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.
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