Not feeling very 幸せな these days are fishermen on the island of Ishigaki 石垣島, according to this Kyōdō News 共同通信社 article ("Ishigaki fishermen seek pact with Taiwan, brace for China's advance") to comes to us courtesy of Japan Today:
"Fishermen from Ishigaki island in Okinawa 沖縄県, which has administrative jurisdiction over the disputed Senkaku Islands 尖閣諸島, have called on the central government to deal with the increasing presence of Taiwanese fishing boats in nearby waters, which they say threatens their safety and livelihood. Ishigaki islanders have also been largely perplexed by the escalation in tensions between Tōkyō 東京 and Beijing following last September’s collisions between a Chinese trawler and Japanese patrol boats near the Japan-controlled Senkakus in the East China Sea 東シナ海, which exacerbated a longstanding spat over the chain of five tiny uninhabited islands claimed by China and Taiwan. Located some 170 kilometers (105 miles) southeast of the islands, which remain a powder keg for the three Asian economies, fishers of Ishigaki often venture into waters near the Senkakus by navigating for about six hours to reach 'a sea of treasure' harboring tuna, bonito and snapper. But they say a recent rise in demand for fish in Taiwan has resulted in a rising number of Taiwan fishing boats in the sea area south of the Senkakus, raising chances of troubles such as entanglement of each other’s fishing nets and subsequent damage to fishing equipment as well as near collisions between ships. Although fishing vessels from mainland China now operate in the sea north of the Senkakus and do not get into trouble with Ishigaki fishers, locals are concerned that the fast-rising economy will soon begin dispatching fishermen to waters further south in search of high-grade fish to rake in profits amid rising demand in China."
Since the government of Prime Minister Naoto Kan 菅直人 appeared to cave in to Chinese bullying tactics in the above-mentioned collision incident last fall, the odds of further run-ins have increased. What is needed is some sort of mechanism covering who can catch what where, and how much of it, in the absence of a final agreement over who has ultimate sovereignty over the waters:
"Kameichi Uehara, head of the Yaeyama 八重山列島 fisheries cooperative in Ishigaki, which is closer to Taiwan than Okinawa’s main island, said local fishers are at a loss whenever troubles arise since waters near the Senkakus are not covered by the existing Japan-China fisheries pact and Japan and Taiwan do not even have such a treaty. 'It would be desirable if fishing rules are clearly set for the sea area near the Senkakus, but the authorities have left the situation ambiguous because of territorial claims' from China and Taiwan, Uehara said. 'If it is difficult to make clear-cut rules in the near future, we call on the central government to beef up monitoring activities to detect illegal fishing by foreign vessels and ensure safe operations of Japanese fishing boats,' he said. The Japan Coast Guard 海上保安庁 and the Fisheries Agency 水産庁 regularly patrol the sea area, but waters near the Senkakus have become increasingly trouble-prone with a rise in the number of Taiwanese vessels, according to Uehara and other Ishigaki fishers. 'Even though Japan says the Senkakus are an integral part of its territory, the government has been wishy-washy,' he said. 'Japan can prove its effective rule over the islands by making sure that its nationals benefit from fishing resources in waters near the Senkakus, but the government has not taken sufficient measures.' Yoshikazu Nakada, a 47-year-old tuna fisherman from Ishigaki who operates in waters near the Senkakus, said his catches have decreased due to a rise in the number of Taiwanese fishing boats in the sea area. Furthermore, the fishing business overall has been hit hard by recent surges in fuel prices, he added. Nakada, whose grandfather worked at a dried bonito factory that existed in Uotsurishima 魚釣島, the largest among the five Senkaku Islands, was alarmed at the possibility that the lack of fishing rules among Japan, Taiwan and China in the sea near the island chain could lead to overfishing. 'With 1.3 billion people to feed, fish demand in China is certain to jump. Currently, there are even Taiwanese fishing vessels with crews from mainland China' operating in the sea south of the Senkakus, Nakada said. He expected that those crews from mainland China on Taiwanese boats will accumulate know-how on fishing methods in the sea area and serve on Chinese vessels that could advance to southern waters in a few years."
The article concludes by hinting that Japan could reinforce its hold over the Senkakus by allowing development on the islands once again:
"The central government leases plots of land on the islands from private owners and restricts landings on the Senkakus. Beginning around the turn of the 20th century, Japanese entrepreneur Tatsushirō Koga 古賀辰四郎 ran businesses such as bonito processing on the islands, hiring more than 200 workers. With the failure of those businesses by around 1940, the islands were eventually deserted and people linked to Koga’s descendants now own the land plots. An Ishigaki city official, who declined to be named, said Tōkyō has prevented the municipal government from directly inspecting the islands for property tax assessment or research on ecosystems of the uninhabited island chain in recent years. Since the 1972 reversion of Okinawa Prefecture to Japanese sovereignty from U.S. control, which put the Senkakus under the control of Ishigaki, a mayor of the city has never made an official visit to the island chain, according to the official. Since the islands are not equipped with port facilities, Ishigaki fishers operating in the nearby sea area cannot anchor their ships in the event of bad weather, putting themselves in danger. He said the central government should take steps to support those fishers who cannot land on the islands even in emergencies and see their catches decline as they refrain from venturing into troubled waters. 'We are frustrated because as a local government, we cannot engage in matters that could have diplomatic ramifications,' the official said, urging the central government to be more responsible for the management of the Senkaku Islands."
Chinese and Taiwanese fishermen working together to put pressure on Japanese fishermen in Japanese territorial waters? The East Asia region certainly has nothing to fear from the efforts of closer cooperation being urged on by the Ma Ying-jeou 馬英九 administration. Right?
While Japanese-Taiwanese relations are troubled in the water, on land things seem to be going more swimmingly, as reported in this translated Yomiuri Shimbun 読売新聞 article in the Daily Yomiuri ザ・デイリー読売 ("Elpida, Taiwan firms in final tie-up talks"):
"Elpida Memory Inc. エルピーダメモリ, the world's third-largest maker of Dynamic Random Access Memory (DRAM) chips, and two Taiwan chip-makers that are the world's sixth- and seventh-biggest are expected to decide on a comprehensive business integration as they enter the final stage of tie-up negotiations, it has been learned. The Japan-Taiwan chip-maker alliance would be the world's second-largest DRAM maker behind Samsung Electronics Co. of South Korea, which holds the No. 1 spot. Elpida plans to finalize the business integration talks by the end of this month by obtaining approval from Taiwan authorities and securing support from financial institutions in Taiwan, sources said. According to the sources, Elpida President Yukio Sakamoto 坂本幸雄 visited Taiwan and met Thursday and Friday with the heads of Powerchip Technology Corp. and ProMOS Technologies Inc. During the talks, they reached a general agreement that Elpida's Taiwan subsidiary, Rexchip Electronics Corp., would become a holding company with Powerchip and ProMOS under its umbrella, the sources said. Earlier, a capital tie-up, in which Elpida would invest in the Taiwan firms, and other options were being considered. But during negotiations, a business integration emerged as the preferred option, as it would bring the benefits of large-scale operations earlier, according to the sources...Sakamoto reportedly plans another visit to Taiwan again this month as Elpida seeks approval from Taiwan authorities for the tie-up plan. The firm will also begin talks with Taiwan's financial institutions to reduce the liabilities of Powerchip and ProMOS and provide support for the firms' restructuring. After the integration, Elpida will transfer the production of DRAM chips for personal computers to Taiwan and concentrate the development and production of chips for smartphones domestically, the sources said."
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