Despite a consensus to set aside disputes over sovereignty, long-delayed talks with Japan on fishing rights in overlapping territory remain stalled, a Ministry of Foreign Affairs official said yesterday.
Taipei “has remained in close contact” with Tokyo to exchange views on the possibility of holding the 17th round of talks to negotiate a clear demarcation of fishing rights, but “no timetable has been set,” Su Qi-cheng (蘇啟誠), deputy secretary-general of the ministry’s Association of East Asian Relations, said in response to media inquiries at a regular news briefing.
Japan set up its 200 nautical mile (370km) exclusive economic zone (EEZ) following its ratification of the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea in 1996 that included certain parts of what Taiwanese fishermen believe is their “traditional fishing grounds,” resulting in incidents of Taiwanese fishing boats being seized, detained or expelled by the Japan Coast Guard.
Amid these disputes, Taiwan and Japan initiated talks later that year to avoid increasing tensions that could escalate beyond fishing rights.
In the face of ongoing fights over the sovereignty of the Diaoyutai Islands (釣魚台), known as the Senkaku Islands in Japan, and overlapping EEZ claims made by both countries in the region, a total of 16 rounds of negotiations were held by Taipei and Tokyo alternatively on an irregular basis over the years.
However, the platform has been put on hold since the last round of negotiations in February 2009 in Taipei, which saw both sides stick to their respective proposals to resolve the “cross-border fishing” issue.
“Although we both agreed to set aside the dispute over sovereignty on the Diaoyutai Islands and competing EEZ claims, fishery demarcation remains an intractable issue. We would rather not resume the negotiations unless we can reach a consensus on how to resolve the problem,” Su said.
Su said Taiwan proposed a solution — modeled on a similar approach Japan has used to resolve fishing disputes with China and South Korea — in which both sides refrain from fishing in a temporary demarcation of water, but the suggestion was not accepted by Japan.
Taiwan disagreed with a proposal made by Japan that seeks to draw a median line in the 110km distance between the Yonaguni Islands, Japan’s most westerly point, and Taiwan, because the demarcation line that divides the water between the two countries was not proportional to the size of the much smaller Yonaguni Islands and Taiwan proper, Su said.
“China is preparing to invade Taiwan,” Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Francois Wu (吳志中) said in an exclusive interview with British media channel Sky News for a special report titled, “Is Taiwan ready for a Chinese invasion?” the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said today in a statement. The 25-minute-long special report by Helen Ann-Smith released yesterday saw Sky News travel to Penghu, Taoyuan and Taipei to discuss the possibility of a Chinese invasion and how Taiwan is preparing for an attack. The film observed emergency response drills, interviewed baseball fans at the Taipei Dome on their views of US President
The Central Weather Administration (CWA) today issued a "tsunami watch" alert after a magnitude 8.7 earthquake struck off the Kamchatka Peninsula in northeastern Russia earlier in the morning. The quake struck off the east coast of the Kamchatka Peninsula at 7:25am (Taiwan time) at a depth of about 19km, the CWA said, citing figures from the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center. The CWA's Seismological Center said preliminary assessments indicate that a tsunami could reach Taiwan's coastal areas by 1:18pm today. The CWA urged residents along the coast to stay alert and take necessary precautions as waves as high as 1m could hit the southeastern
The National Museum of Taiwan Literature is next month to hold an exhibition in Osaka, Japan, showcasing the rich and unique history of Taiwanese folklore and literature. The exhibition, which is to run from Aug. 10 to Aug. 20 at the city’s Central Public Hall, is part of the “We Taiwan” at Expo 2025 series, highlighting Taiwan’s cultural ties with the international community, National Museum of Taiwan Literature director Chen Ying-fang (陳瑩芳) said. Folklore and literature, among Taiwan’s richest cultural heritages, naturally deserve a central place in the global dialogue, Chen said. Taiwan’s folklore would be immediately apparent at the entrance of the
ECONOMIC BENEFITS: The imports from Belize would replace those from Honduras, whose shrimp exports have dropped 67 percent since cutting ties in 2023 Maintaining ties with Taiwan has economic benefits, Ministry of Foreign Affairs officials said yesterday, citing the approval of frozen whiteleg shrimp imports from Belize by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) as an example. The FDA on Wednesday approved the tariff-free imports from Belize after the whiteleg shrimp passed the Systematic Inspection of Imported Food, which would continue to boost mutual trade, the ministry said. Taiwan’s annual consumption of whiteleg shrimps stands at 30,000 tonnes, far exceeding domestic production, the ministry said. Taiwan used to fill the gap by importing shrimps from Honduras, but purchases slumped after Tegucigalpa severed diplomatic ties with Taiwan