Legislative Speaker Wang Jin-pyng (王金平) today is scheduled to board a warship with 15 lawmakers to sail to disputed waters near the Diaoyutais to demonstrate a determination to protect Taiwanese fishermen.
Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) lawmakers, however, criticized the move as "inappropriate" and "grandstanding."
"Although we recognize Speaker Wang's good intentions, we think it is meaningless and not the right thing to do because he should let the Coast Guard Administration and Ministry of Foreign Affairs take care of the matter. Instead, he is jumping to the frontline and taking the matter into his own hands," DPP caucus whip Lai Ching-te (
PHOTO: WANG MIN-WEI, TAIPEI TIMESN
Bigger threat
In addition to expressing apprehension over Wang's planned trip, which he said might cause more trouble, Lai said that the nation's biggest threat comes from China. He called on the public to take China's military buildup seriously.
"With the increase in China's military budget and its successful test-fire of ballistic missiles that have a range of 8,000km, it is very inappropriate for opposition parties to treat our enemy as a friend or our sibling, or even parent," he said.
DPP Legislator Lee Wen-chung (李文忠) said that although there was no doubt that a country should protect its fishermen and claim sovereignty over territorial boundaries, it should be the responsibility of the Coast Guard Administration to take care of fishing disputes instead of the defense ministry.
"Only under the circumstances that military action is taken or when the coast guard needs backup is the navy obliged to take counteraction, but so far I haven't seen the situation reach such a critical state," Lee said.
People First Party (PFP) Legislator Lin Yu-fang's (
Wang responds
Irritated by the DPP's remarks, Wang said that the DPP should take the matter more seriously.
If boarding the warship could be interpreted as "grandstanding," Wang asked what the DPP would call it if Premier Frank Hsieh (謝長廷) eventually decided to join the trip.
"Wouldn't it be called the same thing as well?" he said.
"It's very inappropriate for the DPP to use populism to deal with such a serious matter," he added.
Wang, however, said that he would welcome Hsieh if he were to go, because it would deliver a strong message, with the heads of the legislative and executive branches jointly declaring sovereignty and expressing their resolve to protect the country's fishermen.
Cabinet Spokesman Cho Jung-tai (
Another DPP legislator, Lin Cho-shui (林濁水), said that sending warships to protect fishermen would not help resolve the problem.
Talks preferable
"Fishing disputes require bilateral negotiations, not military means," he said. "I'd really hate to see tensions with Japan heightened and hope it is the first and also the last time a warship is sent to protect fishermen."
With the nation set to conduct its 15th round of fishing negotiations with the Japanese, Lin yesterday made a five-point request asking the DPP government to put aside the sovereignty issue at the negotiating table.
Lin also called on the government to set a negotiation target of shared resources with Japan within the nation's traditional fishing grounds, in accordance with international maritime conventions and ecological standards.
The government should also adopt a more flexible approach while conducting fishing negotiations with Japan, Lin said.
"China, Japan and Korea have signed bilateral fishing accords with each other, but we are the only country that's left out of the loop," he said.
The crux of the problem lay in the nation's implacable stance as well as the mixing of sovereignty issues with fishing problems, he added.
Hong Kong singer Andy Lau’s (劉德華) concert in Taipei tonight has been cancelled due to Typhoon Kong-rei and is to be held at noon on Saturday instead, the concert organizer SuperDome said in a statement this afternoon. Tonight’s concert at Taipei Arena was to be the first of four consecutive nightly performances by Lau in Taipei, but it was called off at the request of Taipei Metro, the operator of the venue, due to the weather, said the organizer. Taipei Metro said the concert was cancelled out of consideration for the audience’s safety. The decision disappointed a number of Lau’s fans who had
A tropical depression east of the Philippines became a tropical storm early yesterday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said, less than a week after a typhoon barreled across the nation. The agency issued an advisory at 3:30am stating that the 22nd tropical storm, named Yinxing, of the Pacific typhoon season formed at 2am. As of 8am, the storm was 1,730km southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost point, with a 100km radius. It was moving west-northwest at 32kph, with maximum sustained winds of 83kph and gusts of up to 108kph. Based on its current path, the storm is not expected to hit Taiwan, CWA
Commuters in Taipei picked their way through debris and navigated disrupted transit schedules this morning on their way to work and school, as the city was still working to clear the streets in the aftermath of Typhoon Kong-rey. By 11pm yesterday, there were estimated 2,000 trees down in the city, as well as 390 reports of infrastructure damage, 318 reports of building damage and 307 reports of fallen signs, the Taipei Public Works Department said. Workers were mobilized late last night to clear the debris as soon as possible, the department said. However, as of this morning, many people were leaving messages
A Canadian dental assistant was recently indicted by prosecutors after she was caught in August trying to smuggle 32kg of marijuana into Taiwan, the Aviation Police Bureau said on Wednesday. The 30-year-old was arrested on Aug. 4 after arriving on a flight to Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport, Chang Tsung-lung (張驄瀧), a squad chief in the Aviation Police Bureau’s Criminal Investigation Division, told reporters. Customs officials noticed irregularities when the woman’s two suitcases passed through X-ray baggage scanners, Chang said. Upon searching them, officers discovered 32.61kg of marijuana, which local media outlets estimated to have a market value of more than NT$50 million (US$1.56
RSS