Premier Frank Hsieh (謝長廷) yesterday said the Chinese Nationalist Party's (KMT) chairmanship campaign had influenced the territorial dispute with Japan, citing the presence of opposition lawmakers on the naval vessel that traveled near disputed waters.
"Some of the people who boarded the frigate did so out of concern for the fishermen, but some of them are doing it instead for their own campaigns," he said. "This fishing dispute is a complicated issue and the government can't take rash actions that might lead us to become an international laughingstock."
"The government is dedicated to protecting our fishermen, but we have to be meticulous with every step that we take," he added.
Hsieh said he disapproved of certain politicians riling the public over the fishing dispute, and said that international law was the basis for a resolution to the issue.
"I suggested to our fishermen that they could install a Global Positioning System on their boats, which might help them to confirm their location at sea," he said.
Hsieh said that the government would do its utmost to protect the rights and interests of the fishermen and to protect the country's sovereign territory, adding that the entire affair may attract international attention and therefore give the government more leverage in negotiations.
However, he said, emotional remarks would not be helpful in settling disagreements with Tokyo.
Coast Guard Administration Minister Shi Hwei-yow (許惠祐) yesterday said that protecting fishermen was the coast guard's task, and that the Ministry of National Defense should play only an assisting role. He said the roles of the two agencies were clear cut.
Hsu said the coast guard would establish a task force during the fishing season to deal with such matters and would also beef up patrols around disputed waters.
Democratic Progressive Party Secretary-General Lee Yi-yang (李逸洋) criticized Wang and Taipei Mayor Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) for "taking advantage" of the fishing row to enhance their credibility as candidates for the KMT chairmanship.
Lee slammed Wang for misusing the office of legislative speaker and forcing the defense ministry to dispatch a naval vessel to boost his campaign.
He also said that Ma had disregarded Taiwan's strategic interests by saying that it is worth being more aggressive toward Japan if necessary.
US President Donald Trump yesterday announced sweeping "reciprocal tariffs" on US trading partners, including a 32 percent tax on goods from Taiwan that is set to take effect on Wednesday. At a Rose Garden event, Trump declared a 10 percent baseline tax on imports from all countries, with the White House saying it would take effect on Saturday. Countries with larger trade surpluses with the US would face higher duties beginning on Wednesday, including Taiwan (32 percent), China (34 percent), Japan (24 percent), South Korea (25 percent), Vietnam (46 percent) and Thailand (36 percent). Canada and Mexico, the two largest US trading
AIR SUPPORT: The Ministry of National Defense thanked the US for the delivery, adding that it was an indicator of the White House’s commitment to the Taiwan Relations Act Deputy Minister of National Defense Po Horng-huei (柏鴻輝) and Representative to the US Alexander Yui on Friday attended a delivery ceremony for the first of Taiwan’s long-awaited 66 F-16C/D Block 70 jets at a Lockheed Martin Corp factory in Greenville, South Carolina. “We are so proud to be the global home of the F-16 and to support Taiwan’s air defense capabilities,” US Representative William Timmons wrote on X, alongside a photograph of Taiwanese and US officials at the event. The F-16C/D Block 70 jets Taiwan ordered have the same capabilities as aircraft that had been upgraded to F-16Vs. The batch of Lockheed Martin
GRIDLOCK: The National Fire Agency’s Special Search and Rescue team is on standby to travel to the countries to help out with the rescue effort A powerful earthquake rocked Myanmar and neighboring Thailand yesterday, killing at least three people in Bangkok and burying dozens when a high-rise building under construction collapsed. Footage shared on social media from Myanmar’s second-largest city showed widespread destruction, raising fears that many were trapped under the rubble or killed. The magnitude 7.7 earthquake, with an epicenter near Mandalay in Myanmar, struck at midday and was followed by a strong magnitude 6.4 aftershock. The extent of death, injury and destruction — especially in Myanmar, which is embroiled in a civil war and where information is tightly controlled at the best of times —
China's military today said it began joint army, navy and rocket force exercises around Taiwan to "serve as a stern warning and powerful deterrent against Taiwanese independence," calling President William Lai (賴清德) a "parasite." The exercises come after Lai called Beijing a "foreign hostile force" last month. More than 10 Chinese military ships approached close to Taiwan's 24 nautical mile (44.4km) contiguous zone this morning and Taiwan sent its own warships to respond, two senior Taiwanese officials said. Taiwan has not yet detected any live fire by the Chinese military so far, one of the officials said. The drills took place after US Secretary
RSS