Minister of the Coast Guard Administration (CGA) Shi Hwei-yow (
"The CGA prefers to fight to the death to anger to death," Shi told Suao's fishermen before boarding, earning cheers from his audience.
"The CGA will work with the navy on protecting Taiwan's fishing boats. While the coast guard plays the lead role in protecting fishermen, the navy plays a supporting role," he said.
He said that if the coast guard asked the navy to support its mission, the navy would quickly send warships.
"The CGA has outlined 13 sea patrol areas, and it will take responsibility to protect fishing boats practicing in these areas," he said.
Shi and representatives from Suao fishermen's associations took the 1,800-tonne Ho Hsing to the disputed waters near Diaoyutais yesterday morning.
Shi said the CGA had temporarily outlined 124km off the coast as the coast guard's patrol lines, but he promised to expand the patrol lines to the 370km-mark if fishermen made such a request through their associations.
Shi met with a group of Suao fishermen before yesterday's voyage. According to Chinese-language press reports, the fishermen told Shi that their protests against Japanese boats was not aimed at triggering an international dispute, but to demonstrating that they have rights to fish within Taiwan's own waters, the reports said.
The fishermen said they hoped Shi and the government would take their fishing rights seriously.
The fishermen reminded Shi that Japanese patrol boats had recently driven them away from the waters between the northeastern coast of Taiwan and Okinawa.
About 40 Taiwanese fishing boats sailed north on June 9 to challenge Japan's claim over the fishing grounds surrounding the disputed Diaoyutai group.
Suao fishermen and Chinese-language media have attacked the government for taking too soft an approach in dealing with fishing disputes with Japan.
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Shuai Hua-min (
The ministry initially said that it had no intention of getting involved into the fishing dispute with Japan, after People First Party Legislator Lin Yu-fang (林郁方) demanded that the government send warships to protect the fishing boats in the disputed waters.
Minister of National Defense Lee Jye (李傑) later said the ministry would allow lawmakers from the legislature's National Defense Committee onboard navy vessels to sail to the disputed waters.
Meanwhile, the captain of a Taiwanese fishing boat was detained by the Japanese coast guard yesterday for illegally fishing off Miyako Island, Okinawa, according to Japanese police.
A police officer in Okinawa told the Central News Agency that the Chinmingtsai No. 11 was spotted by a Japanese patrol ship on Friday night in waters 65km off the east coast of Miyako Island, which is within Japan's exclusive economic zone. The five-man boat refused to stop for inspection, and was finally apprehended early yesterday, the officer said.
Captain Chen Teh-liang (陳得良) admitted that he was fishing illegally, according to the police.
Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman Michel Lu (呂慶龍) said the boat was operating in waters 64.8km off the east coast of Miyako Island, which is beyond Taiwan's exclusive economic zone.
Lu said that Taiwanese officials stationed on Okinawa had contacted Japanese authorities in the hope that Chen could be released on bail as early as possible.
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