Taiwan and Japan held the sixth edition of their Maritime Affairs Cooperation Dialogue in Taipei yesterday.
The meeting, held at the Grand Hotel Taipei, focused on cooperation on maritime security, conservation of the marine environment, “marine power development,” fisheries and marine science, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) said in a statement.
At the start of the meeting, Taiwan-Japan Relations Association Chairperson Su Jia-chyuan (蘇嘉全) said that in addition to those issues, ensuring the safety of nuclear energy was also on the agenda.
Photo: CNA
Su said the two countries had inked MOUs in the past on rescue work in maritime emergencies and disasters, tackling marine debris, marine science, and maritime smuggling and illegal border exit and entry, and he hoped the two sides could gradually make progress in these fields.
The meeting comes at a time when one of the main irritants in Taiwan-Japan relations has been Japan’s crackdown on Taiwan’s fishing boats illegally operating in waters that are off limits to them.
It intercepted two vessels in July, the Fu Yang No. 266 near Amami-Oshima Island in early July and the Fu Shen near Yonaguni Island on July 28. Both ships were released after paying fines of around 6 million Japanese yen (US $37,203).
Japan-Taiwan Exchange Association Chairman Mitsuo Ohashi said that since its launch in 2016, the Maritime Affairs Cooperation Dialogue has served as an avenue for constructive discussions to push forward mutually advantageous maritime cooperation.
Also referencing the four MOUs, Ohashi said the documents have enabled Taiwan and Japan to make concrete progress on maritime cooperation.
This has allowed their friendship and mutual trust to flourish, providing a solid foundation for peace and stability in the region, Ohashi said.
The association has been active in holding events to share Japan’s maritime knowledge, he said.
Agencies involved in the meeting included the Ocean Affairs Council, the Coast Guard Administration, Ocean Conservation Administration, National Academy of Marine Research, Nuclear Safety Commission, National Science and Technology Council, the Fisheries Agency and MOFA, according to the MOFA statement.
Foreign tourists who purchase a seven-day Taiwan Pass are to get a second one free of charge as part of a government bid to boost tourism, the Tourism Administration said yesterday. A pair of Taiwan Passes is priced at NT$5,000 (US$156.44), an agency staff member said, adding that the passes can be used separately. The pass can be used in many of Taiwan’s major cities and to travel to several tourist resorts. It expires seven days after it is first used. The pass is a three-in-one package covering the high-speed rail system, mass rapid transport (MRT) services and the Taiwan Tourist Shuttle services,
Drinking a lot of water or milk would not help a person who has ingested terbufos, a toxic chemical that has been identified as the likely cause of three deaths, a health expert said yesterday. An 83-year-old woman surnamed Tseng (曾) and two others died this week after eating millet dumplings with snails that Tseng had made. Tseng died on Tuesday and others ate the leftovers when they went to her home to mourn her death that evening. Twelve people became ill after eating the dumplings following Tseng’s death. Their symptoms included vomiting and convulsions. Six were hospitalized, with two of them
DIVA-READY: The city’s deadline for the repairs is one day before pop star Jody Chiang is to perform at the Taipei Dome for the city’s Double Ten National Day celebrations The Taipei City Government has asked Farglory Group (遠雄集團) to repair serious water leaks in the Taipei Dome before Friday next week, Taipei Mayor Chiang Wan-an (蔣萬安) said yesterday, following complaints that many areas at the stadium were leaking during two baseball games over the weekend. The dome on Saturday and Sunday hosted two games in tribute to CTBC Brothers’ star Chou Szu-chi (周思齊) ahead of his retirement from the CPBL. The games each attracted about 40,000 people, filling the stadium to capacity. However, amid heavy rain, many people reported water leaking on some seats, at the entrance and exit areas, and the
BIG collection: The herbarium holds more than 560,000 specimens, from the Japanese colonial period to the present, including the Wulai azalea, which is now extinct in the wild The largest collection of plant specimens in Taiwan, the Taipei Botanical Garden’s herbarium, is celebrating its 100th anniversary with an exhibition that opened on Friday. The herbarium provides critical historical documents for botanists and is the first of its kind in Taiwan, Taiwan Forestry Research Institute director Tseng Yen-hsueh (曾彥學) said. It is housed in a two-story red brick building, which opened during 1924. At the time, it stored 30,000 plant specimens from almost 6,000 species, including Taiwanese plant samples collected by Tomitaro Makino, the “father of Japanese botany,” Tseng said. The herbarium collection has grown in the century since its