Taiwan’s new government hopes to use dialogue with Japan to address the rights of Taiwanese fishermen in disputed waters in the Pacific and future patrols in those areas would depend on need, Cabinet spokesman Tung Chen-yuan (童振源) said yesterday.
Tung said sitting down with Japan for talks would be the best and most peaceful way to protect the rights of Taiwanese fishermen, a day after he said the two nations would establish a dialogue mechanism on maritime affairs cooperation by the end of July.
“Using dialogue to replace clashes and disputes is the principle of the government in handling international affairs, and in the interests of all sides,” Tung said.
Taiwan and Japan clashed over the rights of Taiwanese fishermen to operate in waters near Okinotori in the Western Pacific after a Taiwanese fishing boat, the Tung Sheng Chi No. 16, was seized on April 25 by the Japan Coast Guard while operating in waters about 150 nautical miles (277.8km) from the atoll.
The boat and its crew were released on April 26, but only after its owner paid a ¥6 million (US$54,710) deposit demanded by Japanese authorities.
Coast Guard Administration vessels and a military ship were then sent to the area on a mission that runs until Tuesday next week to protect the interests of fishermen still operating there.
The administration of former president Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九), who stepped down on Friday last week, said that Okinotori is a reef and therefore not entitled to anything more than a 500m “security zone” around it, meaning that the seized vessel was operating in international waters.
However, Japan considers Okinotori an island entitled to a 200 nautical mile (370km) exclusive economic zone.
The administration of President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) of the Democratic Progressive Party, which has traditionally been friendly to Japan, took power on Friday last week and has been more conciliatory on the issue.
Tung said the government has the responsibility to ensure the safe operations of Taiwanese fishermen, and patrols to protect Taiwan’s fishing vessels are continuing.
As to whether the patrol would continue after Tuesday, Tung said the government would assess the situation, and if Taiwanese fishing boats are not operating there at that time, the patrol ships would not enter the waters.
However, he sidestepped the question when asked whether Taiwanese fishermen could operate in waters near the Okinotori atoll before the launch of the dialogue mechanism in July.
Tung replied that the government would arrange for patrols according to actual needs.
On whether patrol vessels would sail within 200 nautical miles of Okinotori, Tung said the government would consider the situation before taking action, but said its protection of fishermen would not be compromised.
Tung said the new government would “respect the decision” of the UN Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf on whether Okinotori is an island or a reef.
Japan has submitted related documents on the matter to the commission, Tung added.
“The government has no specific stance on it legally before the unveiling of the decision,” Tung said.
Japan’s Kyodo news agency on Monday reported that Taiwan’s new government had informed the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs that the patrol boats were being withdrawn ahead of schedule, but the Coast Guard Administration dismissed the report on Monday, saying that patrols would continue until at least Tuesday, as scheduled.
‘DENIAL DEFENSE’: The US would increase its military presence with uncrewed ships, and submarines, while boosting defense in the Indo-Pacific, a Pete Hegseth memo said The US is reorienting its military strategy to focus primarily on deterring a potential Chinese invasion of Taiwan, a memo signed by US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth showed. The memo also called on Taiwan to increase its defense spending. The document, known as the “Interim National Defense Strategic Guidance,” was distributed this month and detailed the national defense plans of US President Donald Trump’s administration, an article in the Washington Post said on Saturday. It outlines how the US can prepare for a potential war with China and defend itself from threats in the “near abroad,” including Greenland and the Panama
The High Prosecutors’ Office yesterday withdrew an appeal against the acquittal of a former bank manager 22 years after his death, marking Taiwan’s first instance of prosecutors rendering posthumous justice to a wrongfully convicted defendant. Chu Ching-en (諸慶恩) — formerly a manager at the Taipei branch of BNP Paribas — was in 1999 accused by Weng Mao-chung (翁茂鍾), then-president of Chia Her Industrial Co, of forging a request for a fixed deposit of US$10 million by I-Hwa Industrial Co, a subsidiary of Chia Her, which was used as collateral. Chu was ruled not guilty in the first trial, but was found guilty
A wild live dugong was found in Taiwan for the first time in 88 years, after it was accidentally caught by a fisher’s net on Tuesday in Yilan County’s Fenniaolin (粉鳥林). This is the first sighting of the species in Taiwan since 1937, having already been considered “extinct” in the country and considered as “vulnerable” by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. A fisher surnamed Chen (陳) went to Fenniaolin to collect the fish in his netting, but instead caught a 3m long, 500kg dugong. The fisher released the animal back into the wild, not realizing it was an endangered species at
DEADLOCK: As the commission is unable to forum a quorum to review license renewal applications, the channel operators are not at fault and can air past their license date The National Communications Commission (NCC) yesterday said that the Public Television Service (PTS) and 36 other television and radio broadcasters could continue airing, despite the commission’s inability to meet a quorum to review their license renewal applications. The licenses of PTS and the other channels are set to expire between this month and June. The National Communications Commission Organization Act (國家通訊傳播委員會組織法) stipulates that the commission must meet the mandated quorum of four to hold a valid meeting. The seven-member commission currently has only three commissioners. “We have informed the channel operators of the progress we have made in reviewing their license renewal applications, and