Japan and Taiwan on Wednesday signed an agreement on fishing rights in the sea near the disputed Senkaku Islands in the East China Sea, claimed by both China and Taiwan. The agreement sets aside the sovereignty issue over the Senkakus and allows Taiwanese trawlers to operate in part of Japan's exclusive economic zone.
It is our hope that Japan and Taiwan will successfully manage fishing operations in accordance with the accord so that it will serve as a model for resolving the dispute between Japan and China over the islands.
Taiwan began asserting its claim over the Senkaku Islands around 1970, before China began to do so. The fisheries negotiations between Japan and Taiwan began in 1996 but were suspended in 2009. Meanwhile, Japan and China signed a new fisheries agreement in 1997.