The first meeting of a Taiwan-Japan working group on fishery cooperation was held on Sunday in Tokyo, with the members discussing fishing rights and the management of fishery resources, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said yesterday.
The meeting focused on several issues of common concern, including fishing rules in the East China Sea near the disputed Diaoyutai Islands (釣魚台) and fishing rights near the Japan-controlled Okinotori atoll, the ministry said in a statement.
The delegates also discussed the management of eel resources, small tuna long liners and Pacific saury harvesting by the North Pacific Fisheries Commission, the ministry said.
Photo: CNA
Although the two sides hold different positions on the Okinotori issue, the discussion helped to promote mutual understanding, it said.
Japan classifies Okinotori, an uninhabited atoll that lies 1,600km east of Taiwan, as an island, which means it is entitled to a 200 nautical mile (370km) exclusive economic zone.
Taiwan maintains that Okinotori is not an island because it is unable to sustain human habitation and has accused Japan of carrying out land reclamation to expand the atoll.
A dispute erupted in April last year when a Japan Coast Guard vessel detained a Taiwanese fishing boat on the high seas near Okinotori.
The government of then-president Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) lodged a strong protest with Tokyo against Japanese authorities’ refusal to release the boat until the owner paid a security deposit of ¥6 million (US$53,946 at the current exchange rate).
President Tsai Ing-wen’s (蔡英文) administration has been pushing for bilateral dialogue on maritime affairs to try to narrow the differences on controversial issues.
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