President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) said yesterday that Taiwan has maintained its sovereignty over the Diaoyutai Islands (釣魚台) while signing a recent fishery agreement with Japan, and insisted that sovereignty over the area is the foundation for fishing rights in waters around the islands.
The agreement, signed on April 11 after the 17th round of negotiations since August 1996, allows fishing vessels from Taiwan and Japan to operate in a 70,000km2 designated fishing zone without being subject to the jurisdiction of the other side, with Taiwan being granted an additional fishing zone of 4,800km2 outside Taiwan’s temporary enforcement line.
However, the agreement does not apply to waters within 12 nautical miles (22.2km) — a state’s territorial waters — surrounding the Diaoyutais, sparking concern among legislators about Taiwan’s failure to insist on the nation’s sovereignty over the controversial islands.
Ma, in an interview with the Chinese-language United Evening News, said the 70,000km2 fishing zone covers an area twice the size of Taiwan, and the government did not make any concessions on the nation’s sovereignty over the Diaoyutais when the two sides agreed to put aside territorial disputes.
“Ocean laws define sea territories according to land, and without sovereignty over the land, there are no fishing rights,” he said.
Ma’s comments on the sovereignty over the Diaoyutais came amid escalating confrontation between China and Japan over the islands as the Japanese government yesterday condemned China over eight Chinese vessels entering Japan’s territory near the islands.
Ma insisted that the Diaoyutais are part of the territory of the Republic of China and that fishery committees from Taiwan and Japan would meet again to discuss issues in the fishing zone.
Ma stressed that the waters surrounding the Diaoyutais are traditional fishing grounds for fishermen from New Taipei City (新北市), Keelung and Yilan County, and said the agreement would protect their rights.
He said Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and former Japanese prime minister Yoshihiko Noda both supported the fishery agreement. Taiwan will continue to promote Ma’s proposed East China Sea peace initiative, which asked Japan and China to join Taiwan to shelve the territorial disputes over the islands and focus efforts on developing natural resources in the surrounding waters.
Separately yesterday, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs called on all parties to exercise self-restraint and not to escalate tensions in the region.
Ministry spokesperson Anna Kao (高安) declined to comment on the entry into waters off the Diaoyutai Islands by Chinese maritime surveillance ships because she said that cross-strait affairs are the mandate of the Mainland Affairs Council.
In handling the Diaoyutais issue, the government has upheld its position of “safeguarding sovereignty, shelving disputes, pursuing peace and reciprocity, and promoting joint exploration and development,” the principles on which Ma proposed the East China Sea peace initiative, Kao said.
Additional reporting by Shih Hsiu-chuan
‘WEAK POSITIVE’: The man arrived in Taiwan in May and was quarantined for two weeks, Chen Shih-chung said, adding that he might be infected a long time ago The government is considering tightening mask-wearing rules again in light of a potential domestic COVID-19 infection, Minister of Health and Welfare Chen Shih-chung (陳時中) said yesterday. The Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) confirmed seven new COVID-19 cases, six of which are imported. The other case involves a Belgian engineer who entered Taiwan on May 3 and remained in quarantine until May 17, said Chen, who heads the CECC. Although the source of infection has yet to be identified, the case could end the nation’s record of not having any domestic cases in the previous 110 days. The Belgian, in his 20s, is a technician
BRIBERY CASE: President Tsai Ing-wen accepted Su Jia-chyuan’s resignation as he said that he deeply regretted causing trouble for the president due to the investigation Presidential Office Secretary-General Su Jia-chyuan (蘇嘉全) yesterday resigned after his nephew, Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Su Chen-ching (蘇震清), was implicated in a bribery case related to a dispute over the ownership of Pacific Sogo Department Store (太平洋崇光百貨). “I resigned from the post so that President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) would not be bothered by it anymore, and the prosecutors can investigate the case in a fair and just manner. I thank President Tsai once again for supporting me. May the country continue to prosper under her leadership,” Su Jia-chyuan said in a statement. The Presidential Office said that Tsai has accepted
ALEX AZAR: The first visit by a head of the Department of Health and Human Services would strictly observe the CECC’s special regulations, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said US Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) Alex Azar is to lead a delegation to Taiwan — the highest-level visit by a US Cabinet official since the two sides cut formal relations in 1979. The plan was announced yesterday morning by the US Department of Health and Human Services and confirmed by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA). Beijing has expressed its concerns to Washington, Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman Wang Wenbin (汪文斌) said later yesterday. Taiwan and the US only issued statements saying that the visit would happen “in the coming days.” MOFA said that due to security concerns, it would
The military last week sent “no small number” of Marine Corps officers to the Pratas Islands (Dongsha Island, 東沙群島) following reports of a Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) drill targeting the islands scheduled for this month. In an interview with Hong Kong’s Bauhinia Magazine published on Saturday last week, PLA National Defense University professor Li Daguang (李大光) confirmed that the Chinese army was planning to stage a simulated invasion of the Pratas Islands in the South China Sea this month. The islands comprise three atolls, with Pratas Island, at 1.74km2, being the largest. They lie southwest of Taiwan proper in the South
RSS