The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) said yesterday it believes Japan will properly handle Taiwan’s protests lodged on Wednesday over an alleged fishery incursion, but still urged Tokyo to release the detained skipper and his crewman.
“Taiwan is the flag country of the detained vessel and therefore has exclusive jurisdiction over it. We found the behavior of the Japanese officers over our coast guard officers on board [the vessel] improper and unfit and had to solemnly express our stance and lodge protests against it,” MOFA Deputy Spokesman James Chang (章計平) said at a regular press briefing.
Chang said Naohiro Tsutsumi, director-general of the Taipei Office of the Japan Interchange Association, Tokyo’s representative office in Taiwan, promised to fully express Taiwan’s stance to his government.
Chang said a secretary from the foreign ministry’s representative office in Naha on Wednesday visited the detained Taiwanese skipper and his crewman, who were safe and sound.
Asked whether MOFA had admitted that the sports fishing boat had entered Japanese waters when the ministry asked Japan for leniency in the skipper’s case, Chang said the ministry did not admit any fault on the part of the skipper, but was simply making the request based on past experience, as similar fishery disputes have involved penalties.
Responsibility will be determined only after a judicial investigation has been completed, he said, adding that the ministry hoped the Japanese government would conclude the case promptly and release the skipper.
Taiwan on Wednesday lodged a protest against Japan after learning that Taiwanese coast guard officers’ movements had been briefly restricted by Japanese officers while they were trying to settle the fishery dispute on the spot.
The incident took place on Sunday evening when the Taiwanese boat was seized by the Japanese Maritime Safety Agency on charges of illegally operating in Japanese waters near the Diaoyutai (釣魚台). chain Taiwan, Japan and China all claim jurisdiction over the islands.
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