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The Knox-class frigate Feng Yang was assigned to take the delegation to a location near the Diaoyutais that the military described as the border of Taiwan's "air defense identification zone" -- the point at which aircraft are considered to have entered Taiwanese airspace and therefore must identify themselves to the authorities.

The Feng Yang is a 3,855-tonne frigate designed primarily to protect sea lanes beyond the range of coastal aircraft.

It is one of eight Knox-class frigates operated by the navy, and is the only one of its class armed with Hsiung Feng-II anti-ship missiles.

The ship is assigned to the navy's 168th Patrol Squadron.

The Feng Yang and its delegation of officials, accompanied by more than 70 journalists, left Suao Naval Base at 9:30am yesterday and traveled to a point approximately 70km from the nearest island in the Diaoyutais, according to a GPS receiver brought aboard by reporters.

The vessel was joined at 11am by another Knox-class frigate, the Hai Yang, and shortly thereafter by two Coast Guard Administration patrol boats.

As the Feng Yang neared its destination, Wang and a group of pan-blue legislators joined the media on the aft flight deck for a press conference. The group, wearing navy-issued caps and windbreakers, waved plastic Republic of China flags.

"For reasons of history, geography and the law, the Diaoyutais are the territory of the Republic of China," Wang said, before leading the group in chanting "Protect national sovereignty! Long live the Republic of China!"

The defense minister and the pan-green legislators did not take part in the press conference, and generally avoided interaction with the media and their pan-blue counterparts.

DISAPPOINTED

For their part, the pan-blues said they were disappointed with the defense ministry's handling of the trip.

Chou, who recently defected from the PFP and plans to run for Taipei County commissioner in the year-end elections, was asked by the Taipei Times if he was satisfied with the results of the voyage.

"No, I'm not satisfied. Not at all," he said. "There is ... nothing close to what we wanted to achieve. For example, getting closer to the Diaoyu islands, or even having [Lee Jye] stand with us and declare that we will defend our territory," he said.

Chou said that the purpose of the trip was supposed to be to take a hard line with Japan to convince the country that Taiwan was serious about the issue.

"If the Japanese cross that line [the Exclusive Economic Zone], then we should arrest [their fishermen]. We should take similar actions as to what the Japanese do to us," Chou said. "These are things that we are supposed to do, so as to push them to the negotiating table."

SIMPLE SOLUTION

The legislator said there was a simple, long-term solution to the problem.

"Sit down and talk. Basically I believe everyone can accept it if we draw a center line between their shore and our shore," he said.

Meanwhile, a military official at Hualien Air Base told the Central News Agency that F-16 fighters were conducting "training missions" in the area, but refused to comment on whether the flights were connected to the trip.

However, before setting sail yesterday morning, one senior military officer told the Taipei Times that "F-16s are standing by" to support the voyage of the Feng Yang.

Japan was cautious in its response to the trip. Japanese Defense Agency Director-General Yoshinori Ono told reporters in Tokyo that "Japan must act calmly in this matter, and Taiwan must also act calmly."

He said that Japan had taken no action in regard to the voyage.

KMT exploiting fishing dispute, premier says

By Jewel Huang

STAFF REPORTER

Premier Frank Hsieh yesterday said the Chinese Nationalist Party's (KMT) chairmanship campaign had influenced the territorial dispute with Japan, citing the presence of opposition lawmakers on the naval vessel that traveled near disputed waters.

"Some of the people who boarded the frigate did so out of concern for the fishermen, but some of them are doing it instead for their own campaigns," he said. "This fishing dispute is a complicated issue and the government can't take rash actions that might lead us to become an international laughingstock."

"The government is dedicated to protecting our fishermen, but we have to be meticulous with every step that we take," he added.

Hsieh said he disapproved of certain politicians riling the public over the fishing dispute, and said that international law was the basis for a resolution to the issue.

"I suggested to our fishermen that they could install a Global Positioning System on their boats, which might help them to confirm their location at sea," he said.

Hsieh said that the government would do its utmost to protect the rights and interests of the fishermen and to protect the country's sovereign territory, adding that the entire affair may attract international attention and therefore give the government more leverage in negotiations.

However, he said, emotional remarks would not be helpful in settling disagreements with Tokyo.

Coast Guard Administration Minister Shi Hwei-yow yesterday said that protecting fishermen was the coast guard's task, and that the Ministry of National Defense should play only an assisting role. He said the roles of the two agencies were clear cut.

Hsu said the coast guard would establish a task force during the fishing season to deal with such matters and would also beef up patrols around disputed waters.

Democratic Progressive Party Secretary-General Lee Yi-yang criticized Wang and Taipei Mayor Ma Ying-jeou for "taking advantage" of the fishing row to enhance their credibility as candidates for the KMT chairmanship.

Lee slammed Wang for misusing the office of legislative speaker and forcing the defense ministry to dispatch a naval vessel to boost his campaign.

He also said that Ma had disregarded Taiwan's strategic interests by saying that it is worth being more aggressive toward Japan if necessary.

Greens slam pan-blues' ocean voyage

`POLITICAL PERFORMANCE': TSU caucus whip Ho Min-hao lambasted both opposition lawmakers and the Ministry of National Defense over yesterday's day trip

By Ko Shu-ling

STAFF REPORTER

Pan-green lawmakers yesterday slammed Legislative Speaker Wang Jin-pyng for leading a group of 15 lawmakers on a trip to disputed waters near the Diaoyutais, saying he was being carried away by quest for the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) chairmanship. They also berated pan-blue legislators for meddling in the Ministry of National Defense's deployment plans.

Ho was referring to a comment made by Ma yesterday encouraging the navy to "use a battle to force a peace," ie, to stand up to Japan and force negotiations over the fishery dispute.

Ho did not participate in yesterday's trip. Ten of the lawmakers who did were from the KMT, three from the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) and two from the People First Party (PFP).

Ho said that the government should have made an effort to resolve fishery disputes by diplomatic channels instead of resorting to military means. He also said that a new law should be enacted to clearly demarcate the nation's territorial waters and boundaries.

At present the Constitution simply says: "the territory of the Republic of China according to its existing national boundaries shall not be altered except by resolution of the National Assembly."

During its 50-year rule, the KMT claimed that the nation's boundaries covered China, Tibet and Mongolia.

Ho said that while his caucus endorses the government's resolve to protect Taiwanese fishermen, such a responsibility should fall on the Coast Guard Administration (CGA), not the defense ministry.

What opposition lawmakers should have done, Ho said, is to approve more funding for the CGA to upgrade its equipment instead of complicating an already thorny issue.

"We'd really hate for the international community to see us as a troublemaker inciting regional instability," he said.

Calling on opposition lawmakers to pass the arms procurement budget, Ho also accused them of adopting a double standard in the face of China's military threat.

TSU Legislator Tseng Tsahn-teng painted yesterday's trip as a farce because while the defense minister has the power to dispatch troops, Minister of National Defense Lee Jye complied with the request made by People First Party (PFP) Legislator Lin Yu-fang, whose job is to oversee the ministry's operations.

Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Hsu Kuo-yung asked if Lin had encroached on President Chen Shui-bian's constitutional responsibility to command the armed forces.

Meanwhile, DPP caucus whip Lai Ching-te dismissed a media report claiming that the president had told Lee to fully cooperate with Wang to help boost his chairmanship campaign.

Lai also condemned what he called Wang and Ma's abuse of national resources for the KMT election. He said Wang's leading the legislative delegation yesterday was both "incorrect" and "failing to tell a friend from a foe." He lambasted Ma for spending NT$250,000 of Taipei residents' money to hold a forum with retired servicemen and their families, saying it using public resources for personal gain.

Yesterday at about nine in the morning, Legislative Speaker Wang Jin-pyng, accompanied by about 15 legislators from the National Defense Committee, joined National Defense Minister Lee Jye on board a fully armed 3,855-tonne Knox-class frigate.

These legislators say that the trip was made to protest Japan's unreasonable expulsion and detention of Taiwanese fishing vessels. It was even more surprising to hear Taipei Mayor Ma Ying-jeou, who has studied law and supposedly has a global perspective, say that Taiwan should not step back from a war with Japan and should force Tokyo to negotiate a clear demarcation of fishing rights. What kind of craziness is this?

What is also perplexing is that Ma described Wang's boarding of a navy frigate protecting Taiwanese fishing boats as "an impulsive action." Ma, like Wang, is a contender for the chairmanship of the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT), and his comments suggest that there is more than meets the eye regarding Wang's actions to protect Taiwanese fishermen. It would seem that Wang's trip is as much about raising his profile in the chairmanship campaign as anything else -- and that this has led Ma, who missed out on this effective electioneering, to express sour grapes.

Wang must be condemned for endangering national security for the sake of his election campaign. If such a protest accidentally sparked a conflict which resulted in casualties or even death, it would not matter who was at fault. Taiwan would be faced with a dilemma over whether or not to go to war with Japan. China is already looking hungrily at Taiwan, so is there really any need to use a naval deployment to force a conflict with Japan?

The more serious problem is that Wang, as the legislative speaker, has set a terrible example of direct interference by the legislature in the affairs of the executive branch. While it is permissible for the head of the legislature to visit a neighboring country for peaceful exchanges, for him to board a naval vessel in the company of the Minister of Defense to participate in a quasi-military protest action against a neighboring country is highly unusual and quite insolent. The procedures of constitutional government have been disrupted by Wang's infringement of the rights of the executive, and his stunt is an affront to the president's role as the commander-in-chief of the armed services. Wang's fault is compounded by the fact that the trip was tainted with accusations of electioneering. How can the Japanese take such actions seriously?

For this reason we strongly criticize PFP Legislator Lin Yu-fang, a member of the legislature's National Defense Committee, for calling for the deployment of naval vessels to protect Taiwan's fishermen. Such protection would have to be provided constantly, and this is not something the navy can provide, for it cannot always have vessels patrolling in disputed waters. That's why international disputes over fishing rights are resolved through negotiations. Nobody should approve of a show of force like yesterday's, because such actions can only be expected of terrorists or militaristic regimes.

Taiwan simply cannot afford to make more enemies, and it has no need to echo China's anti-Japanese sentiments. Japan is Taiwan's friend, and apart from a small section of society that leans toward China, every one believes this to be the case. We must ask Wang not to let his political ambition get the better of him. We also ask President Chen Shui-bian to fulfill his duties as commander-in-chief and be willing to say no to unreasonable requests.