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Filipino arrivals
decline after shooting
Staff writer, with CNA
The diplomatic rift between Taiwan and the Philippines over the shooting of a
Taiwanese fisherman by Filipino Coast Guard personnel in May has affected
visitor arrivals from that country, according to the Tourism Bureau.
Filipino citizens made 49,197 visits to Taiwan in the first half of this year,
down 8.7 percent from the level a year earlier, the bureau¡¦s statistics show.
Taiwan had imposed 11 retaliatory measures against the Philippines after
Filipino coast guard officers sprayed bullets on a Taiwanese fishing boat ¡X the
Kuang Ta Hsing No. 28 ¡X in the two countries¡¦ overlapping exclusive economic
zones on May 9, causing the death of 65-year-old Hung Shih-cheng (¬x¥Û¦¨). The
sanctions including a freeze on the hiring of Filipino workers, issuance of a
¡§red¡¨ travel advisory, suspension of official bilateral cooperation, and
revocation of visa-free privileges for Philippine passport holders with US,
Schengen or Japanese visas.
The sanctions were lifted yesterday after the Philippines took steps in response
to Taiwan¡¦s four demands ¡X a formal apology, punishment of those responsible for
the shooting, compensation for the Hung family and bilateral fishery talks to
prevent the occurrence of similar incidents in the future.
¡§Effective today, the relations between our two countries are back to normal,¡¨
Minister of Foreign Affairs David Lin (ªL¥Ã¼Ö) told a press conference in Taipei on
Thursday evening.
The Tourism Bureau said it hopes the number of Filipino arrivals will rebound
gradually now the sanctions are lifted.
Meanwhile, the number of arrivals from Japan also registered a 7.6 percent
annual decline in the first half of the year, with the number plunging from
714,573 to 660,606, the bureau said.
The bureau attributed the dwindling Japanese arrivals mainly to the dramatic
depreciation of the yen over the past few months.
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