Japan "violated" China's sovereignty, FM spokesman

China called on Japan Tuesday to respect the rights of Chinese fishermen, including those from Taiwan.

"The Chinese side is strongly dissatisfied with Japan's forcible expulsion of Taiwan fishermen from Chinese territory around the Diaoyu Islands," Foreign Ministry spokesman Liu Jianchao said Tuesday at a regular briefing.

"For Japan to forcibly expel Taiwanese fishermen doing their work from that area is a violation of China's rights and sovereignty," Liu said. "We ask that Japan pays attention to the Chinese side's concerns and practically and prudently handles the related problems."

A Beijing-based diplomatic source said the Chinese ministry had lodged a protest with the Japanese Embassy in Beijing via "normal diplomatic channels" earlier this month.

Liu also reaffirmed China's claim to the Diaoyu Islands and their adjacent islets in the East China Sea, saying they have long been an integral part of Chinese territory and Chinese fishing grounds for generations.

Also Tuesday, Taiwan sent a navy frigate with 15 local politicians and more than 100 journalists on board to protect its fishermen in the waters about 65 nautical miles (120 kilometres) northeast of Taiwan.

The frigate's four-hour voyage came after Taiwanese fishermen complained of being harassed by Japanese patrol boats.

Taiwan said more than 10 of its fishing boats had been expelled from the area or detained by Japan this year and urged Tokyo to resolve the issue quickly through negotiation.

China and Japan are divided on the issue of demarcation of the continental shelf of the East China Sea. China has insisted on negotiation and appealed for joint exploration of resources in the disputed waters but Japan drew a "median line" across the area without consulting China.

Japan last month began granting Japanese firms the right to conduct test drilling for potential oil and gasfields in the area, which China called "a serious provocation."

Japan harassment on islands protested

More than 10 "parliament" members from Taiwan sailed off to the economic sea area northeast to the Taiwan island Tuesday, as a move to show their resolve of protecting local fishermen from Japan's harassment, according to reports from Taipei.

Wang Jin-pyng, the "parliament" president who boarded a military frigate on the journey of protest to the waters near China's Diaoyu Islands, said that Taiwan's fishing boats in the area have been detained frequently by the Japanese side without any justified reasons when they were performing fishing operation on their traditional fishing grounds.

"We hold this demonstration to placate our fishermen and fill them with a sense of security," Wang said, "the sovereignty of the Diaoyu Islands belong to us, and this is what we must speak out in a loud voice."

During the journey, "parliament" members shouted such slogans like one saying "Diaoyu Islands are our territory."

In recent years, Taiwan fishermen have been repeatedly warned, expelled, fined or had their boats detained by Japanese patrol vessels when doing fishing operation on their traditional fishing grounds.

Their fishing rights were all the more trampled upon June 8 this year, which have triggered a new round of uproar among the Taiwan fishermen, who not only denounced Japan's harassment but complained about the ambiguous attitude of Taiwan authorities on this issue.

The fishermen's self-defense action, however, has drawn enthusiastic response from all social strata on the Taiwan island and oblige local media to denounce Taiwan authorities for their failure to protect their fishermen.

A fishermen in the frigate said they felt as undignified as thieves when driven away by Japanese from their own fishing grounds, but Taiwan authorities haven't raised any clear-cut proposal in solving the issue.

Source: Xinhua/China Daily