A group of activists led by former Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) legislator Chang Chun-hong (張俊宏) said they will sue Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe over the issue of the Diaoyutai Islands (釣魚台) in the Yilan District Court today.
“The lawsuit came as our determination to protect the human rights, sovereignty and fishing rights of Taiwanese because the islands have always been part of Republic of China [ROC] territory,” Chang, who represented the Taiwan Gene Foundation, told a press conference.
The group, which also includes the Legal Reform Promotion Association of the ROC, lawyers and fishermen’s representatives, is set to file a lawsuit for conversion and tort against Abe, seeking NT$2 million (US$67,000) in compensation.
Photo: Fang Pin-chao, Taipei Times
Chang described the recent signing of a Taiwan-Japan fisheries pact, which drew an intervention-free fishing zone for Taiwanese fishermen in the waters near the disputed islands — known in Japanese as the Senkaku Islands — but recognized Japan’s 12 nautical mile (22.2km) territorial water boundary as unreasonable, saying that President Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) administration was malfeasant in its failure to protect the ROC’s territory.
Ma committed a serious mistake by shelving the sovereignty issue in the negotiations as it also gave China space to intervene, Chang said.
Cheng Mei-lan (鄭美蘭), former president of the National Fishermen’s Association, and fisherman Tseng Tai-shan (曾太山) said the government must explain why it made concessions to Japan and why Japan was able to nationalize the islands if the Diaoyutais have always been part of the ROC’s territory.
“For decades we have been having a hard time figuring out why our fishermen would either be chased away, detained or fined by Japan if the Diaoyutais were our territory as the government claimed. With the lawsuit, we want an answer once and for all. If it is not our territory, we will not fish in that area in the future,” Cheng said.
However, the group said it would not point the finger at the government for now because “it is time for consolidation and to show support for the government’s claim of sovereignty over the islands.”
Lawyer Chen Chen-wei (陳振瑋) said after reviewing the facts, the group was convinced that the Yilan District Court has jurisdiction for the lawsuit because the islands are part of Yilan County’s Toucheng Township (頭城) and they “could not come up with any scenario in which the court would reject the lawsuit.”
“We are confident that we will win the case,” Chen said.
Former DPP chairman Hsu Hsin-liang (許信良) said he supported the lawsuit because historical documents and facts about the island dispute would be examined during the legal proceedings, which is helpful in resolving controversies.
The National Immigration Agency (NIA) said yesterday that it will revoke the dependent-based residence permit of a Chinese social media influencer who reportedly “openly advocated for [China’s] unification through military force” with Taiwan. The Chinese national, identified by her surname Liu (劉), will have her residence permit revoked in accordance with Article 14 of the “Measures for the permission of family- based residence, long-term residence and settlement of people from the Mainland Area in the Taiwan Area,” the NIA said in a news release. The agency explained it received reports that Liu made “unifying Taiwan through military force” statements on her online
A magnitude 5.7 earthquake struck off Taitung County at 1:09pm today, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The hypocenter was 53km northeast of Taitung County Hall at a depth of 12.5km, CWA data showed. The intensity of the quake, which gauges the actual effect of a seismic event, measured 4 in Taitung County and Hualien County on Taiwan's seven-tier intensity scale, the data showed. The quake had an intensity of 3 in Nantou County, Chiayi County, Yunlin County, Kaohsiung and Tainan, the data showed. There were no immediate reports of damage following the quake.
Actor Darren Wang (王大陸) is to begin his one-year alternative military service tomorrow amid ongoing legal issues, the Ministry of the Interior said yesterday. Wang, who last month was released on bail of NT$150,000 (US$4,561) as he faces charges of allegedly attempting to evade military service and forging documents, has been ordered to report to Taipei Railway Station at 9am tomorrow, the Alternative Military Service Training and Management Center said. The 33-year-old would join about 1,300 other conscripts in the 263rd cohort of general alternative service for training at the Chenggong Ling camp in Taichung, a center official told reporters. Wang would first
A BETRAYAL? It is none of the ministry’s business if those entertainers love China, but ‘you cannot agree to wipe out your own country,’ the MAC minister said Taiwanese entertainers in China would have their Taiwanese citizenship revoked if they are holding Chinese citizenship, Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) Minister Chiu Chui-cheng (邱垂正) said. Several Taiwanese entertainers, including Patty Hou (侯佩岑) and Ouyang Nana (歐陽娜娜), earlier this month on their Weibo (微博) accounts shared a picture saying that Taiwan would be “returned” to China, with tags such as “Taiwan, Province of China” or “Adhere to the ‘one China’ principle.” The MAC would investigate whether those Taiwanese entertainers have Chinese IDs and added that it would revoke their Taiwanese citizenship if they did, Chiu told the Chinese-language Liberty Times (sister paper
RSS