Intellectual Vomit of a Technophobic

Kuang Ta Hsing and the Territorial Claims

Wed, 22 May 2013 18:01:43 +0800

This is a post about the location where the Kuang Ta Hsing No. 28 (廣大興28號) incident took place. I’m just going to talk about the location — where it is with respect to the Philippine’s and Taiwan’s territorial claims, and will not comment about other things related to the incident.

This post is somewhat long, given the complexity of the topic.

Before anything else, a disclaimer: I am not an expert on law or foreign relations. This is just my interpretation of my little research about UNCLOS, and territorial claims. I’ll try to be as objective as possible.

According to reports, the incident happened somewhere in 19°58’N 122°58’E.

Question: Is it in Philippine waters?

Filipinos claim it is in the Philippine’s waters. The term used here is ambiguous. If it refers to territorial waters, the answer is “No”. See next.

Question: Is it in Philippine territorial waters? Answer: No.

Territorial waters is defined by UNCLOS as the waters extending at most 12 nautical miles from the state’s coastal baseline. The location is about 43 nautical miles from the nearest Philippine coast of Balintang Island according to reports.

Question: Is it in the Philippine’s EEZ? Answer: Yes.

No doubt about this. Exclusive economic zone or EEZ is the waters 200 nautical miles from the state’s coastal baseline. Here’s an illustration about baseline, territorial waters, and EEZ from Wikipedia.

Question: Is it in Taiwan’s EEZ? Answer: Yes.

The location is around 166 nautical miles from Eluanbi, a southern coast of Taiwan.

Question: Taiwan is not recognized as a member state by the UN so EEZ doesn’t apply to Taiwan right?

The thing about Taiwan and UN is complicated. I am not sure if UNCLOS only covers just its member states. But I think this can be simplified: (1) Taiwan is a state, so it has an EEZ; (2) Taiwan belongs to China (“One China Policy”), which has an EEZ. In short, the location is within the EEZ of Taiwan, or the EEZ of Taiwan, China.

Claim: The location is closer to the Philippines, so it is part of the Philippines.

The location is in an overlapping EEZ, and indeed it is closer to the Philippines. But as far as UNCLOS is concerned, proximity to one’s coastal baseline cannot be used as the only basis of claims on overlapping EEZ. Disputes should be settled by peaceful means, and agreements must be reached by the parties.

There doesn’t seem to be any agreements reached so far about this overlapping EEZ.

Claim: Taiwan signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) during the time of Cory Aquino that allowed Taiwanese fisherman to pass through Philippine waters on their way to the Pacific Ocean. That means the Taiwanese recognized the area as part of Philippine waters. [3]

This is the claim of Laura Baja, former ambassador to the UN. But the status of this MOU is not known, because “it came from Malacanang Palace and did not pass through the DFA [Department of Foreign Affairs]”, said Baja who was the former foreign affairs undersecretary for policy.

As the MOU’s status is not known, its exact contents is unknown, and is open to different interpretations. Again, “Philippine waters” is ambiguous. What area does the MOU refer to? It could be a very specific area; it could be part of the 12-nautical mile territorial water. We do not know.

(If anyone has source on the actual MOU, please share.)

Claim: The map released by Taiwan government [4] shows the incident happened in Philippines waters.

I think this is a failure in translation. The dotted lines in the map along 20° is not the national borders. The map is labeled 行政院海岸巡防署專屬經濟海域執法範圍示意圖 - “Coast Guard Administration Map of the EEZ”, and the dotted line is labeled 政府護漁南界 - “southern boundary of coast guard patrol”. The line is just that — a patrol line, and is by no means the national border. I think it is a self-imposed patrol line by Taiwan as an act of goodwill. That is, until the incident. (Taiwanese coast guards have since crossed this patrol line.)

Claim: In this territorial map of the Philippines (from Wikipedia), the red line marks the territory of the Philippines including the waters.

Wrong. The red line is labeled International Treaty Limits, which is from the Treaty of Paris of 1898. In the treaty, it was written:

“Spain cedes to the United States the archipelago known as the Philippine Islands, and comprehending the islands lying within the following line…”

In other words, the line just marks the islands to be ceded to the US. For further reference, see this document [5]:

“what was intended to be ceded was the land area found within the said imaginary lines” — Florentino P. Feliciano, Philippine Int’l. Law Journal, Vol. 1, No. 1, pp 160-161

“You will see that the reference is to the lands contained within certain lines of allocation” — David P. Aiers, Philippine Int’l. Law Journal, Vol. 1, No. 1, p 170

“The US is adamant in denying that the TOP includes the maritime area”.

Anyway, the Philippine territorial claims based on Treaty of Paris is already outdated, and has been superseded/amended by later republic acts, I think the latest one being R.A. 9522 from 2009, which is based on UNCLOS.

—-

TLDR: The incident took place in the overlapping EEZs.

—-

References:
1. Wikipedia
2. http://www.un.org/Depts/los/convention_agreements/texts/unclos/closindx.htm
3. http://www.scmp.com/news/china/article/1239342/former-envoy-lauro-baja-tells-taiwan-remember-who-its-friends-are
4. http://www.cga.gov.tw/GipOpen/wSite/public/Attachment/f1368153033684.pdf
5. http://www.virginia.edu/colp/pdf/Bali-Bensurto.pdf

At least the leftists didn’t win.

Sat, 18 May 2013 21:32:02 +0800

At least the leftists didn’t win.

Second Wave of Sanctions Take Effect

Wed, 15 May 2013 18:37:00 +0800

The second wave.

Taiwan's Second Wave of Sanctions

Wed, 15 May 2013 11:25:00 +0800

In an international press conference, Taiwan announces the second wave of sanctions that will be imposed against the Philippines in case the Philippine government still fails to give a satisfactory response over the killing of the Taiwanese fisherman:

Issue red travel warning to the Philippines
Cease all “high-level exchanges” at the World Health Assembly
Cease all economic exchanges
Cease all cooperations in the fishing industry
Cease all cooperations in the tech industry
Cease all negotiations on navigational rights
Cease all visa-free entry
Military exercises in the South China Sea

Source: Taiwanese reports

Taiwan Sanctions the Philippines

Wed, 15 May 2013 11:01:00 +0800

Taiwan has sanctioned the Philippines because the Philippine government failed to give a proper response within the 72 hours ultimatum given by Taiwan over the shooting incident that killed a Taiwanese fisherman.

Taiwan demanded for a formal apology, the payments of compensation to the fisherman’s family, the speeding up of investigation of the incident and punishment of the people responsible, and talks over fishing rights. But the 72 hours ultimatum lapsed without a proper response by the Philippine government, and due to the Philippine government’s “lack of sincerity” and “perfunctory attitude” on the matter, Taiwan has applied its sanctions against the Philippines.

Taiwan is freezing all applications of Filipino workers, recalling its envoy to the Philippines, and asking the Filipino envoy in Taipei to leave.

Taiwan said that if the Philippine government still cannot give a satisfactory response before 6 PM today, May 15, there shall be a second wave of sanctions.

Source: Taiwanese reports

Left: Aquino smiling during the press conference after the...

Tue, 14 May 2013 22:21:20 +0800

Left: Aquino smiling during the press conference after the Quirino Grandstand bus hostage crisis that killed 8 Hong Kong nationals.

Right: Valte smiling during a press conference with Taiwanese journalists regarding the shooting incident that killed a Taiwanese fisherman.

Pinoy Gov Sites Pwned

Mon, 13 May 2013 11:19:19 +0800

5/11: Pinoy gov sites DDOSed.

5/12: Pinoy Vendetta retaliated and hacked some Taiwanese sites.

5/13: This time, AnonTAIWAN retaliates and exposed DNS of Pinoy gov sites.

Abangan ang susunod na kabanata!

ROC =/= PROC Despite the seriousness of the issues, I still find...

Sun, 12 May 2013 21:11:29 +0800

ROC =/= PROC

Despite the seriousness of the issues, I still find this a little funny.

(Source: reddit)

Translation Fail

Sat, 11 May 2013 21:14:00 +0800

From Interaksyon:

“Think dry dry sense of shame, as the people of Taiwan, instead of looking forward to officially apologize (push to apologize to the diplomatic personnel stationed in Taiwan?),” the attacker’s message, loosely translated from Chinese via Google Translate, read.

referring to this:

幹想一想，身為台灣人，與其期待官方正式道歉（推給駐台外交人員道歉？幹不要臉）

Hahahaha. Fuck. Get a translator, not Google Translate. 幹！笑死

According to more updated reports, the Taiwanese fishing vessel...

Sat, 11 May 2013 17:29:05 +0800

According to more updated reports, the Taiwanese fishing vessel sustained 52 bullet holes. That’s even more than the 32 bullet holes from initial reports.

A fishing vessel like that would want to ram into a government patrol vessel with automatic weapons?

Will the Philippine government conduct a thorough investigation and provide an honest report on this incident?

On the shooting of the Taiwanese fishing vessel

Sat, 11 May 2013 00:50:00 +0800

I don’t know why some Filipinos immediately assume that the shooting of the Taiwanese fishing vessel took place in Philippine territory. From some sources that I gathered, where the incident took place seemed to be in the overlapping area of the so-called exclusive economic zones (EEZ) of the two nations.

(Left: Approximate location of the incident. Right: Overlapping EEZ of Philippines, Taiwan, China, and Japan.)

According to Taiwanese reports, around 5 AM on May 9, the Taiwanese fishing vessel was at the location indicated by the lower right caption box in the picture below. At 9:45 AM, at 166 nautical miles southeast of Eluanbi, the southernmost point of Taiwan (within the 200 nautical mile EEZ), indicated by the lower left caption box of the picture below, the Philippine Coast Guard fired at the fishing vessel, and continued to pursue it while it was fleeing northwards for around an hour. It was at 1:04 PM when the fishing vessel reached the third indicated location where they were rescued by the Taiwanese Coast Guard. The vessel was shot at 34 times, and sustained 32 bullet holes.

(Source: ETtoday)

Of course these are just the accounts of the Taiwanese. But between the accounts of the Taiwanese and the one by the Philippine Coast Guard who said vaguely that the vessel “tried to ram” them so they “fired warning shots”, “to disable the machinery”, I’m more inclined to believe the former account, which has precise details in numbers (which I think they’ll provide as evidence), than the latter, which seems like a fabricated excuse.

The place was indeed closer to the Philippines. I do not know much about international rules of engagement, but assuming the vessel was indeed in Philippine territory, does the coast guard really have to shoot “to protect our sovereignty”?

I think that it is common for the fisherfolks of both nations to sail through each other’s waters. Some say that extortion by authorities for trespassing are frequent, and this could be a case of a refusal to pay extortion money that went wrong. Sounds ridiculous? Not really, given how the government, from the highest positions, to the lowest posts of barangay officials and the police, are called buwaya.

Will the Philippine government conduct a thorough investigation and provide an honest report on this incident? The answer will probably the same as the one for the Quirino Grandstand bus hostage crisis.

Comelec Bans Masturbation

Thu, 09 May 2013 14:42:18 +0800

The Commission on Elections (Comelec) has issued another ban in its effort to curb election-related violence and ensure a clean and honest elections on May 13, 2013. This time, the Comelec calls for a ban on masturbation starting on Saturday, two days before the elections.

Having already issued the total gun ban, the liquor ban, and just on Wednesday, the money ban, the Comelec is hopeful that this new ban will make this coming election the cleanest one ever.

In its 5-page resolution, the Comelec said that “masturbation clouds one’s judgment and impairs one’s critical thinking facility, which voters sorely need in order to wisely discern the platform their candidates and decide who to vote for.” Moreover, the poll body adds, “masturbation releases one’s aggression, which could potentially cause violence during this sensitive political time period.”

Subject to the ban are all Filipino citizens, except for people who need masturbation in their profession (e.g. porn stars), and members of the clergy, due to the separation of the Church and State as declared in the Constitution.

In the resolution, masturbation is just defined as “the physical stimulation of a person’s sexual organ(s) besides intercourse.” According to Comelec, this definition is deliberately designed to be very encompassing so that it covers any form of masturbation, whether by self or by another, using organic or artificial means, on any sexual organ, with or without orgasm.

Someone caught violating this ban will face an election offense which carries a penalty of one to six years imprisonment, removal of right to vote, and disqualification from running for public office.

As early as during the press conference when Comelec announced this, several violent objections have already been voiced despite the awkwardness of the topic.

“Jacking off is a personal thing! Banning it will be a violation of one’s right to privacy!” cried someone from the audience.

“Objective of the ban is to prevent the act from being performed. It doesn’t intrude upon one’s privacy” answered a Comelec representative. “If I may add, there is no such thing as a right to privacy.”

“Kung ieenforce po ang ban na ito, paano ninyo sisiguraduhin na mahuhuli ninyo yung mga violators at maging effective ang ban? (If it is going to be enforced, how would you ensure that violators will be caught and the ban would be effective?)” asked one reporter.

“Enforcement — there is no doubt about that. It will definitely be done” said the Comelec representative. “We are working with the Philippine National Police and the MMDA.” However, Comelec admits, “enforcing the ban will be very challenging since people tend to masturbate privately.”

Video

Thu, 25 Apr 2013 20:59:20 +0800

Candidates of Miss Korea 2013 (All Look...

Wed, 24 Apr 2013 22:41:51 +0800

Candidates of Miss Korea 2013 (All Look Same)

http://blog.livedoor.jp/kaikaihanno/archives/27092143.html

The one who has least number of surgery done to her would prolly win. lol

朋友好久不見

Sun, 21 Apr 2013 14:57:28 +0800

昨夜夢見了我好友。這位好友是工作上認識的，只待在我們公司一年。從他辭職後，四五年來我們幾乎沒再見過面。但可能是我們有共同的興趣，很談得來，我對他比對別的相處較久的朋友還親。我們在IM上還有保持聯絡，但是自從他一年前去國外工作之後，我們談話的機會越來越少。我曾經問他會不會再回來，他說不會了。

在夢中，我坐在吉普尼，加班後要回家。剛好吉普尼路上停著要載客，看到好友跟幾個同伴在等客車(不同路線)。不知為什麼我有意避開他不想讓他看到我，但是還是被他看到。我們就互相問好。

不久吉普尼即將開走時好友突然上了我所乘坐的車，把他的同伴丟下，讓我們都傻眼。我驚訝對他說這並不是同一路線的車啊，你的同伴怎麼辦？

夢到這裡就結束了。

現在想想，我在夢裡有意避開他，可能是因為在現實生活中我不想打擾在國外辛苦打拼的他。

而他上了我所乘坐的車與我對他所說的話，是即使我祝福他在國外能夠事業成功，卻盼望著他還會回來，我還能夠和他相見敘舊！

(寫到這裡眼眶紅了)

Brought to you by one of the world’s worst airports. Via...

Wed, 17 Apr 2013 20:36:48 +0800

Brought to you by one of the world’s worst airports. Via Reddit (Philippines Chapter, of course).

Religion for Opening Bank Accounts

Sat, 13 Apr 2013 21:02:26 +0800

I recently opened a bank account.

In one of the forms there is a field “Religion”.

“Ok, f*ck this.” I said, “I’ll just cross it out.”

It was my first time to do this in a form (in real life). Before that I always put “Catholic” out of “convenience” (as I have related before in this post).

Liberating!

But no not really. When verifying my info the bank staff asked, “Sir, what is your religion?”

I said “None”. (Atheism is not a religion.)

She gave me a very confused look. “Sir?”

After more than 5 seconds…

“Ok fine just put Catholic there.”

T_T

Why do they need info about people’s religion for bank accounts?

五月天 - 戀愛ing (Mayday - Lian...

Wed, 10 Apr 2013 15:50:49 +0800

五月天 - 戀愛ing (Mayday - Lian Ai-ing)

L.O.V.E…

L.O.V.E!

Your childhood ruined.

Tue, 09 Apr 2013 22:31:12 +0800

Your childhood ruined.

"Ang mga taga-UP, mayayabang. Kala mo kung sinong mag-arte."

Tue, 09 Apr 2013 20:29:40 +0800

“Ang mga taga-UP, mayayabang. Kala mo kung sinong mag-arte.”

- Miriam Defensor-Santiago (source)

Intellectual Vomit of a Technophobic

Kuang Ta Hsing and the Territorial Claims

At least the leftists didn’t win.

Second Wave of Sanctions Take Effect

Taiwan's Second Wave of Sanctions

Taiwan Sanctions the Philippines

Left: Aquino smiling during the press conference after the...

Pinoy Gov Sites Pwned

ROC =/= PROC Despite the seriousness of the issues, I still find...

Translation Fail

According to more updated reports, the Taiwanese fishing vessel...

On the shooting of the Taiwanese fishing vessel

Comelec Bans Masturbation

Video

Candidates of Miss Korea 2013 (All Look...

朋友 好久不見

Brought to you by one of the world’s worst airports. Via...

Religion for Opening Bank Accounts

五月天 - 戀愛ing (Mayday - Lian...

Your childhood ruined.

"Ang mga taga-UP, mayayabang. Kala mo kung sinong mag-arte."

朋友好久不見