10-hour stand-off between Taiwanese coastguard and Japanese patrol ship sparks call for talks

Name: Japan, US hold joint drill within hours of North Korea missile launch
Uploaded: 2022-10-05T10:30:12.000Z
Duration: 1 min 49 s
Description: Japan, US hold joint drill within hours of North Korea missile launch

National Taiwan University research vessel was 69 nautical miles off Hualien when patrol ship said it was within Japan’s exclusive economic zone

Local critics argue that if relations between Taiwan and Japan are as good as Tsai government claims, such incidents would not keep occurring

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Amid a maritime stand-off on September 29, a Taiwanese coastguard ship demanded that a Japanese patrol vessel stop interfering with a Taiwanese research vessel, according to a Taiwan coastguard official. Photo: Facebook

Lawrence Chungin Taipei

Published: 6:30pm, 5 Oct 2022

Taiwan has called for talks with Japan to resolve long-standing maritime issues – including in overlapping exclusive economic zones – following a 10-hour stand-off between their coastguards over a Taiwanese research ship operating in disputed waters.

The stand-off took place on the morning of September 29 when a Taiwanese coastguard ship demanded that a Japanese patrol vessel stop interfering in the marine science project of the Taiwanese research boat.

The National Taiwan University’s New Ocean Researcher vessel was conducting the project in waters 69 nautical miles off the southeast coast of Hualien when the Japanese patrol ship demanded it leave the area, claiming it was within Japan’s 200 nautical mile exclusive economic zone, according to the Taiwanese coastguard.

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Japan, US hold joint drill within hours of North Korea missile launch

“We received a report from the research vessel and immediately sent our patrol ship Hualien to the scene where we found the Japanese ship in waters near the research boat,” said Chen Yuan-chin, an official with the island’s coastguard, on Wednesday.

He said the Taiwanese coastguard ship then positioned itself between the Japanese vessel and the New Ocean Researcher and broadcast a demand that the Japanese ship stop interfering with the island’s research vessel, which was operating in Taiwan’s exclusive economic zone.

The Japanese vessel left the scene at 9pm that night after the New Ocean Researcher moved away from the area, according to the island’s coastguard.

The New Ocean Researcher returned to Hualien harbour on October 1 after completing its ocean project, Taiwan’s coastguard said in a statement.