A foreign ministry statement out Wednesday says that Taiwan will insist on holding talks with Japan over its recent seizure of a Taiwanese fishing boat.
A Japanese patrol boat seized a Taiwanese fishing boat two weeks ago off the Okinotori Atoll, an uninhabited Japanese atoll in the Pacific Ocean. Japanese authorities handcuffed and strip-searched the captain and demanded a security deposit of six million yen (around US$55,000) for the crew’s release.
Japan says that the Okinotori Atoll is an island, meaning that the 200 nautical miles of surrounding sea is a Japanese Exclusive Economic Zone. Japan says that the Taiwanese fishing boat was encroaching in the zone. But Taiwan argues that the atoll does not meet the criteria for an island under international law. This means that the area where the fishing boat was seized is in international waters.
Japanese Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida recently said that Japan will not hold talks with Taiwan about the incident. But the foreign ministry statement Wednesday says that talks must take place.