Taiwanese fishing vessels would face sanctions if their gear drifts eastward to 124° 3 minutes east longitude while operating in waters north of Japan’s Yaeyama Islands, according to the latest agreement between Taipei and Tokyo.
In a statement issued yesterday, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said that both sides agreed to implement the measures during bilateral talks held in Tokyo earlier this week.
Fishing vessels reported to have breached the rule after prior warnings from authorities could face administrative sanctions, the statement said, without specifying what those sanctions might entail.
Photo: CNA
Taipei and Tokyo have set 124° east longitude within the inverted triangle zone north of the Yaeyama Islands as a demarcation line under the Taiwan-Japan Fisheries Agreement, which was signed in 2013 to address fishing rights in the overlapping exclusive economic zones.
According to yesterday’s statement, the Fisheries Agency would collaborate with fisheries associations to develop a self-regulatory mechanism that prevents fishing gear from drifting eastward beyond 124° 2 minutes east longitude.
The Taiwanese delegation also called for negotiations on operational issues in other overlapping economic maritime areas during the three-day talks from Jan. 14 to Thursday, the ministry said.
The Taiwanese delegation was led by Fan Chen-kuo (范振國), secretary-general of the Taiwan-Japan Relations Association, and included officials from the ministry, the Fisheries Agency and the Coast Guard Administration, as well as representatives from local fisheries associations, the statement said.
Actress Barbie Hsu (徐熙媛) has “returned home” to Taiwan, and there are no plans to hold a funeral for the TV star who died in Japan from influenza- induced pneumonia, her family said in a statement Wednesday night. The statement was released after local media outlets reported that Barbie Hsu’s ashes were brought back Taiwan on board a private jet, which arrived at Taipei Songshan Airport around 3 p.m. on Wednesday. To the reporters waiting at the airport, the statement issued by the family read “(we) appreciate friends working in the media for waiting in the cold weather.” “She has safely returned home.
A Vietnamese migrant worker on Thursday won the NT$12 million (US$383,590) jackpot on a scratch-off lottery ticket she bought from a lottery shop in Changhua County’s Puyan Township (埔鹽), Taiwan Lottery Co said yesterday. The lottery winner, who is in her 30s and married, said she would continue to work in Taiwan and send her winnings to her family in Vietnam to improve their life. More Taiwanese and migrant workers have flocked to the lottery shop on Sec 2 of Jhangshuei Road (彰水路) to share in the luck. The shop owner, surnamed Chen (陳), said that his shop has been open for just
Twenty-four Republican members of the US House of Representatives yesterday introduced a concurrent resolution calling on the US government to abolish the “one China” policy and restore formal diplomatic relations with Taiwan. Led by US representatives Tom Tiffany and Scott Perry, the resolution calls for not only re-establishing formal relations, but also urges the US Trade Representative to negotiate a free-trade agreement (FTA) with Taiwan and for US officials to advocate for Taiwan’s full membership in the UN and other international organizations. In a news release announcing the resolution, Tiffany, who represents a Wisconsin district, called the “one China” policy “outdated, counterproductive
MUST REMAIN FREE: A Chinese takeover of Taiwan would lead to a global conflict, and if the nation blows up, the world’s factories would fall in a week, a minister said Taiwan is like Prague in 1938 facing Adolf Hitler; only if Taiwan remains free and democratic would the world be safe, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Francois Wu (吳志中) said in an interview with Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera. The ministry on Saturday said Corriere della Sera is one of Italy’s oldest and most read newspapers, frequently covers European economic and political issues, and that Wu agreed to an interview with the paper’s senior political analyst Massimo Franco in Taipei on Jan. 3. The interview was published on Jan. 26 with the title “Taiwan like Prague in 1938 with Hitler,” the ministry