Taiwan, Japan to hold maritime talks in Taipei next week

Taipei, Aug. 23 (CNA) The sixth edition of talks on maritime affairs between officials from Taiwan and Japan will be held next week in Taipei, according to Taiwan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA).

The Maritime Affairs Cooperation Dialogue is slated to be held in Taipei on Aug. 26, MOFA said in a news release on Friday.

The talks will touch upon a range of issues concerning Taiwan and Japan, in particular cooperation on maritime safety, science, energy development, fishery and environmental protection, MOFA said.

Led by Su Jia-chyuan (蘇嘉全), chair of the Taiwan-Japan Relations Association, the Taiwanese side will include officials from the Ocean Affairs Council, the Coast Guard Administration, the National Academy of Marine Research and the Fisheries Agency, among others, MOFA said.

The Japanese delegation, on the other hand, will be headed by Mitsuo Ohashi, chair of the Japan-Taiwan Exchange Association.

The dialogue was initiated in the wake of a fisheries dispute in waters near the Japan-controlled Okinotori Atoll in 2016.

In April of that year, Japanese authorities detained a Taiwanese fishing vessel near the atoll, which they consider to be an island and therefore entitled to a 200-nautical-mile exclusive economic zone.

This action prompted a strong protest from the then-Kuomintang government in Taipei.

Taipei and Tokyo held their first meeting six months later, with each side agreeing to take turns hosting future gatherings.

MOFA has said that while the dispute surrounding the atoll had yet to be resolved, both sides agreed to continue negotiations on the matter.