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.
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