Japan should release a Taiwanese fishing boat as soon as possible if it cannot substantiate allegations that the boat was fishing illegally in Japanese territorial waters, Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) deputy spokesman James Chang (章計平) said yesterday.
However, late last night, MOFA said boat captain Tseng Wang-chi (曾旺祈) and the owner of the ship, surnamed Lin (林), had been indicted by Japanese authorities, which set bail at ¥8 million (US$95,000).
The nation’s representative office in Japan has been in contact with Japanese authorities on the matter, while the foreign ministry’s officers stationed in Yokohama will go to Yokohama harbor to assist the nine crew members upon their arrival, Chang said.
The Hsin Teh Yi No. 186 was seized on Wednesday in waters Japan considers to be within its Economic Exclusive Zone (EEZ). Japan’s coast guard ordered the boat’s captain to sail to Yokohama harbor, where it is expected to arrive today.
The Fishermen’s Association in Suao (蘇澳), Yilan County, where the boat is based, said the Hsin Teh Yi No. 186 was forced to sail close to Japan’s territorial waters after suffering mechanical failure as its crew tried to avoid a typhoon that was forming in the area.
Tseng said his vessel lost power as a result of an engine injector malfunction, the association said.
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A tropical depression east of the Philippines became a tropical storm earlier today, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The 22nd tropical storm, named Yinxing, in this year's Pacific typhoon season formed at 2am, the CWA said. As of 8am, the storm was 1,730km southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻) with a 100km radius, it said. It was moving west-northwest at 32kph, with maximum sustained winds of 83kph and gusts of up to 108kph. Based on its current path, the storm is not expected to hit Taiwan, CWA meteorologist Huang En-hung (黃恩宏) said. However, a more accurate forecast would be made on Wednesday, when Yinxing is