Amid fresh confrontation between China and Japan over the disputed Diaoyutai islets (釣魚台), a group of activists from Hong Kong and Taiwan gathered in Taipei yesterday urging the Taiwanese and Chinese governments to jointly take a “stronger stance” against Japan over the islands.
“Without government support on both sides of the Strait, efforts by civilian associations of [Taiwan, China and Hong Kong] alone will not be enough and will be to no avail,” Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Taipei County Councilor King Chieh-shou (金介壽) said at a forum discussion on the Diaoyutai issue.
Taiwan, China and Japan all claim possession of the islets, known as the Senkaku islands in Japanese, which are surrounded by rich fishing grounds and potential natural gas deposits. A Sept. 7 collision between a Chinese fishing boat and two Japanese patrol ships near the disputed area sparked a new wave of controversy and diplomatic tensions between Beijing and Tokyo.
A Taiwanese fishing boat, Hsin Teh Yi No. 186, was seized by Japan that same day for allegedly fishing illegally in the disputed area and another Taiwanese fishing boat, Feng Jung No. 106, was held the next day for the same reason. They were both released after a fine was paid.
“The governments on both sides of the Strait must set aside political disagreements and speak with one voice over the Diaoyutai islands lest Japan avails itself of the opportunity,” said Zheng Hailin (鄭海麟), a researcher with the Hong Kong Institute of Asia-Pacific Studies of the Chinese University of Hong Kong.
Huang Hsi-lin (黃錫麟), executive director of the Chung Hwa Baodiao Alliance, said activists could set sail from a fishing port in northern Taiwan “within days” — as early as today — for the islands.
Despite Taiwan’s claim and support from President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九), who sent a congratulatory message to the forum, Huang said it appears the government is trying to prevent activists from staging a protest.
“Security checks at some fishing ports have been tightened and boat owners have been discouraged by the authorities from chartering their boats for us,” he said.
Huang said the protest aims to “highlight the fishing rights of Taiwanese fishermen in shotai islands waters” rather than sovereignty, an issue which he said can only be resolved by official multilateral negotiations.
Given that some ports have been “basically sealed off,” the protesters decided to announce the time and location of their departure only at the last minute.
Trips for more than 100,000 international and domestic air travelers could be disrupted as China launches a military exercise around Taiwan today, Taiwan’s Civil Aviation Administration (CAA) said yesterday. The exercise could affect nearly 900 flights scheduled to enter the Taipei Flight Information Region (FIR) during the exercise window, it added. A notice issued by the Chinese Civil Aviation Administration showed there would be seven temporary zones around the Taiwan Strait which would be used for live-fire exercises, lasting from 8am to 6pm today. All aircraft are prohibited from entering during exercise, it says. Taipei FIR has 14 international air routes and
Taiwan lacks effective and cost-efficient armaments to intercept rockets, making the planned “T-Dome” interception system necessary, two experts said on Tuesday. The concerns were raised after China’s military fired two waves of rockets during live-fire drills around Taiwan on Tuesday, part of two-day exercises code-named “Justice Mission 2025.” The first wave involved 17 rockets launched at 9am from Pingtan in China’s Fujian Province, according to Lieutenant General Hsieh Jih-sheng (謝日升) of the Office of the Deputy Chief of the General Staff for Intelligence at the Ministry of National Defense. Those rockets landed 70 nautical miles (129.6km) northeast of Keelung without flying over Taiwan,
City buses in Taipei and New Taipei City, as well as the Taipei MRT, would on Saturday begin accepting QR code payments from five electronic payment providers, the Taipei Department of Transportation said yesterday. The new option would allow passengers to use the “transportation QR code” feature from EasyWallet, iPass Money, iCash Pay, Jkopay or PXPay Plus. Passengers should open their preferred electronic payment app, select the “transportation code” — not the regular payment code — unlock it, and scan the code at ticket readers or gates, General Planning Division Director-General Liu Kuo-chu (劉國著) said. People should move through the
The Ministry of National Defense (MND) today released images of the military tracking China’s People's Liberation Army (PLA) movements during the latest round of Chinese drills around Taiwan. The PLA began "Justice Mission 2025" drills today, carrying out live-fire drills, simulated strikes on land and maritime targets, and exercises to blockade the nation's main ports. The exercises are to continue tomorrow, with the PLA announcing sea and air space restrictions for five zones around Taiwan for 10 hours starting from 8:30am. The ministry today released images showing a Chinese J-16 fighter jet tracked by a F-16V Block 20 jet and the
RSS