It is too late for representatives of fishermen's groups to attend the 15th round of Taiwan-Japan fishery talks on Friday in Tokyo because preparations had already been made beforehand without them, a Ministry of Foreign Affairs official said yesterday.
Although the fishermen will not be present at the meeting, they will be fully represented by the foreign ministry, the Fisheries Administration and other government agencies, said Gary Lin (
Despite the fact that the fishing community recently said it wanted to be a part of the negotiations, and that the Japanese side had said that it did not have a problem with them attending, Lin said officials from Taiwan and Japan had met in Tokyo July 12 to hammer out the agenda for the talks.
Lin added that the government has filed nine requests regarding the talks with its Japanese counterpart and is looking forward to a positive response.
Foreign ministry spokesman Michel Lu (
Taiwan hopes that both sides will set aside sovereignty disputes over the Diaoyutais (
He said that the resumption of the fishery talks is a positive and good beginning, although the dispute might not be settled in a single round of negotiations.
Should both parties fail to find a satisfactory solution to the fishing dispute, which involves the overlap of economic zones, the two countries can arrange for future talks, Lu said.
At the heart of the dispute is the two countries' conflicting claims of sovereignty over the Diaoyutais.
The two countries have held 14 rounds of fishery talks since 1996 but have failed to make significant headway because Taiwan refuses to forsake its sovereignty claim to the Diaoyutais, which Japan has held since 1972.
Japan often fines shipowners and impounds Taiwanese fishing vessels that enter waters close to the Diaoyutais.
The dispute came into the limelight again recently after some 50 Taiwanese fishing boats protested in the disputed waters following the expulsion of Taiwanese fishermen from the area by Japanese patrol ships.
Under strong pressure from opposition lawmakers, the military sent a Knox-class frigate to patrol the disputed waters for one afternoon on June 21.
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