The Philippine Territory

MANILA, Philippines — A Philippine coastguard is seen laughing while trying to fire a rifle at a fleeing Taiwanese fishing boat, in a video of the incident that left one man dead and sparked a major diplomatic row.

In the 40-minute video, coastguard officers can be seen firing M-14 rifles and a mounted automatic machine gun at the vessel when it is a few hundred meters away and trying to escape.

The video was taken by one of the Filipino crewmen and released by the Philippines’ National Bureau of Investigation, which recommended last week that homicide charges be filed against eight coastguards.
A 65-year-old Taiwanese fisherman, one of four people on board the small vessel, was killed in the May 9 incident. It occurred in waters off the northern Philippines that Taiwan also claims as part of its economic zone.



The coastguard said the Taiwanese vessel was fishing illegally and they were forced to fire in self-defense as it tried to ram them.

But after Taiwan protested and imposed economic sanctions, the Philippine government apologized last week.

The video showed the Taiwanese crew initially appeared to be giving up, allowing the coastguard vessel to come alongside their boat so it could be boarded.

But as the Filipinos prepared a rope to tie the two vessels together, the Taiwanese boat reversed, then sped away with the Philippine vessel in pursuit.

As the coastguard vessel closed in on the Taiwanese boat to what appeared to be about 100 meters, Filipino voices could be heard yelling: “Shoot the engine.”

Read more: http://globalnation.inquirer.net/83163/video-of-laughing-ph-coast-guard-in-taiwan-shooting-incident-released#ixzz2bytFe4yf