Up to 100 Taiwanese fishing boats, escorted by 10 Coast Guard Administration ships, embarked on a protest voyage yesterday toward the Diaoyutai Islands (釣魚台) that organizers said was aimed at asserting local fishermen’s rights to operate in what they described as their “traditional fishing grounds.”
If officers on Japanese maritime defense vessels — which usually intercept Taiwanese fishing boats operating in the area — try to board the Taiwanese fishing boats, special service agents traveling on the coast guard vessels will “board our fishing boats to stop” the Japanese from boarding the Taiwanese ships, Coast Guard Administration (CGA) Minister Wang Jinn-wang (王進旺) said.
If the Japanese ships spray water at the Taiwanese fishing boats, Wang said, “we will spray water back at them.”
Photo: Mandy Cheng, AFP
He added that he would not rule out the use of arms if “the other side resorts to it first.”
The coast guard official’s statements in the legislature showed Taiwan’s decision to protect local fishermen’s rights to fish in the waters around the disputed island chain, which is currently controlled by Japan, but also claimed by Taiwan and China.
Wang told lawmakers that Taiwan’s fishing boats would sail to waters to the southwest of the islands and that there was little likelihood they would meet a group of Chinese fishing boats also making a protest journey to the area.
More than 70 fishing boats departed from Nanfangao (南方澳) port in Yilan County for the island chain that lies 120 nautical miles (220km) northeast of Taipei.
By the time they arrive in the target area at 5am today, they are set to be joined by other Taiwanese fishing boats to form a 100-strong flotilla in the “biggest-ever action” to demonstrate Taiwan’s sovereignty over the islands, Wang said.
Ten coast guard vessels ranging in size from 100 tonnes to 2,000 tonnes are ready to “intervene” in case Japanese ships attempt to block the Taiwanese fishing boats, he said.
Wang said Taiwan would not partner with China in protecting its fishing rights near the Diaoyutais, adding that the CGA would abide by the precepts of “no provocation, no conflict and no evasion.”
The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) caucus said it supported a legislative committee proposal for legislators to board coast guard vessels for an inspection tour of the island group, a move that is also to serve to assert Taiwan’s sovereignty claim.
However, Democratic Progressive Party caucus whip Pan Men-an (潘孟安) advised against such a move, saying that it is not in Taiwan’s interests to highlight its claim at a time when China is doing all it can to assert its sovereignty over the islands.
Pan said that over the past 40 years, China has never made any pitched claim over the Diaoyutais.
“It is doing so only to divert attention from its internal crisis,” he said, urging Taiwan not to get involved.
Minister of National Defense Kao Hua-chu (高華柱) said the military had response measures in place for contingencies that could arise from the visit by the fishing boats.
The military is to step up air patrols over the Diaoyutais and monitor the waters surrounding the islands, Kao told the Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee.
The coast guard will be responsible for escorting the fishing vessels during the visit, while the military is to provide related support, Kao said.
“The ministry has completed preparations for any response measures,” Kao said, adding that senior officials would be stationed at a command center in Taipei.
Taiwan is projected to lose a working-age population of about 6.67 million people in two waves of retirement in the coming years, as the nation confronts accelerating demographic decline and a shortage of younger workers to take their place, the Ministry of the Interior said. Taiwan experienced its largest baby boom between 1958 and 1966, when the population grew by 3.78 million, followed by a second surge of 2.89 million between 1976 and 1982, ministry data showed. In 2023, the first of those baby boom generations — those born in the late 1950s and early 1960s — began to enter retirement, triggering
ECONOMIC BOOST: Should the more than 23 million people eligible for the NT$10,000 handouts spend them the same way as in 2023, GDP could rise 0.5 percent, an official said Universal cash handouts of NT$10,000 (US$330) are to be disbursed late next month at the earliest — including to permanent residents and foreign residents married to Taiwanese — pending legislative approval, the Ministry of Finance said yesterday. The Executive Yuan yesterday approved the Special Act for Strengthening Economic, Social and National Security Resilience in Response to International Circumstances (因應國際情勢強化經濟社會及民生國安韌性特別條例). The NT$550 billion special budget includes NT$236 billion for the cash handouts, plus an additional NT$20 billion set aside as reserve funds, expected to be used to support industries. Handouts might begin one month after the bill is promulgated and would be completed within
The National Development Council (NDC) yesterday unveiled details of new regulations that ease restrictions on foreigners working or living in Taiwan, as part of a bid to attract skilled workers from abroad. The regulations, which could go into effect in the first quarter of next year, stem from amendments to the Act for the Recruitment and Employment of Foreign Professionals (外國專業人才延攬及僱用法) passed by lawmakers on Aug. 29. Students categorized as “overseas compatriots” would be allowed to stay and work in Taiwan in the two years after their graduation without obtaining additional permits, doing away with the evaluation process that is currently required,
IMPORTANT BACKER: China seeks to expel US influence from the Indo-Pacific region and supplant Washington as the global leader, MAC Minister Chiu Chui-cheng said China is preparing for war to seize Taiwan, Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) Minister Chiu Chui-cheng (邱垂正) said in Washington on Friday, warning that Taiwan’s fall would trigger a regional “domino effect” endangering US security. In a speech titled “Maintaining the Peaceful and Stable Status Quo Across the Taiwan Strait is in Line with the Shared Interests of Taiwan and the United States,” Chiu said Taiwan’s strategic importance is “closely tied” to US interests. Geopolitically, Taiwan sits in a “core position” in the first island chain — an arc stretching from Japan, through Taiwan and the Philippines, to Borneo, which is shared by
RSS