On April 25th, a Taiwanese fishing boat operating in international waters around the Okinotori Atoll in the Western Pacific was seized by a Japanese patrol boat for unauthorized fishing. Although the boat’s crew has returned safely to Taiwan after paying the security deposit, the latest incident has underlined the long-standing disputes between the two sides over fisheries.
With an area of less than 10 square meters, the uninhabited Okinotori Atoll is about 1,070 kilometers away from Okinawa and about 1,400 kilometers east of Manila.
At a national security meeting held on April 27th, President Ma Ying-jeou said that Japan’s seizure of the boat was illegal because Japan is not entitled to a 200 nautical mile Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) around the atoll. Ma said the Okinotori Atoll does not qualify as an island because it is unable to “sustain human habitation or economic life of its own”, the criteria for an island under the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea.
To defend the rights of Taiwanese fishermen operating in international waters, Taiwan dispatched two patrol vessels from Kaohsiung harbor on May 1st on an escort mission in the disputed waters off the atoll. The mission is expected to last 20 to 30 days. The boats are armed, but they will be operating under the principle of “no evasion, no conflict, and no provocation.” The government hopes to resolve the dispute peacefully.
Japanese Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida has called Taiwan’s decision to send the patrol vessels regrettable. He says that Okinotori Atoll is an “island” and that Japan is entitled to an Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) around it.
Meanwhile, China says it also does not recognize Japan’s sovereignty over the waters around the atoll, as the claim violates international law.