The government is negotiating with Japan over the nation’s fishing rights in the waters surrounding the disputed Diaoyutai Islands (釣魚台), President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) said yesterday, adding that he hoped this could yield substantial results in the near future.
Accompanied by Council of Agriculture Minister Chen Bao-ji (陳保基), Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) legislators Su Ching-chuan (蘇清泉), Wang Chin-shih (王進士), Chiu Wen-yen (邱文彥) and Chien Tung-ming (簡東明), Ma made the remark during a visit to the Coast Guard Administration’s (CGA) inspection office in Donggang Township (東港) in Pingtung County.
After listening to a brief report on the office’s administrative achievements last year, Ma attended a luncheon with coast guard personnel, during which he touted the agency’s efforts in safeguarding the safety of Taiwanese fishermen operating in waters near the Diaoyutais, also known as the Senkakus in Japan.
“Amid increasing tensions in the South China Sea, the CGA was able to offer timely assistance to a group of Taiwanese fishermen heading from Suao [蘇澳], Yilan County, to the Diaoyutai Islands [in September] last year in an effort to assert the nation’s sovereignty over the disputed archipelago,” Ma said.
Its assistance not only helped bring the privately initiated mission, which triggered an exchange of water-cannon fire between Taiwanese and Japanese patrol vessels, to a peaceful end, but also earned plaudits from Taiwanese fishermen, Ma said.
“It is a nation’s obligation to guarantee the safety and rights of its fishermen, which is something the CGA has been doing through non-military means since its establishment 17 years ago,” Ma said.
The Coast Guard Administration (CGA) yesterday said it had deployed patrol vessels to expel a China Coast Guard ship and a Chinese fishing boat near Pratas Island (Dongsha Island, 東沙群島) in the South China Sea. The China Coast Guard vessel was 28 nautical miles (52km) northeast of Pratas at 6:15am on Thursday, approaching the island’s restricted waters, which extend 24 nautical miles from its shoreline, the CGA’s Dongsha-Nansha Branch said in a statement. The Tainan, a 2,000-tonne cutter, was deployed by the CGA to shadow the Chinese ship, which left the area at 2:39pm on Friday, the statement said. At 6:31pm on Friday,
The Chinese People’s Liberation Army Navy’s (PLAN) third aircraft carrier, the Fujian, would pose a steep challenge to Taiwan’s ability to defend itself against a full-scale invasion, a defense expert said yesterday. Institute of National Defense and Security Research analyst Chieh Chung (揭仲) made the comment hours after the PLAN confirmed the carrier recently passed through the Taiwan Strait to conduct “scientific research tests and training missions” in the South China Sea. China has two carriers in operation — the Liaoning and the Shandong — with the Fujian undergoing sea trials. Although the PLAN needs time to train the Fujian’s air wing and
The American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) put Taiwan in danger, Ma Ying-jeou Foundation director Hsiao Hsu-tsen (蕭旭岑) said yesterday, hours after the de facto US embassy said that Beijing had misinterpreted World War II-era documents to isolate Taiwan. The AIT’s comments harmed the Republic of China’s (ROC) national interests and contradicted a part of the “six assurances” stipulating that the US would not change its official position on Taiwan’s sovereignty, Hsiao said. The “six assurances,” which were given by then-US president Ronald Reagan to Taiwan in 1982, say that Washington would not set a date for ending arm sales to Taiwan, consult
A Taiwanese academic yesterday said that Chinese Ambassador to Denmark Wang Xuefeng (王雪峰) disrespected Denmark and Japan when he earlier this year allegedly asked Japan’s embassy to make Taiwan’s representatives leave an event in Copenhagen. The Danish-language Berlingske on Sunday reported the incident in an article with the headline “The emperor’s birthday ended in drama in Copenhagen: More conflict may be on the way between Denmark and China.” It said that on Feb. 26, the Japanese embassy in Denmark held an event for Japanese Emperor Naruhito’s birthday, with about 200 guests in attendance, including representatives from Taiwan. After addressing the Japanese hosts, Wang
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