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Taiwan hopes for
fisheries talks
OVERALL NET GAIN? Comments from a Japanese
official who referred to the Diaoyutai Islands dispute as a ¡¥pending issue,¡¦
bode well for future negotiations, a source has said
By Shih Hsiu-chuan / Staff reporter
A senior foreign affairs official yesterday expressed optimism that talks
between Taipei and Tokyo on fishery issues would resume soon and without being
hindered by competing sovereignty claims over the Diaoyutai Islands (³¨³½¥x), which
are also claimed by China.
Speaking to reporters at a tea gathering, the official, who requested anonymity,
said a new round of Taiwan-Japan talks on fishery issues, which would be the
17th round of such talks if they were held, could take place as early as next
month.
The official said the ¡§governments of both sides have shown a willingness to
move on¡¨ to address fishery issues after bilateral relations recently ran into
problems connected to the bitter sovereignty dispute over the island chain,
known as the Senkakus in Japan.
Japan has been sending patrol vessels to drive away Taiwanese fishing boats that
enter its claimed exclusive economic zone (EEZ), including waters off the
Diaoyutai Islands, following its 1996 EEZ and continental shelf legislation.
Over the years, Taiwan and Japan have engaged in 16 rounds of fishery talks,
which have yielded few results. The 16th round of talks were held in February
2009.
Through a possible 17th round, Taiwan is set to aim to ensure that fishermen can
operate in the waters off the Diaoyutai Islands without interference from Japan,
he said.
¡§We hope that we can at least come up with some provisionary measures which will
protect the rights of our fishermen before both sides can strike a formal deal,¡¨
he said.
The official said Japan wished to keep order in the region through talks with
Taiwan.
¡§There is no reason why Japan would hope for instability in the region, because
there is nothing for Japan to gain from that,¡¨ he said.
In a rare statement by Japanese Foreign Minister Koichiro Gemba to Taiwan on
Friday, Gemba used the term ¡§pending issue¡¨ to refer to disputes surrounding the
territorial issue and said that Japan shared Taiwan¡¦s expectation that talks on
fishery issues would soon reopen.
The Japanese newspaper Yomiuri Shimbun on Sunday said that it felt the reason
Japan was eager to mend relations with Taiwan was to prevent Taiwan from
aligning with China on sovereignty claims over the Diaoyutais.
The unnamed Taiwanese official did not comment on the role of China in the case.
¡§We hope that we can maintain dialogue with Japan, or even reinforce it further,
by signing a memorandum of understanding on fishery cooperation,¡¨ he said.
He said that the way Gemba referred to the territorial row between the two
countries as ¡§pending issues¡¨ was a sign of goodwill that showed the dispute
could be set aside while both sides move ahead on talks over fishing rights.
According to the ministry, Japan had earlier proposed that the 17th round of
talks be held last week, but Taipei held off on agreeing to the suggestion after
Tokyo nationalized three of the islands on Sept. 11, which caused tensions to
rise in the region.
In related news, which comes ahead of the US presidential election late next
month, long-stalled talks with the US under the platform of the Trade and
Investment Framework Agreement ¡X held back due to issues related to imports of
US beef into Taiwan ¡X are expected to resume earlier next year.
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