Taiwan adopts eight sanctions against the Philippines

At the top of the program, we continue our coverage of the killing of a Taiwan fisherman by the Philippine coast guard. Authorities in Taiwan have imposed eight more sanctions against the Philippines, saying Manila's handling of the incident has been unsatisfactory.

Meanwhile, Philippine President Benigno Aquino has apologized for the shooting incident. And a Taiwan investigation team will head to the Philippines on Thursday.

Taiwan raises the stakes by imposing eight more sanctions against the Philippines.

The sanctions include issuing a travel warning to the Philippines, stopping high-level exchanges with the Philippines, and ceasing cooperation in agriculture and technology.

Meanwhile, the Manila Economic and Cultural Office Chairman Amadeo Perez arrived in Taiwan Wednesday afternoon and was expected to visit the family of the victim on Thursday, but the relatives have refused to meet the envoy.

Early on Wednesday Taiwan authorities described the Philippine response to the shooting as informal and insincere.

Antonio Basilio, Philippine Representative to Taiwan, said, "The Filipino people and the government understand the hurt and grief that the Taiwan people have felt as result of the death of one of their own fellow citizens."

At a High-level Security Conference held on Wednesday morning, Taiwan Leader Ma Ying-jeou said he is not satisfied with the first response given by the Philippine side.

He criticized the Philippines for its insincere attitude in handling the death of the Taiwan fisherman and decided to impose three sanction against the Philippines, including freezing all applications of Philippine laborers, recalling its representative to the Philippines and expelling the representative of the Philippines in Taipei.

Ma had announced earlier that if the Philippines can not offer a satisfactory response by Wednesday 6 pm local time, he would impose a second round of 8 sanctions on the country.

Garfie Li,spokeswoman, Ma Ying-jeou Office, said, "If the Philippine authorities can't meet our request by 6pm Wednesday, we will initiate the second round of countermeasures."

The incident happened last Thursday when a Philippine coast guard vessel fired on a Taiwan fishing boat about 160 nautical miles southeast of Taiwan. 65 year-old Hung Shih-cheng was killed in the incident.