President Tsai Ing-wen wants to resolve a fishing dispute with Japan but will not back down when it comes to the interests of Taiwan’s fishermen. That’s the word from Foreign Minister David Lee on Tuesday.
Lee said Taiwan and Japan will sit down before the end of July for talks under an agreed framework for dialogue on maritime issues. He also noted that Tsai comes from an area of southern Taiwan where fishing is key to the local economy.
Lee said, “It should be clear to everyone -- President Tsai herself is from Pingtung, which together with Kaohsiung is a main base for Taiwan’s deep-sea fishing. It’s impossible that her policies could harm the interests of her voters, and especially fishermen. The government will not make concessions when it comes to fishermen’s interests and certainly won’t back down at the negotiating table.”
In April, a Taiwanese fishing boat was detained by Japanese authorities around the Okinotori atoll. Taiwan has rejected Japan’s claim to an exclusive economic zone around the atoll, maintaining that the area is international waters.
The two sides established a mechanism under the previous administration to address fishing disputes in the area of the disputed Diaoyutai or Senkaku islands.