A second meeting of a Taiwan-Japan fisheries commission is to be held in Tokyo to address issues related to the regulation of fishing operations in the nations’ overlapping waters in the East China Sea, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said yesterday.
The meeting, to take place today, will be cohosted by Taiwan’s Association of East Asian Relations and Japan’s Interchange Association, the ministry said in a statement.
Officials from the two sides are to discuss issues regarding the regulation of fishing methods in a designated area of the East China Sea in which fishermen from both countries are allowed to operate freely, the ministry said.
The Tokyo meeting follows a two-day meeting held earlier this month in Suao (蘇澳), Yilan County, that was attended by representatives from fishermen’s associations on both sides.
During that meeting, representatives agreed to continue negotiations on fishing regulations to avoid disputes, the ministry said.
The sticking point of the meeting involved the direction in which fishing lines are deployed and the distance maintained between longline fishing boats while they are operating in the two countries’ overlapping exclusive economic zones.
The Japanese side proposed that the two sides adopt its operating method, which requires fishing boats to set their lines in a north-south direction and to maintain a 4 nautical mile (7.4km) distance between them.
The Taiwanese side, which has a larger number of fishing boats operating in the area, advocated its own approach, which is to deploy lines in an east-west direction and maintain a 1 nautical mile distance between boats.
The Taiwan-Japan fishing commission was established as part of an agreement signed on April 10 by Taiwan and Japan on fishing rights in waters in the East China Sea near the disputed Diaoyutai Islands (釣魚台), known as the Senkakus in Japan.
The first meeting of the commission took place on May 7 in Taipei.
Under the terms of the agreement, Taiwanese and Japanese boats can operate freely in a 74,300km2 area around the Diaoyutai Islands, Taiwan’s Fisheries Agency said.
That gives Taiwanese fishermen an additional 4,530km2 in which they can operate without interference from Japanese authorities, the agency said.
TRAFFIC SAFETY RULES: A positive result in a drug test would result in a two-year license suspension for the driver and vehicle, and a fine of up to NT$180,000 The Ministry of Transportation and Communications is to authorize police to conduct roadside saliva tests by the end of the year to deter people from driving while under the influence of narcotics, it said yesterday. The ministry last month unveiled a draft of amended regulations governing traffic safety rules and penalties, which included provisions empowering police to conduct mandatory saliva tests on drivers. While currently rules authorize police to use oral fluid testing kits for signs of drug use, they do not establish penalties for noncompliance or operating procedures for officers to follow, the ministry said. The proposed changes to the regulations require
Taipei, New Taipei City, Keelung and Taoyuan would issue a decision at 8pm on whether to cancel work and school tomorrow due to forecasted heavy rain, Keelung Mayor Hsieh Kuo-liang (謝國樑) said today. Hsieh told reporters that absent some pressing reason, the four northern cities would announce the decision jointly at 8pm. Keelung is expected to receive between 300mm and 490mm of rain in the period from 2pm today through 2pm tomorrow, Central Weather Administration data showed. Keelung City Government regulations stipulate that school and work can be canceled if rain totals in mountainous or low-elevation areas are forecast to exceed 350mm in
The Executive Yuan yesterday announced that registration for a one-time universal NT$10,000 cash handout to help people in Taiwan survive US tariffs and inflation would start on Nov. 5, with payouts available as early as Nov. 12. Who is eligible for the handout? Registered Taiwanese nationals are eligible, including those born in Taiwan before April 30 next year with a birth certificate. Non-registered nationals with residence permits, foreign permanent residents and foreign spouses of Taiwanese citizens with residence permits also qualify for the handouts. For people who meet the eligibility requirements, but passed away between yesterday and April 30 next year, surviving family members
1.4nm WAFERS: While TSMC is gearing up to expand its overseas production, it would also continue to invest in Taiwan, company chairman and CEO C.C. Wei said Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC) has applied for permission to construct a new plant in the Central Taiwan Science Park (中部科學園區), which it would use for the production of new high-speed wafers, the National Science and Technology Council said yesterday. The council, which supervises three major science parks in Taiwan, confirmed that the Central Taiwan Science Park Bureau had received an application on Friday from TSMC, the world’s largest contract chipmaker, to commence work on the new A14 fab. A14 technology, a 1.4 nanometer (nm) process, is designed to drive artificial intelligence transformation by enabling faster computing and greater power
RSS