About 500 fishermen yesterday vowed to mobilize the nation's 40 fishermen's associations to stage a national protest if the 15th round of fishing negotiations with Japan fails to meet their expectations.
"We are not asking much here," said Lin Chi-shan (林棋山), executive director of the Self-help Association to Protect Fishermen's Rights (漁權自救會). "We just want to be able to go out there to fish and bring home food for our families."
Holding banners reading "Stop invading our traditional fishing grounds, object to Japan's bullying" and "They are our fishing grounds, return them to us," the group made up of fishermen from Suao, Taitung, Hsinchu and Taichung petitioned the Legislative Yuan, asking the lawmaking body and government to take a tough stance at the negotiation table and meet their nine-point request to better safeguard their fishing rights and the nation's exclusive economic zone.
PHOTO: CHIEN JUNG-FENG, TAIPEI TIMES
While the official talks are planned for July 29, a preparatory meeting is scheduled for today.
In their nine-point request, the fishermen ask the government to set aside the dispute over the Diaoyutais' sovereignty and instead focus on fishing rights, increase the annual budget of the Coast Guard Administration to enhance its equipment, strengthen the Coast Guard Administration's legal duty to protect fishermen, establish a relief fund exclusively dedicated to fishermen in times of need, allow fishermen to attend the upcoming fishing negotiations and request the Japanese government to provide assistance to the nation's fishing boats which lose power and drift into Japan's economic waters, instead of detaining them.
They also requested that the Japanese government re-examine the demarcation of its exclusive economic zone and that if it insists on demarcating a middle line, it should be drawn between Taipei and Tokyo.
In response, Director-General of the Fisheries Agency under the Council of Agriculture Hsieh Dah-wen (
Hsieh also agreed to subsidize the proposed relief fund, which the group hopes to establish.
The subdued crowd of fishermen then began clamoring when Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Chen Chin-de (
The two then argued, while another man picked up his chair and threw it on the floor.
The group had originally expected to see Cabinet Secretary-General Lee Ying-yuan (
Legislative Speaker Wang Jin-pyng (王金平), who was busy campaigning for his Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) chairmanship bid, asked KMT lawmaker Tseng Yung-chuan (曾永權), as well as his wife Chen Tsai-lien (陳彩蓮) and daughter Wang Hsin-min (王馨敏), to go in his place and convey his concern to the fishermen.
Some members started to leave the room, planning to proceed to the Taipei Office of Japan's Interchange Association to protest.
Liu showed up at around noon, apologizing for his delay and saying that he had been stuck in a meeting, while Lee had other engagements. He endorsed the group's requests and called on the legislature to approve more funding for the Coast Guard Administration.
He also said that the government will respect the legislature's decision about whether to set up a maritime ministry and that it recognized the group's call for the establishment of such a new government organ.
The fishermen later sent six representatives to the Taipei Office of Japan's Interchange Association to present a petition letter and the nine-point request.
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