Focus Taiwan
Date: 2018/03/05
By: Shih Hsiu-chuan and Joseph Yeh

Graphic by Ministry of Foreign Affairs

Taipei, March 5 (CNA) Taiwan lodged a protest with Japan on Monday following an incident in which a Taiwanese fishing boat was chased and water-cannoned by Japanese patrol boats in waters near the disputed Diaoyutai Islands over the weekend, according to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA).

The protest was lodged in Taipei and Tokyo at noon with the Taiwan government accusing the Japanese side of using excessive force against the Su’ao-registered “Tung Pan Chiu No. 28” (東半球28號) near Taiwan’s territorial waters on Saturday and Sunday, according to a MOFA statement.

The Fisheries Agency has also launched an investigation into the case to determine whether the vessel was fishing outside the agreed fishing zone specified in the 2013 Taiwan-Japan Fisheries Agreement, it added.

According to a separate Fisheries Agency statement, Japanese patrol boats chased off the vessel on Saturday when it was about 10 nautical miles (18.52 kilometers) outside the fishing zone specified in the agreement.    [FULL  STORY]