Premier Jiang Yi-huah touted the inking of a Taiwan-Japan fisheries agreement as a breakthrough in Taiwan's diplomatic history and a concrete result of the East China Sea peace initiative proposed by President Ma Ying-jeou in August 2012.
Jiang made these remarks after hearing the Ministry of Foreign Affairs' (MOFA) report on the agreement, which was signed on April 10, 2013 after 16 rounds of meetings spanning 17 years. Liao Liou-yi, chairman of the ROC's Association of East Asian Relations (AEAR), and Mitsuo Ohashi, chairman of Japan's Interchange Association, represented the respective countries in concluding the landmark pact in Taipei, ending controversies over fishing rights in overlapping maritime exclusive economic zones (EEZs) near the Diaoyutai Islands in the East China Sea.
Premier Jiang commended the joint efforts of the MOFA, Coast Guard Administration, Fisheries Agency under the Council of Agriculture, AEAR and Mainland Affairs Council and expressed his hope that similar progress will be made with respect to other overlapping maritime EEZs.
The Executive Yuan will review the agreement and forward it to the secretary-general to the president.
The agreement's main points are as follows:
1. A 4,530 square kilometer maritime zone south of 27 degrees north latitude and north of Japan's Yaeyama Islands and Miyako Islands will be open to operation by both Taiwanese and Japanese fishing vessels. (Article 2)
2. Taiwan and Japan will establish a bilateral fishing commission staffed with two representatives from each side. In principle, the commission will meet once a year, with the location alternating between Taipei and Tokyo. (Article 3)
3. Neither items listed in the agreement nor measures enforced under the agreement shall be deemed as affecting the positions taken by each nation's competent authorities on issues pertaining to the Law of the Sea. (Article 4)
4. The agreement will take effect on the date when the pact is signed. If either side wishes to terminate the pact, it must give the other side a written notice of its decision six months beforehand. (Article 5)