The pan-blue camp yesterday criticized the government for not defending the rights of the Taiwanese fishing industry and standing up to Japan after Thursday's protest conducted by Taiwanese fishermen.
The protest came after Japanese patrol boats drove Taiwanese fishing vessels away from rich fishing grounds around the Diaoyutais in the East China Sea.
"Japan views the Diaoyutais as being under their jurisdiction, claims the neighboring waters as part of their economic zone and has strictly upheld their legal rights," said New Party Secretary-General Lee Seng-fong (
"The government also claims the Diaoyutais as our economic waters under our jurisdiction, and considers our fishermen's activities in that area legal," he said. "However, the government has not upheld the rights of our fishermen. Only by strictly exercising its administrative rights can we force the Japanese government to negotiate."
On Thursday, more than 50 Taiwanese fishing vessels staged a protest around the Diaoyutais and Penchiayu islets to vent their anger for having been previously driven off by Japanese patrol boats.
In response to the protest, the Taiwanese government called on the fishermen to be rational and give the government the space and time to negotiate with the Japanese government.
The Diaoyutais are regarded by the government as being under the jurisdiction of Ilan County and part of the nation's fishing grounds.
Speaking at the legislature yesterday, Legislative Speaker Wang Jin-pyng (
"The government may have other concerns, but as of yet we have not seen any actions showing its resolve to defend our sovereignty," Wang said. "The government should respond soon, declare its position to the international community and take action."
The People First Party (PFP) legislative caucus also criticized the government yesterday, saying that June 8 should be made a day of national shame.
At a press conference yesterday, the PFP said that if the government does not assert its authority, then it cannot be expected to negotiate with Japan on the issue.
The government's current actions, said PFP caucus whip Li Yong-ping (
The PFP will assist the fishermen involved in the protest in seeking compensation from the government, Li added.
Also yesterday, Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Joanna Lei (雷倩) urged the government to seek to participate in relevant world bodies as "an entity" in order to speak for the people in Taiwan in fishery disputes and other international issues.
Addressing the recent fishery, Lei said that it is extremely important for the government to seek participation in international organizations to voice the interests of the Taiwanese people and she called on the government to clearly underline the nation's stance on the issue in order to protect the interests of Taiwanese fishermen.
Although Taiwan is unable to join the UN and other international organizations as a result of pressure from Beijing, Lei prodded the government to do so as "an entity" on the grounds that protecting the people's interests is the top and the most urgent issue for the government.
Citing a notion advocated by Myres McDougal, a renowned authority on international law and the co-founder of the New Haven School, the KMT lawmaker explained that McDougal's method is oriented toward an attainable policy that respects human dignity, in contrast to the purely analytical forms that preceded it.
She contended that the government must seek a greater international presence to help the people of Taiwan reach out when facing difficulties in the international arena, despite the country's diplomatic isolation.
An essay competition jointly organized by a local writing society and a publisher affiliated with the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) might have contravened the Act Governing Relations Between the People of the Taiwan Area and the Mainland Area (臺灣地區與大陸地區人民關係條例), the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said on Thursday. “In this case, the partner organization is clearly an agency under the CCP’s Fujian Provincial Committee,” MAC Deputy Minister and spokesperson Liang Wen-chieh (梁文傑) said at a news briefing in Taipei. “It also involves bringing Taiwanese students to China with all-expenses-paid arrangements to attend award ceremonies and camps,” Liang said. Those two “characteristics” are typically sufficient
A magnitude 5.9 earthquake that struck about 33km off the coast of Hualien City was the "main shock" in a series of quakes in the area, with aftershocks expected over the next three days, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Prior to the magnitude 5.9 quake shaking most of Taiwan at 6:53pm yesterday, six other earthquakes stronger than a magnitude of 4, starting with a magnitude 5.5 quake at 6:09pm, occurred in the area. CWA Seismological Center Director Wu Chien-fu (吳健富) confirmed that the quakes were all part of the same series and that the magnitude 5.5 temblor was
The brilliant blue waters, thick foliage and bucolic atmosphere on this seemingly idyllic archipelago deep in the Pacific Ocean belie the key role it now plays in a titanic geopolitical struggle. Palau is again on the front line as China, and the US and its allies prepare their forces in an intensifying contest for control over the Asia-Pacific region. The democratic nation of just 17,000 people hosts US-controlled airstrips and soon-to-be-completed radar installations that the US military describes as “critical” to monitoring vast swathes of water and airspace. It is also a key piece of the second island chain, a string of
The Central Weather Administration has issued a heat alert for southeastern Taiwan, warning of temperatures as high as 36°C today, while alerting some coastal areas of strong winds later in the day. Kaohsiung’s Neimen District (內門) and Pingtung County’s Neipu Township (內埔) are under an orange heat alert, which warns of temperatures as high as 36°C for three consecutive days, the CWA said, citing southwest winds. The heat would also extend to Tainan’s Nansi (楠西) and Yujing (玉井) districts, as well as Pingtung’s Gaoshu (高樹), Yanpu (鹽埔) and Majia (瑪家) townships, it said, forecasting highs of up to 36°C in those areas
RSS