http://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/asiapacific/philippines-apologises-to-taiwan-over-fi/675206.html?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter
Taiwan foreign minister David Lin told reporters that "the Philippines has voiced deep regret and apology for the incident" after a closed-door meeting with Antonio Basilio, the de facto Philippine ambassador to Taipei.
The Philippine government will send a special envoy to Taiwan to convey his apologies and condolences to the family of 65-year-old fisherman Hung Shih-cheng, who was shot dead on Thursday, Basilio said.
Taiwan had demanded an apology by midnight Tuesday (1600 GMT), saying that otherwise it would conduct a naval drill in waters near the Philippines. It had also threatened to freeze the sending of Philippine workers to the island.
The state Central News Agency had said the naval exercise would be held Thursday, involving a Kidd-class destroyer, a Perry-class frigate and three coastguard frigates. A number of fighter jets would also be involved in the drill, which would for the first time simulate the Philippines as the enemy.
According to Lin, the two sides agreed to jointly launch an investigation into the incident, which sparked outrage in Taiwan and comes at a time of heightened tensions around the region over rival claims to the nearby South China Sea.
Lin said Taiwanese investigators would fly to Manila Thursday while their Filipino counterparts travel to Taiwan to inspect the fishing vessel and interview three witnesses who were on the boat at the time of the incident.
The two sides also agreed to open fishery talks "as soon as possible" so as to avoid the recurrence of similar incidents.
It was not clear from his remarks whether the naval drill would still go ahead.
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