Near Disputed Isles, Japan Confronts Boats From Taiwan
By HIROKO TABUCHI
The coast guard used water cannon Tuesday to disperse fishing boats from
Taiwan in waters claimed by Tokyo, widening a territorial dispute that
has already pitted Japan against China.
Near Disputed Isles, Japan Confronts Boats From Taiwan
Yomiuri Shimbun/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images
A Japan Coast Guard vessel in
the East China Sea, right, sprays water against Taiwanese fishing boats
on Tuesday, while a Taiwanese coast guard ship, left, also sprays water.
By HIROKO TABUCHI
Published: September 25, 2012
Japan’s top government spokesman, Osamu Fujimura, said Tokyo had lodged a
protest with Taiwan’s government over the intrusion into waters off a
chain of islands claimed by Japan, China and Taiwan.
Tokyo’s protest came just a day after a similar open-sea confrontation
with Chinese fishing vessels off the islands, which Japan calls the
Senkaku and China calls the Diaoyu.
Though the islands are uninhabited, they are near coveted fishing
grounds and potentially large gas reserves, and their status touches on
historical grievances in East Asia dating to Japan’s behavior during and
before World War II.
Taiwan’s government generally maintains friendly relations with Japan
but activists there, as in mainland China and Hong Kong, have made their
voices heard in the brewing dispute over the islands.
The Japanese public broadcaster, NHK, broadcast footage that showed a
Japanese Coast Guard vessel blasting water at a Taiwanese fishing boat.
Another Taiwanese boat tried to spray water back.
The Coast Guard said more than 40 Taiwanese fishing boats and eight
patrol craft briefly approached the disputed islands. The boats had
since left the waters, the coast guard said.
Tensions between Japan and China erupted earlier this year when the
governor of Tokyo, a well-known nationalist, angered Chinese activists
by announcing that he wanted to buy three of the disputed islands from
their owner, a Japanese citizen. He said he believed that Japan’s
central government was not doing enough to defend them.
The uproar over the governor’s threat prompted the central government to
buy the islands instead — a move that Japanese officials stressed was
to prevent them from falling into more provocative hands. But in China,
the move was seen as an effort to assert Japanese control, setting off
angry demonstrations. Some of the protesters attacked Japanese
businesses.
In an effort to calm the dispute, Japan’s vice foreign minister, Chikao
Kawai, met Tuesday in Beijing with his Chinese counterpart, Zhang
Zhijun. The Chinese Foreign Ministry said the two sides had talked about
ways to handle the dispute but indicated that no substantive progress
had been made.
In a statement, Mr. Zhang said Japan “must use concrete actions to amend its errors.”
After the meeting, Mr. Kawai said he had explained to Mr. Zhang that
Japan’s purchase of the islands was aimed at their “peaceful and stable”
administration, according to the Jiji Press news agency.
China’s State Council Information Office issued a white paper on Tuesday
that reiterated the claim that the islands belong to China. It came as
China and Japan were expected to give dueling presentations on the
subject at the annual United Nations General Assembly in New York.
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