The Indonesian Navy detained our Haijianxing No. 20 fishing boat. When will the Taiwan-India fishery cooperation be on track?

In late January 2021, when the Chinese people were arguing about the spread of the pneumonia epidemic in Taoyuan, far away in the waters of Southeast Asia, a Chinese fishing boat was being accused of illegal fishing by a foreign official unit, and a huge penalty will be imposed. fine or imprisonment.

According to a press release issued by the Indonesian Navy’s website, on the morning of January 22, local time, the Indonesian Navy’s INS Zanardine (359 KRI Usman Harun, a Bontomo-class frigate) was in the North Natuna Sea. During the patrol, they thought that a longline tuna sailfish fishing boat flying the flag of the Republic of China was quite suspicious. When the interception was ordered, the fishing boat accelerated to leave, so the Zanardine chased the boat to board the inspection, and found illegal fishing gear and 12 tons of fish were caught, and it was determined that the ship was illegally fishing in its economic waters. The ship was detained, and the captain Hu, 2 Taiwanese fishermen, and 7 Indonesian crew members were all detained and brought back to the naval base. According to Indonesian law, illegal fishing in its domestic exclusive economic zone is punishable by up to six years in prison and a fine of 20 billion rupiah (approximately NT$39.9 million).

This unfortunate fishing boat is Hai Chien Hsing 20 from Pingtung, Donggang, number BJ3453, weighing 70 tons. After the incident, the shipowner informed the Donggang Fisheries Association, emphasizing that the fishing boat did not operate in the waters and passed through harmlessly. Director-General Lin Hanchou of the Donggang Fisheries Association also emphasized that the Haijianxing 20 only passed through the sea area where the incident occurred, and did not fish there. It is hoped that the Fisheries Department and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs will clarify the situation as soon as possible to avoid astronomical huge fines and penalties for fishing boats. Up to 6 years in prison.

Many years ago, Taiwan and Indonesia signed the Taiwan-Indonesia fishery cooperation memorandum in 2004, but the legal positioning of the memorandum of cooperation (MOU) is vague and may not have the effect of specific commercial commitments; secondly, this document is only in English and does not Indonesian version , and lack of specific substance, it is difficult to clearly define the scope of cooperation; the third is the fishery cooperation memorandum between Taiwan and Indonesia, the time is only from 2004 to 2009, after that, due to the Indonesian government's ability to develop Fishery resources, no longer interested in joint development and cooperation with Taiwan, the memorandum was not renewed .

Now, after a long time, Taiwanese fishing boats operating in Indonesia's economic waters have to be wary. For example, in March 2016, two fishing boats, Shengdecai (CT4-2746) and Lianyixing No. 116 (CT4-2828) of Ryukyu nationality in Pingtung were shot at the cab by an Indonesian official vessel in the Malacca Strait. When suing my country, it argued that the Shengde Cai was suspected of illegal fishing, rammed into an official ship, and fired for self-protection. In short, our fishing boat was lucky enough to return to the country safely.

Is it illegal fishing or innocent passage by Chinese fishing boats in the economic waters of neighboring countries in Southeast Asia? Senior ship bosses may have a ruler in their hearts, knowing where to work and where there is a risk of being expelled or checked in. However, what Chinese fishermen often complain about is that they are also in the economic waters of other countries and are chased by official ships of that country. Chinese fishing boats have official coast guard ships to come to rescue and protect Taiwanese fishing boats. Go, and only rely on official negotiation to redeem people afterwards. In the process, they may also be shot by the other military and police with foot and machine guns, and they will die. Regardless of whether it is legal or not, my country's ocean-going fishing boats are often chased by other countries' navy and coast guards as suspects, and sometimes they have to eat bullets. Not tough."

How to solve it? In addition to the Fisheries Agency and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs continuing to offer preferential conditions to attract fisheries cooperation and trade agreements, perhaps the Coast Guard Agency has to expand the cruising range of patrol boats, so that these floating countries can be the backing of fishermen to avoid similar incidents from happening again. At times, the delay is not urgent, and it is ridiculed by the outside world as "weak countries have no diplomacy".

This article is simultaneously published in Fanggezi - Liao Yingyan