David Lin: No Concessions on Sovereignty over Diaoyutai Islets

David Lin: No Concessions on Sovereignty over Diaoyutai Islets

Source: All Taipei Newspapers

Nov.6, 2012

The sovereignty dispute over the Diaoyutai Islets is still simmering. Beginning last August, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) has been organizing exhibitions in commemoration of the “60th Anniversary of the Coming into Force of Sino-Japanese Peace Treaty” at various universities around Taiwan. Foreign Minister David Lin (林永樂) delivered a speech yesterday, November 5th, at Fu Jen Catholic University (FJU) in Taipei, stressing that, “No concessions can be made on sovereignty over the Diaoyutai Islets, but natural resources can be shared.”

Minister Lin stated during his speech that important historical literature demonstrated that sovereignty over the Diaoyutai Islets undoubtedly belonged to the Republic of China, but the Japanese government stealthily stole islets on the pretext of “terra nullius” during the first Sino-Japanese War (1894-1895) by quietly annexing the Diaoyutai Islets without announcing to the outside world. Moreover, recently, Japan even took actions to “purchase the islets” and “nationalize the islets,” said Lin, adding that Japan not only deprived Taiwanese fishermen of their fishing rights, but also severely damaged the peaceful relations among countries in the East China Sea.

President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) put forward the “East China Sea Peace Initiative” on August 5th. Minister Lin said that Nobel Prize laureate Kenzaburo Oe (大江健三郎), in a press conference, supported the “East China Sea Peace Initiative.” He was joined by hundreds of people, including Japanese scholars. Now, there is a clear sign that Taiwan-Japan fishery talks might be resumed soon.

In addition, Lin noted that the government had not lifted the ban on the U.S. beef imports containing ractopamine (Paylean) residue in exchange for US visa-free treatment. He went on to add that Washington’s announcement that Taiwan would be the 37th country in the world to be included in the US Visa Waiver Program showed the continuous growth of Taiwan’s living standards as well as the fact that mutual trust at the high-level between the two countries had significantly enhanced year by year.

A postgraduate FJU psychology student from the Mainland got a round of applause after saying during the Q&A session following Lin’s speech, “The fact that I can stand here now proves that cross-Strait relations have been getting better.”
 

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