Wed, Jul 13, 2005 page3

• Preliminary fishing talks start in Tokyo

  LOW-PROFILE DISCUSSIONS Taiwan and Japan have tried to work out their differences over the Diaoyutais 14 times before, and failed. Will this month's talks be any different?

  • CNA
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  A preparatory meeting for the 15th round of Taiwan-Japan fishery talks opened in Tokyo yesterday, with both sides keeping a low profile.

  Ministry of Foreign Affairs deputy spokesman Wang Chien-yeh (王建業) said the preparatory meeting will set the agenda for the formal round of talks scheduled for July 29, also in Tokyo, to resolve their longstanding fishing disputes.

  According to a bilateral consensus, Wang said, the exact time and venue for the ongoing preparatory meeting would not be disclosed.

  "Our representatives to the preparatory meeting will brief the ministry on the results after their return," Wang said.

  The Taiwanese negotiating team is composed of officials from the Association of East Asian Relations (AEAR), the Fisheries Administration under the Council of Agriculture, the Coast Guard Administration and the Ministry of the Interior, Wang said, adding that each side is represented by six to seven officials.

  This is the first time that the two sides have held a preparatory meeting to set the stage for their upcoming formal round of talks, indicating that both Taiwan and Japan attach great importance to this meeting, Wang said.

  At the heart of the fishing disputes is the two countries' conflicting sovereignty claim over the Diaoyutais.

  The two countries have held 14 rounds of fishery talks since 1996 but failed to make significant headway because Taiwan refuses to forsake its sovereignty claim to the Diaoyutais, which Japan has held since 1972. Japan often fines shipowners and impounds Taiwanese fishing vessels that enter waters close to the Diaoyutais.

  The dispute came into the limelight again recently after some 50 Taiwanese fishing boats staged a rare protest in the disputed waters following the expulsion of Taiwanese fishermen from the area by the Japanese patrols. Under strong pressure from opposition lawmakers, the military sent a Knox-class frigate to patrol near the disputed waters on June 21, a publicity stunt supposedly designed to accentuate the government's determination to protect fishermen's rights and safety.

  Asked whether Taiwan would delink the sovereignty claim with the fishing rights issue at the new round of talks, Wang said four basic principles have been worked out at an interministerial meeting July 5 to serve as the guidepost.

  The four principles include that the Taiwan delegation will issue a statement at the start of the meeting reaffirming the nation's sovereignty claim over the Tiaoyutais; the AEAR and the Japanese Interchange Association (JIA) will represent the two sides in the talks; the two sides shelve their disputes over the Diaoyutais and the demarcation of their overlapping economic zones and instead focus negotiations on fishing rights in disputed waters; defending local fishermen's fishing rights will be the top priority.

  Both the AEAR and JIA are quasi-official bodies authorized by their respective governments to handle bilateral exchanges in the absence of formal diplomatic ties.
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