Taiwan boat seized

In the meantime, four NCGA personnel went aboard the Formosa Chieftain. They were unarmed, too.

Their face-off did not last long.

The outnumbered NCGA agents backed down and allowed Wang to be arrested on charges of trespassing in violation of Japan's fishery law. He and his crew member were taken to Ishigaki at 6:40 a.m. yesterday. His ship was then towed to the island in the afternoon. One of the NCGA patrol ships took the nine leisure fishermen aboard and sailed back to Taiwan.

Lee Ming-tsung, Taipei's representative in Okinawa, had to cut short his visit to Tokyo to return to his office to negotiate the release of the skipper and his man.

How long they will be detained in Ishigaki is unknown, but Henry Chen, spokesman for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, called for restraint in handling the incident.

“Priority should be given to safety of the people and the boat,” Chen said.

The call for calm alone cannot get Wang and his deck hand back to Taiwan anytime soon.

If the June 10 incident is a guide, the Japanese would file charges of intrusion into its sea territory against the Formosa Chieftain's captain after a long questioning period.

Four days after the ramming, the Japanese authorities referred the skipper of the Lienho for prosecution on charges of “causing danger (to Japan's security) by accident.”

Taipei also had to call back its representative in Tokyo Ko Sei-kai and President Ma Ying-jeou reiterated Taiwan's sovereignty over the Tiaoyutais to finally settle last year's incident.

Tony Wang, President Ma's spokesman, said Japan should resume negotiation on Taiwan's fishing rights off the Tiaoyutai Islands.

“The most important thing we should do,” Wang said, “is to conclude negotiations on the fishing right as soon as possible lest similar incidents may occur again.”

Taipei and Tokyo have held 14 rounds of negotiations on fishing disputes since 1996. No agreement has been reached.

Even if negotiations were resumed, the chances are that Japan may not make any compromise for a modus vidvendi.

The real issue of contention is often perceived to be the undersea oil resources off the Tiaoyutai Islands. All three oil-hungry countries would not likely easily budge over the sovereignty dispute.

One way to settle the fishing right dispute is for Taipei to persuade Beijing to join in an appeal to the International Court of Justice for arbitration, an international law expert suggested.

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