A lawmaker has proposed a legal amendment to transfer authority to demarcate prohibited and restricted waters off Taiwan proper and Taiwan-controlled outlying islands from the defense ministry to the Ocean Affairs Council (OAC), saying that it would augment law enforcement in those areas.
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Chen Yeong-kang (陳永康) crafted the draft legislation and held a public hearing on Friday.
In a written explanation accompanying the bill, Chen said that after the fatal capsizing of an unlicensed and unregistered Chinese speedboat in prohibited waters off the Kinmen Islands in February, China’s Taiwan Affairs Office publicly rejected the legality of the Taiwan-controlled prohibited and restricted waters off the Kinmen Islands.
Photo courtesy of the Mainland Affairs Council
Kinmen and the city of Xiamen in China’s Fujian Province are separated by less than 10km.
Chen said that under the Act Governing Relations Between the People of the Taiwan Area and the Mainland Area (臺灣地區與大陸地區人民關係條例), the Ministry of National Defense is mandated to declare the scope of the prohibited and restricted waters.
However, the Coast Guard Administration (CGA), an OAC agency, is designated as the competent authority and tasked with patrolling and law enforcement in those areas, he added.
Since the purpose of delineating prohibited and restricted waters is to maintain order on the sea, not national defense, that task should be undertaken by the CGA, Chen said.
Tamkang University Graduate Institute of International Affairs and Strategic Studies associate professor Alexander Huang (黃介正) said that transferring the task from a military agency to a law enforcement agency would not only signal that Taiwan has sovereignty over the overlapping waters, but would also de-escalate tensions.
However, Mainland Affairs Council Deputy Minister Liang Wen-chieh (梁文傑) said the proposed amendment “would not make much difference.”
Liang added that the prohibited and restricted waters have been enforced for more than three decades based on a tacit understanding between Taiwan and China, and that it is inappropriate to seek the other side’s validation through negotiations over the scope of the Taiwan-controlled water due to unforeseen incidents.
The capsizing of the Chinese boat on Feb. 14 occurred after a high-speed chase by a Taiwanese coast guard vessel which resulted in the death of two Chinese crew members.
Beijing criticized the Democratic Progressive Party’s “brutal” handling of the incident and on Feb. 19 China Coast Guard personnel boarded a Taiwanese cruise ship.
In the month following the incident, China Coast Guard vessels frequently entered Kinmen’s prohibited waters, saying it was conducting “legal” patrols, but were expelled by vessels dispatched by its Taiwanese counterpart.
People can take the Taipei MRT free of charge if they access it at Nanjing Sanmin Station or Taipei Arena Station on the Green Line between 12am and 6am on Jan. 1, the Taipei Department of Transportation said on Friday, outlining its plans to ease crowding during New Year’s events in the capital. More than 200,000 people are expected to attend New Year’s Eve events in Taipei, with singer A-mei (張惠妹) performing at the Taipei Dome and the city government’s New Year’s Eve party at Taipei City Hall Plaza, the department said. As people have tended to use the MRT’s Blue or
Civil society groups yesterday protested outside the Legislative Yuan, decrying Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) efforts to pass three major bills that they said would seriously harm Taiwan’s democracy, and called to oust KMT caucus whip Fu Kun-chi (傅?萁). It was the second night of the three-day “Bluebird wintertime action” protests in Taipei, with organizers announcing that 8,000 people attended. Organized by Taiwan Citizen Front, the Economic Democracy Union (EDU) and a coalition of civil groups, about 6,000 people began a demonstration in front of KMT party headquarters in Taipei on Wednesday, organizers said. For the third day, the organizers asked people to assemble
Taipei is participating in Osaka’s Festival of Lights this year, with a 3m-tall bubble tea light installation symbolizing Taiwan’s bubble tea culture. The installation is designed as a bubble tea cup and features illustrations of Taipei’s iconic landmarks, such as Taipei 101, the Red House and North Gate, as well as soup dumplings and the matchmaking deity the Old Man Under the Moon (月下老人), affectionately known as Yue Lao (月老). Taipei and Osaka have collaborated closely on tourism and culture since Taipei first participated in the festival in 2018, the Taipei City Department of Information and Tourism said. In February, Osaka represented
Taiwanese professional baseball should update sports stadiums and boost engagement to enhance fans’ experience, Chinese Professional Baseball League (CPBL) commissioner Tsai Chi-chang (蔡其昌) told the Liberty Times (sister paper of the Taipei Times) in an interview on Friday. The league has urged Farglory Group and the Taipei City Government to improve the Taipei Dome’s outdated equipment, including relatively rudimentary television and sound systems, and poor technology, he said. The Tokyo Dome has markedly better television and sound systems, despite being 30 years old, because its managers continually upgraded its equipment, Tsai said. In contrast, the Taipei Dome lacked even a room for referees
RSS