Japan will seize any Taiwanese fishing boat that operates outside the bilaterally agreed areas near the disputed Senkaku Islands in the East China Sea, a senior fisheries official said Sunday.
“Our basic stance is to catch any violators,” Taku Eto, senior vice minister of agriculture, forestry and fisheries, told a press conference in Naha, Okinawa Prefecture. “We will deal harshly (with those who violate the bilateral pact) from the start.”
Eto referred to the bilateral pact signed in April allowing Taiwanese fishing boats to operate in part of Japan’s exclusive economic zone near the Senkakus, which are administered by Japan but also claimed by Taiwan and China which call them Tiaoyutai and Diaoyu, respectively.
The Fisheries Agency will send 10 patrol boats to the area after the pact takes effect Friday.
Fishery operators in Okinawa have expressed displeasure over the pact, saying it will decrease the size of their fishing grounds and threaten their businesses.
Eto told Okinawa Vice Gov. Kurayoshi Takara and Shinko Kuniyoshi, an Okinawa fishermen’s union chief, earlier Sunday that the central government is unlikely to meet their request to review the pact.
Japan and Taiwan are scheduled to have their first meeting in Taipei on Tuesday to discuss the detailed rules under the fisheries pact.
2013 GlobalPost International News