Ocean Affairs Council (OAC) Minister Hwung Hwung-hweng (黃煌煇) pledged to develop the nation’s marine economy and a maritime diplomacy based on resource sharing in an interview with the Taipei Times.
“In the 21th century, a nation’s wins or losses hinge on its strength at sea,” Hwung said, but his strategy for the nation’s maritime diplomacy is more than a belligerent outlook, emphasizing technological and commercial collaboration with neighboring nations.
Hwung, 72, officially took the OAC post at an inauguration ceremony in Kaohsiung on April 28.
Photo: Lin Chia-nan, Taipei Times
An expert on hydraulic and civil engineering, Hwung said he has helped to plan effluent treatment facilities for the Ma-anshan Nuclear Power Plant, Changhua Coastal Industrial Park, Formosa Plastics Group’s naphtha cracker, among others.
“Engineering techniques are used to reduce the effect of a construction project on the environment,” he said, when asked to comment on some ecologists’ doubts about whether he, as an engineer, has the resolve to protect the nation’s marine environment.
Hwung said that one priority is to take into consideration the nation’s marine resources, including energy sources such as the natural gas and methane that are mainly in its western and southern waters, and then it can develop its ocean conservation policy and decide which research projects to conduct first.
To ensure the sustainability of fishery resources, the OAC aims to set up more conservation zones, just as Australia has set up a conservation zone to protect its Great Reef Barrier, he said, but added that the OAC must gather more information about which water areas are suitable.
Fishing activities in Taiwan used to be managed by the Council of Agriculture’s Fisheries Agency, but now the agency is to be responsible for inland fisheries, while the OAC is to be in charge of fisheries beyond the high-tide line, he said.
Asked how the OAC would safeguard exclusive economic zones that overlap those of Japan, the Philippines and China, Hwung said that the confrontational stance of the past should be replaced by mutually beneficial collaboration and resource sharing.
Taiwan and Japan can jointly exploit deep ocean water and protect fishery resources in the East China Sea, he said.
With regard to deep ocean water exploitation, Hwung said that Japan’s techniques are more mature, but that its sources are only about 200m deep, while the sources near Taiwan are more than 600m deep, suggesting that the nation’s water is cleaner and contains more precious elements.
To expedite the development of the deep ocean water industry, the OAC plans to establish a promotion zone in Hualien County, as advised by Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Hsiao Bi-khim (蕭美琴), he added.
Regarding the nation’s bilateral relations with the Philippines and with China, Hwung said that they can also benefit from collaborating with Taiwan.
For example, Philippine academics have frequently visited National Cheng Kung University’s Tainan Hydraulics Laboratory to observe techniques, he said.
The laboratory, state-run Taiwan Water Corp and the Philippine’s Mapua University in December last year signed a memorandum of understanding, with the two Taiwanese entities promising to help the university advance techniques for improving water quality.
Taiwan and China could work together to tackle marine waste and the ecological crisis resulting from land reclamation in the South China Sea, Hwung said, but added that such collaboration should be carried out through academic or other non-governmental channels due to delicate cross-strait relations.
“We should keep in mind that there is only one Earth,” and many issues should not be excessively politicized, he said.
When Hwung delivered his first report at the Legislative Yuan on May 23, several lawmakers on the legislature’s Internal Administration Committee urged him to clarify his views on the status of Itu Aba Island (Taiping Island, 太平島) and the Parece Vela (沖之鳥; known as the Okinotori Islands in Japan).
“Taiping Island is an island, and Parece Vela is an atoll,” Hwung told lawmakers.
By contrast, Coast Guard Administration Minister Lee Chung-wei (李仲威), who also became OAC deputy minister after the coast guard was incorporated into the council in April, offered a more reserved response, saying that the waters surrounding Parece Vela are “controversial” areas, without defining them further.
Hwung’s response was applauded by Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) lawmakers, but DPP Legislator Liu Shyh-fang (劉世芳) warned that he should speak more carefully on issues that are not under the OAC’s purview.
Responding to questions from KMT Legislator Huang Chao-shun (黃昭順), Hwung said he plans to promote tourism on the Pratas Islands (Dongsha Islands, 東沙群島), but must first consult with the Ministry of National Defense.
Hwung also vowed to upgrade the OAC’s technical facilities.
In the interview with the Taipei Times, Hwung said that the council has budgeted NT$90 million (US$3.01 million) to enhance the coast guard’s ability to patrol territorial waters and crack down on illegal activity by purchasing uncrewed aerial vehicles made by the Chunghan Institute of Science and Technology.
To facilitate future research, the OAC is talking with the Ministry of Science and Technology’s Taiwan Ocean Research Institute about using its ocean research vessels, he said.
Concerning the development of the marine industry, Hwung said it needs more professionals in such areas such as underwater mechanical engineering and energy source exploration, especially when it comes to developing offshore wind farms.
In addition to solar and wind power, the government should allocate funds to developing tidal and wave energy in eastern Taiwan, he said.
Some European nations have been promoting techniques for generating tidal power, but the development of wave energy is a relatively underdeveloped domain, he said, adding that Taiwan could become a global forerunner if it speeds up related research and development.
Asked about the concerns of some academics and lawmakers that there is an unclear division of labor between the OAC and other government agencies and that the council has a shortage of personnel, Hwung said that a cross-agency committee has been set up and is to have its first meeting this month.
Apart from the coast guard, the OAC is still recruiting personnel for the new Ocean Conservation Administration — which should have 103 employees instead of its current six — and the preparatory office for the National Academy for Ocean Research, he said.
In addition to employees transferred from other agricultural agencies, the OAC has held a second stage of recruitment and asked the Ministry of Examination to prepare national examinations for ocean affairs specialists, which should be held starting next year, Hwung said.
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