While a resolution to the dispute over the Senkaku Islands (called Diaoyu by China and Diaoyutai by Taiwan) remains a distant prospect, Japan and Taiwan have managed to resolve another longstanding issue: in Taipei on April 10, 2013, the two sides signed a fisheries agreement. (As Japan and Taiwan have no formal diplomatic relations, the agreement was officially between the Interchange Association of Japan and Taiwan’s Association of East Asian Relations.) It is said that the parties involved had agreed to try and conclude the agreement by the time the Takarazuka Revuea Japanese all-female musical theater troupebegan its first ever run of performances in Taiwan on April 6. In the end, the agreement was signed right in the middle of the performance schedule.
There were two main factors in the background to the settlement of this agreement. The first was the East China Sea Peace Initiative proposed by Taiwan’s President Ma Ying-jeou, which formed the basis for the foreign policy line taken by the Taiwanese. The second was Japan’s desire to place a wedge between Taiwan and China, preventing them from forming a united front against Japan’s interests. There was additional influence from the United States, which was also in favor of a resolution to the fisheries issue. This agreement is a significant development for both Japan and Taiwan, and there has been much praise, but it is also true that many unresolved issues remain.
Shelving Sovereignty Disputes
President Ma announced the East China Sea Peace Initiative on August 5, 2012. In it he proposed shelving disputes over the Senkaku Islands to reach agreement on a code of conduct for the East China Sea, with the objectives of peace and joint development of resources. On September 7, Ma published implementation guidelines for the initiative, which contained a wide variety of proposals, including bilateral and multilateral fishing industry cooperation. The line Ma took with the initiative was, at the very least, one of the steppingstones to the fisheries agreement.
Events that followed, however, changed the situation somewhat. The September 2012 decision by the Japanese government to nationalize the Senkakus brought about heightened tensions between the two nations, with fishing communities staging protests in Yilan County, Taiwan. This caused an unusual reaction from the Japanese government when it published a message through the IAJ from Foreign Minister Genba K?ichir? addressed to the Taiwanese people. In the message he proposed reopening fisheries negotiations. There were concerns that the Taiwanese side could get bogged down in sovereignty issues, but in the end problems of this nature were put to one side and negotiations focused on the two aspects emphasized in the East China Sea Peace Initiative: peace and shared development of resources.
The negotiations themselves were not just at the diplomatic level; they also took place among domestic governmental departments and various affected parties. In particular, the Japanese Foreign Ministry faced strong opposition from the Fisheries Agency, which wanted to protect fishing rights. There were also complaints from local fishing industry organizations and Okinawa Prefecture, both of which objected to being bypassed during the negotiations. It appears that Prime Minister Abe Shinz? pressed ahead despite considerable domestic discord in taking the initiative with the talks.
A Wider Operational Area for Taiwanese Fishermen
As noted above, the parties put aside sovereignty disputes in order to conclude the fisheries agreement. This means that Taiwan still claims the Senkaku Islands and surrounding watersalthough in fact, Taiwan has no track record of administering the islands. The fisheries agreement defined the fishing rights of Japan and Taiwan with respect to seas outside Japanese territorial waters and south of the 27th parallel, one of the boundaries stipulated in the Japan-China Fishery Agreement.
We can see a degree of consideration for Ma’s peace initiative in the content of the first article of the agreement, which states, This agreement aims to maintain peace and stability in the East China Sea, promote friendship and mutually beneficial cooperation, and maintain a system to preserve and reasonably make use of marine resources in the exclusive economic zone. The Taiwanese side commented that it was clear that the Japanese highly valued Ma’s peace initiative and that the respect shown was a positive factor in the negotiations.
The second article of the agreement specifies waters where the Taiwanese and Japanese can fish freely, and a special cooperative zone where Taiwanese boats complying with the relevant rules will no longer be supervised by the Japanese. This zone is larger in size than Taiwan’s temporary enforcement area, so this can be seen as a positive result for the Taiwanese negotiators. Another passage in the agreement (Article 2, Clause 5) stipulates that waters outside the specified zones will be subject to future discussions, and that the zones described are temporary, leaving open the possibility of continued negotiations. Any such talks that happen from now on will be conducted by the Japan-Taiwan Fishery Committee, which was formed for the purpose of fulfilling the terms of this fisheries agreement.
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