Taipei, Feb. 22 (CNA) It is now up to the Philippines to decide what it would do to mend relations with Taiwan following the top level meetings between both sides in Taipei over the last two days, Taiwan's Minister of Foreign Affairs Timothy C.T. Yang said Tuesday.
"The ball is now back in the Philippines' court, " Yang said at a press conference after a meeting between President Ma Ying-jeou and Philippine presidential envoy Manuel Roxas.
Before his meeting with Ma, Roxas was in a marathon conference with Yang for almost 12 hours, from Monday afternoon to early Tuesday morning.
But the two sides failed to make any significant progress toward resolving their dispute over the Philippines deportation of 14 Taiwanese fraud suspects to China Feb. 2.
Yang said that progress had been made "in certain areas" although Roxas' explanation of the Philippines decisions in the matter "did not fully meet Taiwan's expectations."
Taiwan has repeatedly demanded a formal apology from the Philippines while Manila has insisted that the decision was made based on its domestic law and in the best interests of the country.
"That matter (of offering an apology) has been brought to our attention by the minister and that is something not in my mandate, " said Roxas, an appointed emissary of Philippine President Benigno Aquino III, late Monday night.
However, a senior foreign affairs official said that the Philippines was on the right track toward an apology that would lead to other remedial measures.
In what appeared to be a softening of Taiwan's stance, Yang said that the Filipino government officials who were responsible for the errors and mistakes in handling the case should be held accountable and apologize to Taiwan.
"We're giving the Philippines time to carry out its investigations before making our next move," he said, adding that the Philippines Congress and its judicial and administrative arms are currently investigating the incident.
"The Philippine authorities will act accordingly, including the possibility of punitive actions, which for the Taiwan side would signify a kind of apology, " according to a fact sheet provided by the MOFA which detailed the consensus reached by both sides in the marathon meeting.
Both sides have also agreed to begin discussions on a mutual crime-fighting agreement, the fact sheet states.
Roxas said the Philippines is interested in enhancing mutual relations, " including the launching of talks to determine the feasibility of beginning negotiations for an Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA)," according to the fact sheet.
Taiwan has so far implemented a string of retaliatory measures, including tightening the screening of applications by Filipino citizens seeking to work in Taiwan and cancelling visa waivers for certain categories of Filipino travelers.
Yang said that according to Roxas, some Philippine officials have kept crucial facts about the case from President Aquino.
In his talks with Roxas, Yang said, he underlined the longstanding friendship between the two close neighbors but also reiterated that the Philippines' handling of the case was like "a stab in the back."
Yang and Ma both made clear to Roxas that Manila's handling of the dispute will be used as "a barometer for the future development of the bilateral ties." (By Chris Wang) enditem/pc