The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) yesterday called on Taiwanese fishermen to obey maritime regulations to avoid conflict with vessels from other counties.
The statement came after a Taiwanese fishing boat last month mistook a Reunion-registered cutter for a pirate ship.
The ministry said incidents like this could mar Taiwan’s credibility in the eyes of international agencies by making it appear like the “boy who cried wolf.”
Speaking at the ministry’s weekly briefing, Department of African Affairs Director-General Andrew Chang (張雲屏) said the ministry had received a telegram on May 29 from the Kaohsiung fishery association reporting that a Kaohsiung-registered boat was being chased by an unidentified vessel in the Indian Ocean near Madagascar.
The ministry immediately sought help from the US naval office in Bahrain and the International Maritime Bureau’s (IMB) Piracy Reporting Center to ascertain the identity of the vessel.
With help from the IMB, it was discovered that the authorities in Reunion had dispatched the cutter because the Taiwanese fishing boat Chin Jing No. 3, had entered its waters without prior notification.
Calling the incident a “misunderstanding,” Chang said it was fortunate that the 500-tonne cutter was smaller than the Taiwanese fishing boat, which weighs close to 900 tonnes.
“The situation would have been much worse if our boat was smaller and had been forcibly towed ashore for questioning,” he added, urging Taiwanese fishermen to respect maritime law.
He said frequent misreporting of piracy to the IMB and related agencies could damage Taiwan’s credibility.
“Taiwan might be seen as the boy who cries wolf,” he said.
In related news, three Taiwanese fishermen who had been detained in Mauritius since June last year on suspicion of murdering two crew members were released on the grounds of insufficient evidence and returned home to Taiwan last week, he said.
Meanwhile, Chang said that although President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) had expressed an interest in visiting Taiwan’s four African allies, he was unlikely to do so this year because of his busy schedule.
A relatively large earthquake may strike within the next two weeks, following a magnitude 5.2 temblor that shook Taitung County this morning, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. An earthquake struck at 8:18am today 10.2km west of Taitung County Hall in Taitung City at a relatively shallow depth of 6.5km, CWA data showed. The largest intensity of 4 was felt in Taitung and Pingtung counties, which received an alert notice, while areas north of Taichung did not feel any shaking, the CWA said. The earthquake was the result of the collision between the Philippine Plate and the Eurasian Plate, the agency said, adding
Snow fell in the mountainous areas of northern, central and eastern Taiwan in the early hours of yesterday, as cold air currents moved south. In the northern municipality of Taoyuan, snow started falling at about 6am in Fusing District (復興), district head Su Tso-hsi (蘇佐璽) said. By 10am, Lalashan National Forest Recreation Area, as well as Hualing (華陵), Sanguang (三光) and Gaoyi (高義) boroughs had seen snowfall, Su said. In central Taiwan, Shei-Pa National Park in Miaoli County and Hehuanshan National Forest Recreation Area in Nantou County saw snowfall of 5cm and 6cm respectively, by 10am, staff at the parks said. It began snowing
Global bodies should stop excluding Taiwan for political reasons, President William Lai (賴清德) told Pope Francis in a letter, adding that he agrees war has no winners. The Vatican is one of only 12 countries to retain formal diplomatic ties with Taiwan, and Taipei has watched with concern efforts by Beijing and the Holy See to improve ties. In October, the Vatican and China extended an accord on the appointment of Catholic bishops in China for four years, pointing to a new level of trust between the two parties. Lai, writing to the pope in response to the pontiff’s message on Jan. 1’s
HOLIDAY EXERCISE: National forest recreation areas from north to south offer travelers a wide choice of sights to connect with nature and enjoy its benefits Hiking is a good way to improve one’s health, the Forestry and Nature Conservation Agency said, as it released a list of national forest recreation areas that travelers can visit during the Lunar New Year holiday. Taking a green shower of phytoncides in the woods could boost one’s immunity system and metabolism, agency Director-General Lin Hwa-ching (林華慶) cited a Japanese study as saying. For people visiting northern Taiwan, Lin recommended the Dongyanshan National Forest Recreation Area in Taoyuan’s Fusing District (復興). Once an important plantation in the north, Dongyanshan (東眼山) has a number of historic monuments, he said. The area is broadly covered by
RSS