Regarding the Okinotori reef incident, Premier Chang San-cheng today expressed hope that Taiwan and Japan can have positive discussions and interaction under the precondition that the rights and interests of ROC fishermen are protected.
Experience from the Diaoyutai Islands has shown that the ROC is obligated to step out to the frontline to safeguard the rights of its fishermen in response to the Okinotori reef incident, Chang stated. He emphasized the government's sincerity and said he hopes Japan can understand the ROC's position.
The premier made these statements while inspecting the Coast Guard Administration's (CGA) Maritime Patrol Directorate General's Offshore Flotilla 7 at Su'ao.
The nation has sent two ships toward the Okinotori reef to protect ROC fishermen, Chang remarked. Prior to the transfer of power on May 20, the present administration will do everything it can to safeguard fishermen, and it will also ask the incoming administration to continue to support the CGA and meet its needs in terms of resources and staff welfare.
Although the nation signed the Taiwan-Japan Fisheries Agreement in 2013, the CGA is still obligated to periodically or randomly conduct patrols on the high seas, as the CGA is the most important factor in keeping ROC fishermen at ease. In the future, regardless of whether the Okinotori reef is incorporated into the Taiwan-Japan Fisheries Agreement, the CGA must patrol the nearby waters to safeguard ROC fishermen working there, the premier instructed.
The CGA stated that when the Dong Sheng Ji No. 16 was working near the Okinotori reef on April 25, it was unreasonably seized by the Japan Coast Guard. The government immediately sent the CGA's Shun Hu No. 9 and the Council of Agriculture's Fisheries Agency's Yu Shiun No. 2 to the international waters around the reef to patrol. These actions demonstrated the nation's firm determination to protect ROC fishermen's safety and working rights in international waters.