The third Taiwan-Japan Maritime Affairs Cooperation Dialogue is to be held today in Tokyo, with a focus on emergency rescue cooperation, marine scientific research and fishing.
Taiwan’s delegation is to be headed by Taiwan-Japan Relations Association Secretary-General Chang Shu-ling (張淑玲), with the association’s president serving as a consultant, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement.
Other members of the delegation would include officials from the ministry, the Ocean Affairs Council, the Coast Guard Administration, the Fisheries Agency and the Ministry of Science and Technology, it added.
Photo: Wang Yi-sung, Taipei Times
“Our side is to engage in negotiations with Japan on issues such as search-and-rescue cooperation at sea, ocean scientific research and fishery issues,” the foreign ministry said.
It is the government’s hope to develop mutually beneficial cooperation with Japan through the platform, and to strengthen communications and negotiations on bilateral maritime affairs to maintain order at sea, it said.
The dialogue was established amid growing tensions between the two sides following the Japan Coast Guard’s seizure in April 2016 of a Taiwanese fishing boat operating about 150 nautical miles (278km) east-southeast of the Okinotori Atoll.
Japan classifies Okinotori as an island and claims a 370km exclusive economic zone around it, but there is no international consensus on whether it is an island or a rock.
The Democratic Progressive Party administration will not take a legal stance on the classification until the UN Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf delivers a ruling, but it urged Japan to respect the rights of Taiwan and other nations to fish and navigate freely.
The administration’s stance is softer than that of the previous Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) government, which officially declared Okinotori a rock.
The first bilateral maritime meeting was held in Japan in October 2016 and the second was held in Taipei in December last year, during which little progress was made on the issue of Okinotori, Chang said after its conclusion.
RETHINK? The defense ministry and Navy Command Headquarters could take over the indigenous submarine project and change its production timeline, a source said Admiral Huang Shu-kuang’s (黃曙光) resignation as head of the Indigenous Submarine Program and as a member of the National Security Council could affect the production of submarines, a source said yesterday. Huang in a statement last night said he had decided to resign due to national security concerns while expressing the hope that it would put a stop to political wrangling that only undermines the advancement of the nation’s defense capabilities. Taiwan People’s Party Legislator Vivian Huang (黃珊珊) yesterday said that the admiral, her older brother, felt it was time for him to step down and that he had completed what he
Taiwan has experienced its most significant improvement in the QS World University Rankings by Subject, data provided on Sunday by international higher education analyst Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) showed. Compared with last year’s edition of the rankings, which measure academic excellence and influence, Taiwanese universities made great improvements in the H Index metric, which evaluates research productivity and its impact, with a notable 30 percent increase overall, QS said. Taiwanese universities also made notable progress in the Citations per Paper metric, which measures the impact of research, achieving a 13 percent increase. Taiwanese universities gained 10 percent in Academic Reputation, but declined 18 percent
UNDER DISCUSSION: The combatant command would integrate fast attack boat and anti-ship missile groups to defend waters closest to the coastline, a source said The military could establish a new combatant command as early as 2026, which would be tasked with defending Taiwan’s territorial waters 24 nautical miles (44.4km) from the nation’s coastline, a source familiar with the matter said yesterday. The new command, which would fall under the Naval Command Headquarters, would be led by a vice admiral and integrate existing fast attack boat and anti-ship missile groups, along with the Naval Maritime Surveillance and Reconnaissance Command, said the source, who asked to remain anonymous. It could be launched by 2026, but details are being discussed and no final timetable has been announced, the source
BULLY TACTICS: Beijing has continued its incursions into Taiwan’s airspace even as Xi Jinping talked about Taiwan being part of the Chinese family and nation China should stop its coercion of Taiwan and respect mainstream public opinion in Taiwan about sovereignty if its expression of goodwill is genuine, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) said yesterday. Ministry spokesman Jeff Liu (劉永健) made the comment in response to media queries about a meeting between former president Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) and Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) the previous day. Ma voiced support for the so-called “1992 consensus,” while Xi said that although the two sides of the Taiwan Strait have “different systems,” this does not change the fact that they are “part of the same country,” and that “external