Philippine military vessel fired on unarmed fishing boat from Taiwan

China strongly condemned the Philippines' "barbaric" fatal shooting of a 65-year-old fisherman from Taiwan on Thursday, a Foreign Ministry spokeswoman said on Friday.

"We strongly urge again that the Philippines investigate the case immediately and handle the issue properly. We will keep a close watch on the development of the incident," said Hua Chunying, spokeswoman of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, at a daily news conference.

China expressed deep concern over the Philippines' repeated attacks against unarmed fishermen, Hua said.

"We wish to express deep grief over the death of the Taiwan fisherman and give condolences to the victim's family," Hua said.

Responding to a Philippine news report stating that some Chinese vessels were spotted near Ren'ai Jiao, Hua said China has indisputable sovereignty over the Nansha Islands and their adjacent waters.

The shooting occurred at about 10 am on Thursday in an area about 160 nautical miles southeast of the southernmost tip of the island of Taiwan, according to Taiwan's coast guard authority.

The victim was identified as 65-year-old Hung Shih-cheng. Four seamen were on the boat, the Guang Ta Hsin 28. The other three — the victim's son, his son-in-law and an Indonesian fisherman —were all injured, the Beijing Times reported.

The Philippine vessel fired nearly 40 shots at the fishing boat.

After killing the fisherman, the Philippine armed vessel continued to chase and fire at the fishing boat for another hour and a half, according to reports carried by Taiwan media outlets.

【新聞快訊】

據(jù)新華社消息，臺(tái)灣“農(nóng)委會(huì)”漁業(yè)署副署長蔡日耀昨日證實(shí)，當(dāng)日上午10時(shí)左右，臺(tái)灣漁船“廣大興28號(hào)”在屏東縣鵝鑾鼻東南方約180海里處遭菲律賓軍艦射擊，一名船員死亡，船只也喪失動(dòng)力。

事件發(fā)生后，臺(tái)灣當(dāng)局領(lǐng)導(dǎo)人馬英九當(dāng)天對(duì)漁民遭槍擊身亡案表達(dá)高度重視，令當(dāng)局有關(guān)部門掌握相關(guān)案情，務(wù)必維護(hù)民眾權(quán)益。

5月10日，菲律賓海岸警衛(wèi)隊(duì)召開記者會(huì)，首度公開對(duì)外承認(rèn)是菲海岸警衛(wèi)隊(duì)人員9日開槍射擊一艘臺(tái)灣漁船，造成船上一名臺(tái)灣漁民死亡，但拒絕就此事道歉。發(fā)言人聲稱：“向漁船器械開火，目的是迫使船只無法繼續(xù)作業(yè)，若有人死亡，我們表示同情，但不會(huì)因此道歉。”

外交部發(fā)言人華春瑩表示，中方對(duì)此表示嚴(yán)重關(guān)切，我們對(duì)開槍射殺臺(tái)灣漁民的野蠻行徑表示強(qiáng)烈譴責(zé)。中方要求菲方立即進(jìn)行調(diào)查，并盡快作出說明。我們對(duì)遇害的臺(tái)灣同胞表示深切哀悼，對(duì)家屬表示慰問。