Premier Frank Hsieh (謝長廷) yesterday said that the Coast Guard Administration has sent two vessels to patrol the nation's exclusive economic zone in the East China Sea.
"The ships are in the East China Sea to patrol and guard our fishing boats, not to emphasize our sovereign rights," Hsieh said at the legislature yesterday.
One legislator asked Hsieh if he would personally travel to the contested Tiaoyutai islets to reinforce the nation's claim to them.
PHOTO: HUANG MING-SHANG, TAIPEI TIMES
"Taiwan should assert that the Tiaoyutai islet cluster is its territory. But to avoid international controversy, I wouldn't go to Tiaoyutai myself to stress our sovereignty over the island," he said.
Two coast guard ships, the 1,800-tonne Ho Hsing and the 800-tonne Mou Hsing, departed Keelung for the island chains on Thursday.
The coast guard yesterday said the mission was a routine patrol.
Coast Guard Administration Deputy Director Yu Chien-tzu (
He said that from February 2003 to last month, coast guard ships have patrolled the East China Sea 102 times, the South China Sea 131 times, and the waters east of Taiwan 35 times.
To prevent Taiwan's fishing fleets from being harassed by foreign naval and other vessels, the coast guard earlier this week proposed that bases be established in the Dongsha Islands, the Pratas Islands and Pengchiayu islet. The proposal requires Cabinet approval.
Meanwhile, the Japanese newspaper Yomiuri Shimbun yesterday said the Japanese government would consider Beijing's suggestion that the two countries jointly search for oil resources in the contested oilfields of the East China Sea.
Some of the oilfields lie within Taiwan's exclusive economic zone.
A Chinese-language newspaper yesterday said the coast guard vessels were gathering information about Chinese and Japanese activity in the contested area.
The paper also said Beijing had recently permitted a "foreign company" to explore for oil in an area close to the Tiaoyutai islets, and that the ships would also observe its activities.
Typhoon Usagi yesterday had weakened into a tropical storm, but a land warning issued by the Central Weather Administration (CWA) was still in effect in four areas in southern Taiwan. As of 5pm yesterday, Tropical Storm Usagi was over waters 120km south-southwest of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), the southernmost tip of Taiwan proper, and was moving north at 9kph, CWA data showed. The storm was expected to veer northeast later yesterday. It had maximum sustained winds of 101kph, with gusts of up to 126kph, the data showed. The CWA urged residents of Kaohsiung, Pingtung County, Taitung County and the Hengchun Peninsula (恆春) to remain alert to
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