The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) said yesterday it believes Japan will properly handle Taiwan’s protests lodged on Wednesday over an alleged fishery incursion, but still urged Tokyo to release the detained skipper and his crewman.
“Taiwan is the flag country of the detained vessel and therefore has exclusive jurisdiction over it. We found the behavior of the Japanese officers over our coast guard officers on board [the vessel] improper and unfit and had to solemnly express our stance and lodge protests against it,” MOFA Deputy Spokesman James Chang (章計平) said at a regular press briefing.
Chang said Naohiro Tsutsumi, director-general of the Taipei Office of the Japan Interchange Association, Tokyo’s representative office in Taiwan, promised to fully express Taiwan’s stance to his government.
Chang said a secretary from the foreign ministry’s representative office in Naha on Wednesday visited the detained Taiwanese skipper and his crewman, who were safe and sound.
Asked whether MOFA had admitted that the sports fishing boat had entered Japanese waters when the ministry asked Japan for leniency in the skipper’s case, Chang said the ministry did not admit any fault on the part of the skipper, but was simply making the request based on past experience, as similar fishery disputes have involved penalties.
Responsibility will be determined only after a judicial investigation has been completed, he said, adding that the ministry hoped the Japanese government would conclude the case promptly and release the skipper.
Taiwan on Wednesday lodged a protest against Japan after learning that Taiwanese coast guard officers’ movements had been briefly restricted by Japanese officers while they were trying to settle the fishery dispute on the spot.
The incident took place on Sunday evening when the Taiwanese boat was seized by the Japanese Maritime Safety Agency on charges of illegally operating in Japanese waters near the Diaoyutai (釣魚台). chain Taiwan, Japan and China all claim jurisdiction over the islands.
“China is preparing to invade Taiwan,” Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Francois Wu (吳志中) said in an exclusive interview with British media channel Sky News for a special report titled, “Is Taiwan ready for a Chinese invasion?” the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said today in a statement. The 25-minute-long special report by Helen Ann-Smith released yesterday saw Sky News travel to Penghu, Taoyuan and Taipei to discuss the possibility of a Chinese invasion and how Taiwan is preparing for an attack. The film observed emergency response drills, interviewed baseball fans at the Taipei Dome on their views of US President
ECONOMIC BENEFITS: The imports from Belize would replace those from Honduras, whose shrimp exports have dropped 67 percent since cutting ties in 2023 Maintaining ties with Taiwan has economic benefits, Ministry of Foreign Affairs officials said yesterday, citing the approval of frozen whiteleg shrimp imports from Belize by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) as an example. The FDA on Wednesday approved the tariff-free imports from Belize after the whiteleg shrimp passed the Systematic Inspection of Imported Food, which would continue to boost mutual trade, the ministry said. Taiwan’s annual consumption of whiteleg shrimps stands at 30,000 tonnes, far exceeding domestic production, the ministry said. Taiwan used to fill the gap by importing shrimps from Honduras, but purchases slumped after Tegucigalpa severed diplomatic ties with Taiwan
The Executive Yuan yesterday approved a southwestern extension of the Sanying MRT Line from New Taipei to Bade District (八德) in Taoyuan, with a goal of starting construction by late 2026. The 4.03-kilometer extension, featuring three new stations, will run from the current terminus at Yingtao Fude Station (LB12) in New Taipei City to Dannan Station (LB14), where it will connect with Taoyuan’s Green Line, New Taipei City Metro Corp said in a statement. This extension will follow the completion of core Sanying Line, a 14.29-kilometer medium-capacity system linking Tucheng (土城), Sansia (三峽)
CARGO LOSS: About 50 containers at the stern of the ‘Ever Lunar’ cargo ship went overboard, prompting the temporary closure of the port and disrupting operations Evergreen Marine Corp, Taiwan’s largest container shipper, yesterday said that all crew members aboard the Ever Lunar (長月) were safe after dozens of containers fell overboard off the coast of Peru the previous day. The incident occurred at 9:40am on Friday as the Ever Lunar was anchored and waiting to enter the Port of Callao when it suddenly experienced severe rolling, Evergreen said in a statement. The rolling, which caused the containers to fall, might have been caused by factors including a tsunami triggered by an earthquake in Russia, poor winter sea conditions in South America or a sudden influx of waves,
RSS