The Ministry of Foreign Affairs yesterday summoned Indonesian Representative to Taiwan Robert James Bintaryo over the Southeast Asian country’s frequent inspection of Taiwanese fishing boats, which the ministry said has raised concerns about the use of excessive force.
The ministry said in a statement that Department of East Asian and Pacific Affairs Director-General Winston Chen (陳文儀) lodged a protest with Bintaryo over Jakarta’s boarding and inspection of Taiwanese fishing boats seven times this year.
“While we understand the Indonesian government’s policy to step up efforts to crack down on illegal drug smuggling at sea ... it is against international custom for Jakarta to block the passage of and recklessly inspect our nation’s fishing boats without obtaining concrete evidence of illegal activities,” the ministry said.
Such practices have seriously infringed on the boats’ freedom of navigation, it added.
The ministry’s protest came on the heels of an incident in which a Taiwanese fishing boat, the Da Wei No. 13, was stopped and inspected by Indonesian patrol boats on Tuesday, only one day after it was released.
The boat, carrying seven crew members, was on Sunday seized by Indonesian authorities in the Strait of Malacca while returning to Taiwan. It was later moved to a harbor in Selat Panjang in Indonesia’s Riau Province for inspection.
The Fisheries Agency has protested Indonesia’s treatment of the boat, citing Article 44 of the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, which stipulates that “states bordering straits shall not hamper transit passage and shall give appropriate publicity to any danger to navigation or overflight within or over the strait of which they have knowledge. There shall be no suspension of transit passage.”
Bintaryo pledged to relay to his government the ministry’s demand for an explanation and its concerns, including that Jakarta’s use of excessive force has caused fear and a backlash among Taiwanese fishermen, the ministry said.
“Even though fighting transnational drug smuggling is a common goal of the international community, the protection of fishermen’s rights is also an issue of great importance to Taiwan and Indonesia,” the ministry said.
The ministry called on the Indonesian government to follow in the steps of its Japanese and Philippines counterparts and establish a dialogue mechanism on maritime law enforcement with Taiwan to avoid similar conflicts.
More than half of the bamboo vipers captured in Tainan in the past few years were found in the city’s Sinhua District (新化), while other districts had smaller catches or none at all. Every year, Tainan captures about 6,000 snakes which have made their way into people’s homes. Of the six major venomous snakes in Taiwan, the cobra, the many-banded krait, the brown-spotted pit viper and the bamboo viper are the most frequently captured. The high concentration of bamboo vipers captured in Sinhua District is puzzling. Tainan Agriculture Bureau Forestry and Nature Conservation Division head Chu Chien-ming (朱健明) earlier this week said that the
NAMING SPAT: The foreign ministry called on Denmark to propose an acceptable solution to the erroneous nationality used for Taiwanese on residence permits Taiwan has revoked some privileges for Danish diplomatic staff over a Danish permit that lists “Taiwan” as “China,” Eric Huang (黃鈞耀), head of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ Department of European Affairs, told a news conference in Taipei yesterday. Reporters asked Huang whether the Danish government had responded to the ministry’s request that it correct the nationality on Danish residence permits of Taiwanese, which has been listed as “China” since 2024. Taiwan’s representative office in Denmark continues to communicate with the Danish government, and the ministry has revoked some privileges previously granted to Danish representatives in Taiwan and would continue to review
The first bluefin tuna of the season, brought to shore in Pingtung County and weighing 190kg, was yesterday auctioned for NT$10,600 (US$333.5) per kilogram, setting a record high for the local market. The auction was held at the fish market in Donggang Fishing Harbor, where the Siaoliouciou Island-registered fishing vessel Fu Yu Ching No. 2 delivered the “Pingtung First Tuna” it had caught for bidding. Bidding was intense, and the tuna was ultimately jointly purchased by a local restaurant and a local company for NT$10,600 per kilogram — NT$300 ,more than last year — for a total of NT$2.014 million. The 67-year-old skipper
China has reserved offshore airspace over the Yellow Sea and East China Sea from March 27 to May 6, issuing alerts that are usually used to warn of military exercises, although no such exercises have been announced, the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reported on Sunday. Reserving such a large area for 40 days without explanation is an “unusual step,” as military exercises normally only last a few days, the paper said. The alerts, known as notice to air missions (NOTAMs), “are intended to inform pilots and aviation authorities of temporary airspace hazards or restrictions,” the article said. The airspace reserved in the alert
RSS