The Fisheries Agency says it hopes to see a fisheries agreement with the Philippines concluded by the end of the year.
Taiwan officials were in the Philippines this week to discuss the fisheries agreement with Philippine officials on the sidelines of an APEC meeting held in Iloilo City.
Taiwan is hoping to reach an agreement similar to the fisheries agreement it concluded with Japan in 2013. One of the goals will be to put a stop to a string of encounters between Taiwanese and Philippine vessels over the past several years. These include a 2013 incident in which a Philippine coast guard vessel opened fired on a Taiwanese fishing boat in an area where the two countries’ Exclusive Economic Zones overlap.
On Wednesday, the Fisheries Agency said Taiwan and the Philippines have agreed on three basic principles. The two sides have agreed to inform each other when disputes arise and to avoid violent confrontation. They have also agreed to deal with disputes quickly, allowing for the prompt release of detained fishermen.
However, a Fisheries Agency official says that one area where the two sides continue to disagree is on the Philippines’ insistence that it has the right to inspect fishing vessels in its “adjacent waters”.(XXX)