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Coast Guard mulling including Okinotori in annual patrol route

ROC Central News Agency

2016/05/21 15:21:39

Taipei, May 21 (CNA) Taiwan's Coast Guard Administration (CGA) vowed Saturday to continue its protection of Taiwanese fishermen's right to fish in a disputed area of the sea close to Okinotori, adding that it is mulling including the waters around the Japanese-held atoll in its annual patrol plan on the high seas.

The CGA began patrolling the waters near Okinotori on May 1 to protect Taiwanese fishermen fishing there, after a Taiwan fishing boat, the "Tung Sheng Chi No. 16," was seized on April 25 by the Japanese coast guard while operating in waters some 150 nautical miles from the atoll.

The boat and its crew were released on April 26 only after the owner paid 6 million Japanese yen (US$54,442) as a deposit demanded by the Japanese.

The CGA said there is no plan to suspend the ongoing patrol around Okinotori, and will continue to keep two CGA vessels as well as a ship belonging to the Fishery Agency in the area.

The CGA also said it could include the protection around the disputed waters into its annual patrol mission on the high seas after evaluating how its force will coordinate their patrols with fishermen.

Japan claims a 200-nautical mile exclusive economic zone around the tiny atoll, but Taiwan argues that Okinotori is a reef rather than an island -- as Japan defines it -- and therefore is not entitled to anything more than a 500-meter "security zone" around it.

Lee Chung-wei (李仲威), the first CGA director-general to have a career military background, is expected to hold meetings with CGA officials on May 23 and 26 to learn about the current situation.

(By Liu Chien-pang and Lee Hsin-Yin)
ENDITEM/cs