Senkaku fishery talks to restart

TAIPEI (Kyodo) Taiwan and Japan have agreed to restart negotiations next month on joint development of fishery resources in disputed waters after nearly four years of stalled talks, the island's semiofficial agency involved in ties with Tokyo said Tuesday.

The two sides have not settled on dates and the roster of negotiators, said Tsai Ming-yao, secretary general of the Association for East Asian Relations.

The issue of sovereignty over the Japanese-controlled islet chain in the East China Sea known in Japan as Senkaku and in Taiwan as Tiaoyutai was not slated for discussion, Tsai said without elaborating.

Both Taiwan and Japan lay claim to the islets, with diplomatic rows periodically flaring up over sovereignty and access. Waters surrounding the disputed islets are rich in fish and possibly natural gas reserves.

For Taipei, the islets and nearby maritime territory represent a flash point in its ties to Tokyo, which typically chases off or apprehends Taiwanese anglers who venture too close. Taipei has insisted the waters are its own, with local fishing boats cleared to ply them.

With the issue of the islets' fishery resources as their focus, some 15 previous rounds of bilateral fishery talks in recent years have come to naught. The last round was held in 2005. A 16th round was planned for 2006 but was canceled after tensions over the islets increased.

Tensions also reached fever pitch last year when a Japan Coast Guard boat chased and rammed a Taiwanese fishing vessel near the islets in June, sparking a diplomatic tiff that saw Taiwanese President Ma Ying-jeou recall Taipei's chief representative to Tokyo.

Since then, however, the two sides have trended toward setting aside old disputes and re-engaging each other on jointly developing some fishery resources.