The United States has expressed "regret" at the death of a Taiwanese fisherman after his boat came under fire from the Philippine Coast Guard in waters off the northern Philippines last week, but stopped shot of condemning the incident.
"We regret the tragic death of a Taiwan fishing boat master during a May 9 confrontation at sea with a Philippine patrol vessel," State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki told reporters in Washington on Monday.
"The United States has been in touch with both the Philippine government and the Taiwan authorities regarding this incident. And we welcome the Philippine government's pledge to conduct a full and transparent investigation," she added.
Asked to clarify the U.S. stand on the issue, Psaki refused to condemn the Philippine Coast Guard, and said: "The Philippine government is looking into this case. I don't want to get ahead of their process of investigating what happened."
Asked about Taipei's decision to send naval ships to patrol waters south of Taiwan after the incident, Psaki said Washington continued "to urge all parties in any scenario to ensure maritime safety and to refrain from provocative actions."
"The Philippine government is going to be conducting an investigation and they will be working with the Taiwan authorities to establish what happened in this case," she added.
Earlier, Philippines admitted that its Coast Guard had opened fire on a Taiwanese fishing vessel after it strayed into its waters. Nevertheless, Taiwan believes that the incident occurred in waters where the two countries' economic zones overlap, and has demanded a formal apology and compensation from Manila.
In her press conference, Psaki noted: "Although it appears that incident took place in or near disputed waters that both claim fishing rights, it's unclear at this stage, in our knowledge, where exactly it took place."
The incident comes amid ongoing territorial disputes between several nations over parts of the South China Sea. Countries like China, Japan, the Philippines, Taiwan, Vietnam, Malaysia and Brunei have all staked claims to parts of the resource-rich sea.
For comments and feedback: editorial@rttnews.com