The first preparatory meeting on fisheries cooperation between the Republic of China (Taiwan) and the Philippines was held on June 14 in Manila and ended with the two sides signing a summary conclusion and the Philippines responding positively to the four short-term objectives proposed by the ROC. The two sides guaranteed that they would: (1) refrain from the use of force or violence in law enforcement actions to prevent incidents such as the Guang Da Xing No. 28 (GDX 28) shooting incident from happening again; (2) share their basic maritime law enforcement procedures in order to establish a maritime law enforcement security mechanism; (3) establish a mechanism for one side notifying the other side whenever hot pursuit, boarding, inspection, arrest, detention, or related administrative or judicial procedures are carried out against fishing boats and crews of the other side; and (4) set up a mechanism for the prompt release of detained fishing vessels and their crews following arrests. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) will follow up on the first preparatory meeting by urging the Philippines to implement the conclusions reached at the meeting, so as to safeguard the rights, interests, and safety of ROC fishermen and prevent incidents such as the one involving the GDX 28 from happening again. The conclusions will serve as the basis for future talks on ROC-Philippines fisheries cooperation. The signing of the summary conclusion by the ROC representative to the Philippines and his Philippine counterpart, as well as officials representing the ROC’s and the Philippines’ competent fisheries authorities, was in line with the international practice of signing a document at the conclusion of a round of international negotiations, confirming the consensus reached during the talks and creating a foundation for the next round of talks. Given that this written document is the result of a consensus reached between officials authorized to represent their respective governments, the summary conclusion of the meeting is legally binding. In international law, it is indisputable that a written document signed by authorized officials representing their respective governments is legally binding. The ROC-Philippines fisheries talks involve many issues, which could not be fully covered in this first preparatory meeting. The two sides will hold more meetings and make compromises in order to gradually reduce their differences on specific issues and reach a concrete agreement. The second preparatory meeting on ROC-Philippines fisheries cooperation is tentatively scheduled to be held in July in Taipei. MOFA believes that future meetings will pave the way for a consensus on provisional arrangements on fisheries cooperation, maintenance of order in fishing operations, and resource management and conservation, and thereby resolve the longstanding fisheries disputes between the two countries. mofa.gov.tw/EnOfficial/ArticleDetail/DetailDefault/a408ca26-a970-471a-a172-fbb6e2b3c0a7?arfid=7b3b4d7a-8ee7-43a9-97f8-7f3d313ad781&opno=84ba3639-be42-4966-b873-78a267de8cf1
Posted on: Tue, 25 Jun 2013 17:31:39 +0000
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