The government yesterday said that it had expressed its concern to Tokyo after a Taiwanese fishing vessel was reportedly harassed by two Japanese ships near the Diaoyutai Islands (釣魚台), adding that it would defend regional stability amid the “increasingly intricate” situation.
The Sheng Fu No. 16, which is based in Yilan County’s Suao Township (蘇澳), on Tuesday reported that two Japan Coast Guard ships took photographs and asked it to stop its activities when it was about 63 nautical miles (117km) northeast of Yilan.
The Coast Guard Administration dispatched a 500-tonne vessel to patrol the area, but did not encounter any Japan Coast Guard ships, it said.
Photo: Lee Hsin-fang,Taipei Times
The Fisheries Agency later yesterday said that the Japanese Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries confirmed that it had sent a ship to “warn” the Taiwanese vessel using an electronic bulletin board as “preventive action.”
President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) yesterday reaffirmed the nation’s sovereignty over the islands and said the government would work to maintain regional stability.
She called on neighboring nations to remain calm and cease any unilateral action that might provoke regional instability.
The Executive Yuan has ordered the coast guard to do its utmost to ensure fishers’ rights and safety, and over the past four years Taiwanese fishers had not been obstructed when operating in the waters near the islands, she said.
“Fisheries rights are also a form of sovereignty rights,” Tsai said.
The regional situation has become increasingly intricate amid many ongoing military and political incidents, Tsai said, adding that despite the COVID-19 pandemic, her administration would continue to defend the nation’s interests and security.
The coast guard later yesterday said that the Japanese Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries confirmed that it had sent a ship to “warn” the Taiwanese vessel using an electronic bulletin board as “preventive action.”
The Taiwanese ship’s vessel monitoring system showed that it had operated near, but did not exceed, the agreed border north of the Yaeyama Islands, Fisheries Agency Deputy Director-General Lin Kuo-ping (林國平) said.
Taiwan and Japan in 2013 signed a fisheries agreement that demarcated an agreed-upon area where fishers from both nations could operate. The area does not include the 12 nautical miles around the Diaoyutai Islands, which are claimed by Taiwan, Japan and China.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has instructed the Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office in Japan to express the government’s concern about the case to Tokyo, ministry spokeswoman Joanne Ou (歐江安) said in a statement yesterday.
After Chinese vessels repeatedly entered waters near the Diaoyutai Islands, Ishigaki City Council of Japan’s Okinawa Prefecture proposed changing the islands’ administrative name from “Tonoshiro” to “Tonoshiro Senkaku.”
The proposal was passed by the council on Monday.
Yilan County Council on June 11 passed a provisional motion recommending that the islands be renamed Toucheng Township Diaoyutai (頭城釣魚台). The council on Tuesday established an office charged with protecting the islands and invited fishers to visit the islands on July 7.
Additional reporting by CNA and Lin Ching-lun
‘DANGEROUS GAME’: Legislative Yuan budget cuts have already become a point of discussion for Democrats and Republicans in Washington, Elbridge Colby said Taiwan’s fall to China “would be a disaster for American interests” and Taipei must raise defense spending to deter Beijing, US President Donald Trump’s pick to lead Pentagon policy, Elbridge Colby, said on Tuesday during his US Senate confirmation hearing. The nominee for US undersecretary of defense for policy told the Armed Services Committee that Washington needs to motivate Taiwan to avoid a conflict with China and that he is “profoundly disturbed” about its perceived reluctance to raise defense spending closer to 10 percent of GDP. Colby, a China hawk who also served in the Pentagon in Trump’s first team,
SEPARATE: The MAC rebutted Beijing’s claim that Taiwan is China’s province, asserting that UN Resolution 2758 neither mentions Taiwan nor grants the PRC authority over it The “status quo” of democratic Taiwan and autocratic China not belonging to each other has long been recognized by the international community, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said yesterday in its rebuttal of Beijing’s claim that Taiwan can only be represented in the UN as “Taiwan, Province of China.” Chinese Minister of Foreign Affairs Wang Yi (王毅) yesterday at a news conference of the third session at the 14th National People’s Congress said that Taiwan can only be referred to as “Taiwan, Province of China” at the UN. Taiwan is an inseparable part of Chinese territory, which is not only history but
CROSSED A LINE: While entertainers working in China have made pro-China statements before, this time it seriously affected the nation’s security and interests, a source said The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) late on Saturday night condemned the comments of Taiwanese entertainers who reposted Chinese statements denigrating Taiwan’s sovereignty. The nation’s cross-strait affairs authority issued the statement after several Taiwanese entertainers, including Patty Hou (侯佩岑), Ouyang Nana (歐陽娜娜) and Michelle Chen (陳妍希), on Friday and Saturday shared on their respective Sina Weibo (微博) accounts a post by state broadcaster China Central Television. The post showed an image of a map of Taiwan along with the five stars of the Chinese flag, and the message: “Taiwan is never a country. It never was and never will be.” The post followed remarks
INVESTMENT WATCH: The US activity would not affect the firm’s investment in Taiwan, where 11 production lines would likely be completed this year, C.C. Wei said Investments by Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) in the US should not be a cause for concern, but rather seen as the moment that the company and Taiwan stepped into the global spotlight, President William Lai (賴清德) told a news conference at the Presidential Office in Taipei yesterday alongside TSMC chairman and chief executive officer C.C. Wei (魏哲家). Wei and US President Donald Trump in Washington on Monday announced plans to invest US$100 billion in the US to build three advanced foundries, two packaging plants, and a research and development center, after Trump threatened to slap tariffs on chips made
RSS