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By Fang Wei-li and Sam Garcia / Staff reporter, with staff writer
Ocean Affairs Council Deputy Minister Sung Chen-en (宋承恩) said he rejects China’s claim that it was protesting Japan-Philippines exclusive economic zone (EEZ) talks on Taiwan’s behalf, stressing that China has no legal jurisdiction over Taiwan’s waters and condemning its escalating maritime harassment across the region.
Japan and the Philippines only late last month announced that they would begin negotiations over overlapping EEZs, while China had begun intensifying maritime harassment in waters around Taiwan before that, Sung said in an interview published today in the Liberty Times, (the Taipei Times’ sister newspaper).
That proves China’s claim is an attempt to find excuses for its expansionist and coercive behavior, Sung said.
Photo: Chang Chia-juei, Taipei Times
The Japan-Philippines talks follow the international legal principle of not being legally binding on third parties, he said, adding that clarifications have been made following the talks.
That is why Taiwan has said it welcomes and approves of Japan and the Philippines’ peaceful negotiations, as they are not a so-called “division” or an attempt to exclude Taiwan, he said, adding that Taipei can conduct separate consultations with Japan and the Philippines.
Taiwan, Japan and the Philippines have already signed fisheries agreements or established joint operation zones, and the boundaries for fisheries enforcement are very clearly defined, Sung said.
That means Japan and the Philippines’ rights and obligations do not allow them to enforce laws against Taiwanese fishers, nor do they restrict Taiwanese fishing operations in those waters, he added.
Taiwan’s rights have not been harmed by the talks, Sung said, urging people not to believe China’s propaganda.
China recently sent coast guard and government vessels into the waters around Taiwan, with its harassment not limited to one area, but extending across Kinmen County, the Pratas Islands (Dongsha Islands, 東沙群島), Itu Aba Island (Taiping Island, 太平島) and waters east of Taiwan, Sung said.
China’s refusal to cooperate with Taiwan’s law enforcement authorities and its dangerous behavior have become increasingly serious and unacceptable, he said.
In response to China’s actions, the Coast Guard Administration has adopted a parallel tracking and monitoring approach, deploying an equal number of patrol vessels to match incoming Chinese ships and monitoring them on a one-on-one basis, Sung said.
The move is intended to prevent Chinese vessels from entering Taiwan’s jurisdictional waters and interfering with navigation and fishing activities, to safeguard Taiwan’s sovereignty and the rights of its people, he said.
While China routinely sends vessels to intrude in Taiwan’s waters under the claim of “law enforcement,” Beijing’s unilateral claims of jurisdiction over the waters have no legal basis, Sung said.
The People’s Republic of China and the Republic of China (Taiwan’s official name) are not subordinate to one another, and the Chinese Communist Party has never ruled Taiwan, so it has no jurisdiction over Taiwan’s surrounding waters, he said, adding that Beijing’s attempts to establish rights through “gray zone” harassment are legally untenable.
China’s harassment harms not only Taiwan, but Japan and the Philippines as well, Sung said.
Meanwhile, Taiwan’s cooperation with the international community continues to deepen, including through the deployment of liaison officers, policy dialogues, humanitarian and disaster relief drills, and the use of artificial intelligence and drones to bolster maritime surveillance capabilities, he said.