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Taipei, May 19 (CNA) Taiwan will regularly review the results of a series of punitive measures against the Philippines after Manila failed to meet Taipei’s demands over the handling of the fatal shooting of a Taiwanese fisherman, Foreign Minister David Lin said Sunday. “We will conduct regular reviews (of the sanctions),” Lin told reporters, adding that the National Security Council has formed a group to monitor the situation. The group will hold a meeting Monday to review the initial results of the 11 sanctions imposed on May 15 and assess the need for any adjustment, Lin said in response to questions on the issue. He also stressed that Taiwan and the Philippines continue to communicate with each other on ways to handle the current situation.

A diplomatic row erupted after fisherman Hung Shih-cheng, 65, was killed when his fishing boat was strafed by a Philippine patrol boat when operating in overlapping exclusive economic zones of the two countries.

As part of the sanction measures against the Philippines, Taiwan has recalled its representative to the Philippines, expelled the Philippine representative in Taipei and frozen the hiring of Filipino workers in Taiwan. Other punitive measures against Mania include issuing a red travel alert for the Philippines and suspending high-level exchanges, such as a ministerial-level meeting at the upcoming World Health Assembly in Geneva. Meanwhile, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said it has set up a team to serve the international media by presenting the latest developments on the incident and taking their questions on related issues. Called the “Foreign Press Liaison for Fishing Boat Incident,” it consists of four senior officials from the ministry, Lin said. Asked about the speculation that former Philippine President Fidel V. Ramos has been tipped to serve as the special envoy to Taiwan to handle the case, Lin said he has no further information on that. (By Elaine Hou)