Two patrol boats yesterday left Kaohsiung for international waters near the Okinotori atoll in the Western Pacific in response to a directive from President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) to protect Taiwanese fishing boats operating in the area.
The deployment of a Coast Guard Administration (CGA) ship and one belonging to the Fisheries Agency came after a Taiwanese fishing boat, the Tung Sheng Chi No. 16, was seized on Monday last week by the Japan Coast Guard while operating in waters about 150 nautical miles (228km) from the uninhabited atoll.
The boat and its crew were released the following day after the boat’s owner paid a security deposit demanded by Japanese authorities.
Photo: CNA
Japan claims a 200 nautical mile exclusive economic zone around the atoll, which it says is an island, but which Taiwan says is a reef and therefore is not entitled to anything more than a 500m “security zone.”
Taiwan lodged a protest with Japan and Ma instructed government agencies to step up protection for fishermen operating in waters near the atoll.
Coast guard officials told a news conference before the ships departed that the agency would adopt the principles of no evasion, no confrontation and no provocation in its protection of Taiwanese fishing boats operating in the area.
Photo: Hung Chen-hung, Taipei Times
However, CGA Deputy Director-General Yao Chou-tien (姚洲典) said that Taiwan would respond should Japan use water cannons or take unfriendly action against Taiwanese fishing vessels, adding that he hopes protection of fishing rights would be enforced peacefully and rationally.
The coast guard vessel is equipped with automatic cannons and machine guns.
Yao said the deployment conforms with the principle of freedom of fishing on the high seas stipulated in the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea and is part of the CGA’s routine patrol missions.
The two patrol boats have LED display boards showing a scrolling message: “We are exercising the freedom of fishing. Do not disturb,” in Chinese, English and Japanese.
It is expected to take them three to five days to reach the atoll.
Yao said the fishery protection program would last for one month.
There are 100 to 200 fishing boats from the port of Suao (蘇澳) in Yilan County and Pingtung County’s Donggang (東港) and Siaoliouciou (小琉球) operating in the area, according to Lin Ding-rong (林頂榮), director of the Fisheries Agency’s Deep Sea Fisheries Division.
MORE VISITORS: The Tourism Administration said that it is seeing positive prospects in its efforts to expand the tourism market in North America and Europe Taiwan has been ranked as the cheapest place in the world to travel to this year, based on a list recommended by NerdWallet. The San Francisco-based personal finance company said that Taiwan topped the list of 16 nations it chose for budget travelers because US tourists do not need visas and travelers can easily have a good meal for less than US$10. A bus ride in Taipei costs just under US$0.50, while subway rides start at US$0.60, the firm said, adding that public transportation in Taiwan is easy to navigate. The firm also called Taiwan a “food lover’s paradise,” citing inexpensive breakfast stalls
PLUGGING HOLES: The amendments would bring the legislation in line with systems found in other countries such as Japan and the US, Legislator Chen Kuan-ting said Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Chen Kuan-ting (陳冠廷) has proposed amending national security legislation amid a spate of espionage cases. Potential gaps in security vetting procedures for personnel with access to sensitive information prompted him to propose the amendments, which would introduce changes to Article 14 of the Classified National Security Information Protection Act (國家機密保護法), Chen said yesterday. The proposal, which aims to enhance interagency vetting procedures and reduce the risk of classified information leaks, would establish a comprehensive security clearance system in Taiwan, he said. The amendment would require character and loyalty checks for civil servants and intelligence personnel prior to
US PUBLICATION: The results indicated a change in attitude after a 2023 survey showed 55 percent supported full-scale war to achieve unification, the report said More than half of Chinese were against the use of force to unify with Taiwan under any circumstances, a survey conducted by the Atlanta, Georgia-based Carter Center and Emory University found. The survey results, which were released on Wednesday in a report titled “Sovereignty, Security, & US-China Relations: Chinese Public Opinion,” showed that 55.1 percent of respondents agreed or somewhat agreed that “the Taiwan problem should not be resolved using force under any circumstances,” while 24.5 percent “strongly” or “somewhat” disagreed with the statement. The results indicated a change in attitude after a survey published in “Assessing Public Support for (Non)Peaceful Unification
The China Coast Guard has seized control of a disputed reef near a major Philippine military outpost in the South China Sea, Beijing’s state media said, adding to longstanding territorial tensions with Manila. Beijing claims sovereignty over almost all of the South China Sea and has waved away competing assertions from other countries as well as an international ruling that its position has no legal basis. China and the Philippines have engaged in months of confrontations in the contested waters, and Manila is taking part in sweeping joint military drills with the US which Beijing has slammed as destabilizing. The Chinese coast guard
RSS