal.com/c/32726/f/568301/s/2beefcee/l/0L0Stelegraph0O0Cnews0Cworldnews0Casia0Ctaiwan0C10A0A57960A0CTaiwan0Erecalls0Eenvoy0Eand0Efreezes0Ehiring0Eof0EFilipinos0Ein0Erow0Eover0Edeath0Eof0Ea0Efisherman0Bhtml/story01.htm