The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) yesterday said that a “black-box agreement” might have been made between Japan and President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) over the Okinotori atoll fishery dispute, accusing the new president of ingratiating herself with Tokyo at the expense of the rights of Taiwanese fishermen.
KMT Culture and Communications Committee director Chow Chi-wai (周志偉) said a report published by the Chinese-language China Times yesterday quoted Japanese Legislator Nobuo Kishi as saying in a recent interview with Kyodo news agency that he and Tsai earlier this month reached a consensus on Taiwan’s deployment of patrol vessels to waters near Okinotori through peaceful dialogue.
Kishi, who is also a younger brother of Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, met with Tsai on May 5 in Taipei to discuss issues concerning both Japan and Taiwan.
Photo: Chen Chih-chu, Taipei Times
“The KMT firmly supports continued interaction between Taipei and Tokyo, but they must not be carried out at the cost of our national interests,” Chow said in a news release.
Tsai should immediately explain to the public what kind of an agreement she has reached with Japan, Chow said, adding that a dialogue mechanism for maritime affairs cooperation to be established between the two nations should be transparent and subject to both public and legislative scrutiny.
Chow made the remarks one day after the Executive Yuan announced its decisions to establish the dialogue mechanism and to refrain from taking a stance on the disputed legal status of the uninhabited Okinotori, which former president Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) refused to recognize as an island.
Okinotori has been at the center of an ongoing conflict between Tokyo and Taipei, sparked by the Japan Coast Guard’s seizure last month of a Taiwanese fishing boat operating about 150 nautical miles (277.8km) east-southeast of the atoll.
The incident prompted Ma’s government on May 1 to deploy two patrol vessels on a month-long mission to protect Taiwanese fishermen operating near the Japan-controlled atoll.
Separately yesterday, the KMT caucus held a news conference denouncing the Executive Yuan’s decision to leave the matter of Okinotori’s status to the discretion of UN Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf.
“Okinotori is a rock, not an island. The Democratic Progressive Party government has acted like a wuss after being sworn in and has taken an attitudinal U-turn on the fishery dispute. Does it mean our fishermen have to flee whenever they see Japan’s patrol guard vessels in the high seas from now on?” KMT deputy caucus whip Lin Te-fu (林德福) said.
KMT Legislator Johnny Chiang (江啟臣) said the Okinotori dispute is closely intertwined with the defense of the nation’s sovereignty, criticizing the Executive Yuan’s remarks as sacrificing the nation’s dignity.
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