The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) said yesterday that Taiwan is not a province of China and that China does not have maritime jurisdiction over Taiwan's territorial waters, which cover the Diaoyutai Islands.
Ministry spokeswoman Phoebe Yeh (葉非比) made the comments after her Chinese counterpart Qin Gang (秦剛) in Beijing protested over the illegal incursion of a Japanese patrol boat into Chinese territorial waters that resulted in a collision with a “China Taiwan” boat, which later sank.
“Saying the boat was from ‘China Taiwan’ could not be further from the truth. Taiwan is not a province of China and Taiwan’s territorial waters cover the Diaoyutais,” Yeh said.
PHOTO: AFP/JAPAN COAST GUARD VIA JIJI PRESS
The Diaoyutai islands, known as Senkaku in Japanese, are an island chain 222km north of Taiwan. They are claimed by Taiwan, China and Japan.
The two boats collided at 2:23am yesterday, 11km southwest of the Diaoyutais. The Taiwanese boat capsized approximately one hour after the accident, Yeh said.
The 13 fishermen and three crew members who were aboard the Taiwanese vessel that collided with the Japanese patrol boat Koshiki had been rescued, she said yesterday morning and were being treated at a hospital on Ishigaki Island, part of the Ryuku chain.
The 13 fishermen returned to Taiwan late yesterday.
However, the three crewmembers will remain in Ishigaki until Japanese authorities complete their investigation into the incident, a ministry press release said.
The press release also said the foreign ministry immediately asked the Taiwan representative office in Japan to reiterate Taiwan’s jurisdiction over the Diaoyutais.
The ministry also urged the office to resume a dialogue with the Japanese government on settling the dispute over the jurisdiction over the Diaoyutais and the surrounding seas.
Taiwan would benefit from more integrated military strategies and deployments if the US and its allies treat the East China Sea, the Taiwan Strait and the South China Sea as a “single theater of operations,” a Taiwanese military expert said yesterday. Shen Ming-shih (沈明室), a researcher at the Institute for National Defense and Security Research, said he made the assessment after two Japanese military experts warned of emerging threats from China based on a drill conducted this month by the Chinese People’s Liberation Army’s (PLA) Eastern Theater Command. Japan Institute for National Fundamentals researcher Maki Nakagawa said the drill differed from the
‘WORSE THAN COMMUNISTS’: President William Lai has cracked down on his political enemies and has attempted to exterminate all opposition forces, the chairman said The legislature would motion for a presidential recall after May 20, Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) said yesterday at a protest themed “against green communists and dictatorship” in Taipei. Taiwan is supposed to be a peaceful homeland where people are united, but President William Lai (賴清德) has been polarizing and tearing apart society since his inauguration, Chu said. Lai must show his commitment to his job, otherwise a referendum could be initiated to recall him, he said. Democracy means the rule of the people, not the rule of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), but Lai has failed to fulfill his
OFF-TARGET: More than 30,000 participants were expected to take part in the Games next month, but only 6,550 foreign and 19,400 Taiwanese athletes have registered Taipei city councilors yesterday blasted the organizers of next month’s World Masters Games over sudden timetable and venue changes, which they said have caused thousands of participants to back out of the international sporting event, among other organizational issues. They also cited visa delays and political interference by China as reasons many foreign athletes are requesting refunds for the event, to be held from May 17 to 30. Jointly organized by the Taipei and New Taipei City governments, the games have been rocked by numerous controversies since preparations began in 2020. Taipei City Councilor Lin Yen-feng (林延鳳) said yesterday that new measures by
A rally held by opposition parties yesterday demonstrates that Taiwan is a democratic country, President William Lai (賴清德) said yesterday, adding that if opposition parties really want to fight dictatorship, they should fight it on Tiananmen Square in Beijing. The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) held a protest with the theme “against green communists and dictatorship,” and was joined by the Taiwan People’s Party. Lai said the opposition parties are against what they called the “green communists,” but do not fight against the “Chinese communists,” adding that if they really want to fight dictatorship, they should go to the right place and face
RSS