As an island nation with thousands of oceangoing vessels, Taiwan often finds itself at the center of maritime disputes. More often than not, these involve its close neighbor, Japan.
The most recent of these disputes occurred last month when the captain of a Taiwanese sport fishing boat, along with his crew, was apprehended for allegedly straying into Japanese waters.
At the time, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) appealed to Japanese authorities to present evidence that the vessel had crossed into Japanese waters or release the crew.
The ministry’s respect for international conventions in this instance was admirable; it’s just a pity that other government agencies in Taiwan don’t show the same kind of deference to these conventions.
The most recent example of such double standards is the treatment of three crew members of the Panamanian-registered freighter the Tosa, who have been detained for almost six months after their ship was alleged to have caused the sinking of a Taiwanese fishing boat, the Hsin Tung-chuan 86, and the death of two crew members near the Diaoyutai islets.
The crew — one Indian national, a Bangladeshi and a Filipino — were detained in Hualien after the incident on April 17 and charged with a number of offenses, including involuntary manslaughter and failing to stop after a collision. This, despite there being no evidence a collision took place.
Initial evidence that suggested an impact had taken place was later dismissed by the fishing company, as neither vessel bore marks that could have resulted from a crash. Radar data also suggest that no impact took place and several members of the trawler’s crew have confirmed this. Yet this ridiculous state of affairs — the Bangladeshi second officer remains in detention while the other two are not allowed to leave Hualien County — continues.
In a bizarre interpretation of the law, the captain, who had left the ship in the hands of the other two and was asleep at the time of the alleged incident, is being held responsible for his crew’s training.
Meanwhile, the men — one of whom has a wife and three children — remain stuck in limbo after the most recent hearing in August failed to reach a conclusion.
In July, Nautilus UK, a professional seafarers’ union, wrote to Taiwan’s representative in London expressing “deep concern about the continued detention,” while blasting Taiwanese authorities for “treating crew members as scapegoats for maritime accidents.” It said the Taiwanese coast guard’s actions “contradict the UN’s Convention on the Law of the Sea.”
The Hong Kong Shipowners Association said it was “appalled and extremely disappointed at the continuing trend of so-called ‘developed’ economies to treat seafarers with little regard for their basic human rights.”
One marine industry Web site even commented that the seafarers would have been “treated better by the Somali pirates.”
Indeed, the whole episode is a damning indictment of the lack of respect for basic human rights regularly demonstrated by law enforcement agencies in Taiwan, despite repeated proclamations to the contrary in recent years by political leaders.
The sooner Taiwan starts to treat seafarers in a manner more in line with international custom, the better.
That way, the next time any incident involving the detention of Taiwanese nationals occurs, at least MOFA will be able to chastise the offending party without a guilty conscience.
On August 6, Ukraine crossed its northeastern border and invaded the Russian region of Kursk. After spending more than two years seeking to oust Russian forces from its own territory, Kiev turned the tables on Moscow. Vladimir Putin seemed thrown off guard. In a televised meeting about the incursion, Putin came across as patently not in control of events. The reasons for the Ukrainian offensive remain unclear. It could be an attempt to wear away at the morale of both Russia’s military and its populace, and to boost morale in Ukraine; to undermine popular and elite confidence in Putin’s rule; to
A 10-year-old Japanese schoolboy was stabbed to death last week in the Chinese city of Shenzhen. Although Beijing called it “an isolated incident that could happen in any country,” the tragedy is widely viewed as a cautionary tale of the consequences of the rise of ultranationalism and xenophobia in China, which has worsened as its economy deteriorates. The suspect is a 44-year-old unemployed Chinese man. The stabbing occurred on Sept. 18 — the sensitive anniversary of the “918” incident of 1931, which is commemorated in China as the start of the Japanese invasion of northeast Manchuria. Chinese officials and state media
The EU’s biggest banks have spent years quietly creating a new way to pay that could finally allow customers to ditch their Visa Inc and Mastercard Inc cards — the latest sign that the region is looking to dislodge two of the most valuable financial firms on the planet. Wero, as the project is known, is now rolling out across much of western Europe. Backed by 16 major banks and payment processors including BNP Paribas SA, Deutsche Bank AG and Worldline SA, the platform would eventually allow a German customer to instantly settle up with, say, a hotel in France
The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has been pushing nationalist rhetoric and xenophobic education, and now this has led to tragedy. On Wednesday last week — the 93rd anniversary of the Mukden Incident, when Japan launched its invasion of Manchuria — a 10-year-old Japanese boy living in Shenzhen was stabbed to death on his way to school. This is the second time this year a Japanese citizen has been attacked in public in China. In addition to the attacks on Japanese residing in China, five US college teachers were injured in a knife attack in June. These attacks show a surge of