Hopefully Taiwanese fishermen can understand the reality of the status quo. At the same time, it is to be hoped that the Council of Agriculture, the CGA and other government agencies will work together to improve Taiwan’s ship monitoring systems and speed up installation of automatic vessel identification and tracking systems on boats that often enter disputed waters.
This would allow the government to have a monitoring mechanism that would warn authorities of impending incidents before they occur.
It would also provide proof of a vessel’s location when an incident does happen. Maybe then disputes like the one over the Formosa Chieftain No. 2 can be avoided.
Chen Yang-hong is secretary-general of the Taiwan Association of Maritime Safety and Security and an associate professor at National Kaohsiung Marine University.
TRANSLATED BY JULIAN CLEGG
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