Expected reaction
Taiwan’s rejection of President Aquino’s apology for the death of a Taiwanese fisherman was expected. It shows Taiwan is more inclined to side with China in the latter’s dispute with the Philippines over territorial sovereignty.
Not only has Taiwan refused to accept the President’s apology, it also has warned its citizens against traveling to the Philippines; cut off our country from visa-waiver programs; and suspended exchanges, cooperation, and technology and aviation negotiations with our country. What happened was just too bad and has affected our relations with Taiwan at the moment.
Taiwan is questioning the sincerity of the government, saying that the Philippines is distancing itself from the incident. The apology should not be misconstrued by Taiwan as “insincere”; it has no basis to say this. Coming from no less than the President himself, the country’s highest official, the apology can only come from the heart and should be seen as representative of the public’s sentiment. The Filipino people are as saddened by what happened.
The government should try once more to reach out to Taiwan’s leaders to resolve the issue as soon as possible. Our country cannot afford to have hostile relations with neighbors like Taiwan. We all regret the untimely death of Taiwanese fisherman Hung Shih-chen and we know how disconsolate his family is right now. The government did right by apologizing for Hung’s death and by sending an emissary to personally convey the apology, with the assurance that those responsible will be subjected to due process.
We hope and pray that Taiwan will soften soon and lift its sanctions on the Philippines.
—BABY LEE BUCHANAN,
