The East China Sea peace initiative proposed by President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) is the most sensible approach advanced to date to reduce the potential for conflict over territorial disputes in the region, a US academic said.
Writing in the latest issue of the journal Asian Survey, Dennis Hickey examined Taiwan’s policy toward the territorial dispute involving the Diaoyutai Islands (釣魚台), which are claimed by Taiwan, Japan and China.
The Diaoyutais, called the Senkakus in Japan, lie about 120 nautical miles (220km) northeast of Taipei.
In August 2012, Taiwan proposed a diplomatic approach — the East China Sea peace initiative — that could conceivably shelve the issue if adopted, said Hickey, a professor of political science at Missouri State University.
The proposal calls for all sides to shelve their differences and jointly explore and develop resources in the area.
Sovereignty cannot be divided, but natural resources can be shared, Ma said, suggesting that bilateral discussions first take place between the three parties involved (Taiwan, Japan and China) to nudge negotiations forward and set the stage for trilateral negotiations to eventually achieve an agreement based on the initiative.
Aside from the peace initiative, Taipei seems to be throwing its support behind activists who claim the island group belongs to the “Chinese people,” seemingly inching closer to China on the issue, Hickey said in the article, titled “Taiwan and the Rising Tension in the East China Sea: A Mouse that Roared.”
The government has repeatedly stated that the Diaoyutais are an inherent part of the Republic of China’s (ROC) territory, and that Taipei will not cooperate with Beijing on the Diaoyutais row.
However, during a recent interview with the Central News Agency, Hickey said there was a perception that China and Taiwan do share some parallel interests over the Diaoyutais.
Though China and Taiwan are not “openly cooperating,” he said, an incident near the disputed islands involving a direct clash between Taiwan and Japan suggests some degree of mutual support.
In September 2012, a group of Coast Guard Administration ships were sent to escort dozens of Taiwanese fishing boats into the Diaoyutais’ territorial waters to assert the ROC’s territorial claims.
Japan Coast Guard vessels fired a water cannon at the Taiwanese fishing boats, while Taiwan’s coast guard pelted the Japanese patrol ships with a water cannon of its own.
During the incident, China deployed several patrol ships that stayed 12 nautical miles off the islands, in a de facto act of support for Taiwan’s action, Hickey said, citing media reports.
The two-pronged policy has paid some dividends for Taiwan, including the signing of a fishery agreement with Japan that expanded the area near the Diaoyutais where Taiwanese fishermen are allowed to operate freely, he said.
The policy has also boosted Taiwan’s international stature and diplomatic profile in the global community, he said.
Taiwan’s East China Sea proposal has received support from the EU and the US.
It is possible that Japan and China “will now see a need to recalibrate their respective policies toward Taiwan, if they hope to enlist its support on significant regional matters,” he said.
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