Taiwan, Japan agree on mechanism for fishing disputes+

TAIPEI, Feb. 27 Kyodo - Fishing authorities of Taiwan and Japan agreed Friday to establish an emergency contact channel to rapidly solve fishing disputes in waters claimed by both sides.

Taiwan's representative office in Naba, Okinawa Prefecture, and the Okinawa
branch office of Japan's Cabinet Office would facilitate two-way ''emergency
contact'' on the issue of fishing rights, the island's Foreign Ministry said in
a press release.
The mechanism would facilitate ''reasonable and peaceful resolutions to fishing
disputes to avoid damaging friendly bilateral relations,'' according to a
statement by Japan's de facto embassy in Taipei, the Interchange Association.
A schedule for establishing the channel is yet to be determined.
Taiwan and Japan would continue the negotiations at a future date, Taiwan's
Foreign Ministry said, without elaborating.
The agreement came in two-day talks from Thursday in Taipei between a
delegation of Japanese fishery officials and officials from Taiwan's Council of
Agriculture.
The talks marked the 16th round of bilateral fisheries negotiations since 1996,
with the last round taking place in Tokyo in 2005.
The past 15 rounds of negotiations failed to produce consensus, as both sides
refused to back off sovereignty claims over the fish-rich waters in the East
China Sea.
==Kyodo
2009-02-27 22:50:39