Just hours before the midnight deadline, Premier Jiang Yi-huah (江宜樺) yesterday said that Taiwan is ready to introduce economic sanctions against the Philippines if it does not respond to demands regarding last week's shooting of a fisherman.

Tainan and Taipei announced yesterday that the city governments have halted all ongoing or planned exchanges with Philippine counterparts.

The untimely death last week of a Taiwanese fisherman at the hands of Philippine coast guards has reopened old wounds of a similar seven-year-old case.

Indonesia's representative to Taiwan yesterday defended a move by his office to tighten the screening process for the hiring of Indonesian workers in Taiwan, but said the new requirement should not affect bilateral relations.

President Ma Ying-jeou yesterday reiterated that Manila has until the end of Tuesday to respond to Taiwan's demands over the fatal shooting of a local fisherman by Philippine coast guards, or face the consequences.

Taipei and Taichung will halt exchanges with its Philippine sister city in light of Manila's refusal to officially apologize over the killing of a Taiwanese fisherman, the cities' mayors announced yesterday.

Taiwanese hackers yesterday revealed Philippine government security information, the latest salvo in a cyber battle that erupted after the shooting of a fisherman.

The main opposition party yesterday backed President Ma Ying-jeou's demands that the Philippines extend a formal apology and punish the personnel responsible for a Taiwanese fisherman's death.

Taiwan's two major business organizations pledged support Monday for the government's proposed sanctions against the Philippines, while calling on both countries to prevent future disputes and bloodshed.

The government's threat of sanctions against the Philippines over the recent shooting of a Taiwanese fisherman is likely to have only limited impact on the economy of the Philippines, a local think tank said yesterday.