One thing President Ma Ying-jeou should do at once to tide over what is promising to be a Tiaoyutai crisis is to speak to the nation on what we should do about a collision between a Taiwan sports fishing boat and a Japanese frigate over waters off the eight uninhabited islets some 120 miles northeast of Keelung.He has to do so calm the anti-Japanese feelings among the people and make sure Japan takes full responsibility for the incident, which the new Kuomintang administration has miserably failed to cope with.
The fishing boat sank early on Tuesday in the collision in what the Japanese claim are the territorial waters of their Senkaku Islands, which Taiwan calls the Tiaoyutais and claims sovereignty over them.The three-man crew of the boat was detained by Japanese coastguards for questioning on Ishigaki jima.Two crew members were released after six hours of questioning.Their skipper returned home in Juifang after to a two-day detention.The Japanese published a criminal investigation report on Saturday and announced they would prosecute the skipper for professional negligence causing danger to public safety.
At first Premier Liu Chao-schiuan’s administration paid little heed to the incident.A Ministry of Foreign Affairs coordinator of Japanese affairs, told by a staffer of the Taipei office of the Interchange Association of the intrusion into Japanese territorial waters of three Taiwan Coast Guard cutters, had them called away from the Tiaoyutais.The cutters were there to help the fishing boat which was sinking.But the foreign ministry has long compromised Taiwan’s sovereignty over the islets by agreeing to forbid all Taiwan ships to go within 12 miles of the Senkakus.The cutters that had been nine miles off the islets had to pull away.The foreign ministry did not condemn, nor lodged a protest with, the Japanese, albeit Beijing did both on Taiwan’s behalf. As the public uproar thundered, President Ma had a statement issued by his spokesman demanding a Japanese apology and compensation and reaffirming Taiwan’s sovereignty over the Tiaoyutais. The spokesman, in an aside, hinted Ma remains a Tiaoyutai warrior by saying “He was a hot-blooded young man, and is a hot-blooded middle-ager now.” Liu was forced by jingoist lawmakers to reiterate what Ma in his youth said he would go to war to protect Taiwan’s sovereignty over the tiny isles. Francisco Ou, foreign minister, finally came out to disagree with the Japanese investigation report and recalled Taipei’s representative in Tokyo. The Ministry of Justice insists on a criminal investigation of the Japanese intrusion into Taiwan’s territorial waters that caused the accident.
President Ma has to demand a joint inquest, because sovereignty over the isles is disputed, and to restrain the people of Taiwan from rash actions such as a nationwide boycott of Japan, which is supported by 56.64 percent of the population according to a newspaper survey.There should be no threat of war, which is ridiculous.The burgeoning crisis has to be dealt rationally. The inquest is bound to place the responsibility squarely on the Japanese, who, then, have to apologize and make compensation, though they hate to do so.
（本文刊載於97.06.16 China Post第4版，本文代表作者個人意見）
