Legislator Chen Chin-teh (陳金德) of the ruling DPP will leave for Beijing today to push for the lifting of a Chinese ban on mainland crewmen working aboard Taiwanese fishing boats.
Chen's trip grabbed the attention of Taiwan's media because it will make him the first DPP member to travel to China since Chinese Vice Premier Qian Qichen (錢其琛) said earlier this year that DPP politicians are welcome to visit China "in an appropriate capacity."
However, Chen said yesterday that his visit has nothing to do with politics.
"I'm visiting China in a private capacity and the main purpose of my visit is to help shipowners in my constituency to resolve problems caused by the abrupt Chinese labor-export ban," Chen said.
The DPP lawmaker said he wants to keep his mainland itinerary low-profile.
Chen, elected from the northeastern county of Ilan -- one of Taiwan's major fishing industry hubs -- said he will join a 15-member delegation of the Taiwan Provincial Fishery Association (台灣省漁會), which arrived in Beijing Thursday, when they negotiate with relevant Beijing authorities for the lifting of the labor ban.
During his visit, Chen said he plans to meet with Chinese officials in charge of fishing, trade and labor affairs, as well as senior executives of the Beijing-based Fishing Labor Coordination Committee for the Two Sides of the Taiwan Strait (大陸兩岸漁工合作勞務協調委員會).
On Feb. 11, the eve of Chinese New Year, the mainland authorities abruptly banned its nationals from working on Taiwan vessels, in what has been sold as an attempt to force Taiwan shipowners to improve working and living conditions for mainland fishermen employed by Taiwan-owned boats.
As Taiwan's offshore fishing industry has become heavily dependent on mainland crew over the past decade, the ban has seriously affected Taiwan's catches and has forced many fishing vessels to suspend operations.
Both the Council of Labor Affairs and the Council of Agriculture have agreed to offer financial subsidies to encourage local shipowners to hire Taiwan fishermen to work aboard their ships, but shipowners are still finding it difficult to hire enough local crewmen to keep their vessels working. In fact, industry sources said few local people are now willing to work aboard fishing boats.
A Chinese freighter that allegedly snapped an undersea cable linking Taiwan proper to Penghu County is suspected of being owned by a Chinese state-run company and had docked at the ports of Kaohsiung and Keelung for three months using different names. On Tuesday last week, the Togo-flagged freighter Hong Tai 58 (宏泰58號) and its Chinese crew were detained after the Taipei-Penghu No. 3 submarine cable was severed. When the Coast Guard Administration (CGA) first attempted to detain the ship on grounds of possible sabotage, its crew said the ship’s name was Hong Tai 168, although the Automatic Identification System (AIS)
An Akizuki-class destroyer last month made the first-ever solo transit of a Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force ship through the Taiwan Strait, Japanese government officials with knowledge of the matter said yesterday. The JS Akizuki carried out a north-to-south transit through the Taiwan Strait on Feb. 5 as it sailed to the South China Sea to participate in a joint exercise with US, Australian and Philippine forces that day. The Japanese destroyer JS Sazanami in September last year made the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force’s first-ever transit through the Taiwan Strait, but it was joined by vessels from New Zealand and Australia,
CHANGE OF MIND: The Chinese crew at first showed a willingness to cooperate, but later regretted that when the ship arrived at the port and refused to enter Togolese Republic-registered Chinese freighter Hong Tai (宏泰號) and its crew have been detained on suspicion of deliberately damaging a submarine cable connecting Taiwan proper and Penghu County, the Coast Guard Administration said in a statement yesterday. The case would be subject to a “national security-level investigation” by the Tainan District Prosecutors’ Office, it added. The administration said that it had been monitoring the ship since 7:10pm on Saturday when it appeared to be loitering in waters about 6 nautical miles (11km) northwest of Tainan’s Chiang Chun Fishing Port, adding that the ship’s location was about 0.5 nautical miles north of the No.
SECURITY: The purpose for giving Hong Kong and Macau residents more lenient paths to permanent residency no longer applies due to China’s policies, a source said The government is considering removing an optional path to citizenship for residents from Hong Kong and Macau, and lengthening the terms for permanent residence eligibility, a source said yesterday. In a bid to prevent the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) from infiltrating Taiwan through immigration from Hong Kong and Macau, the government could amend immigration laws for residents of the territories who currently receive preferential treatment, an official familiar with the matter speaking on condition of anonymity said. The move was part of “national security-related legislative reform,” they added. Under the amendments, arrivals from the Chinese territories would have to reside in Taiwan for
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