Taiwan’s remittance of a security deposit to Japan for the release of a Taiwanese fishing boat and its crew does not mean that Taiwan gives tacit consent to Japan’s claim of Okinotorishima as an island. That’s the word from Taiwan’s foreign ministry on Tuesday.
A Japanese patrol boat seized the Taiwanese fishing boat “Tung Sheng Chi 16” and its crew on Sunday some 150 nautical miles off Okinotorishima. The atoll is under Japanese administration.
However, there is controversy over whether the atoll fits the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea definition of an island. The definition says that an island has to be inhabitable and has to be able to sustain economic life. Only so can it claim an exclusive economic zone of 200 nautical miles. Okinotorishima is known to be unmanned and only 9 square meters in size.
Taiwan’s foreign ministry said that the issue about the legal status of Okinotorishima should be resolved peacefully through the assistance of international agencies and law. The ministry said that before the UN Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf determines the legal status of the atoll, Japan should respect Taiwan’s and other countries’ rights to navigate and fish in the disputed waters.
A security deposit of close to US$53,000 was remitted to Japan at 10 Tuesday morning and the captain and his boat were released in the afternoon. The boat is scheduled to return to Taiwan on Wednesday morning.