Japan and Taiwan should work to settle their territorial dispute in a peaceful manner and strengthen bilateral cooperation for the development of the East China Sea, the chairman of Taiwan's ruling Nationalist Party said Wednesday in Tokyo.
"Our position is very clear" regarding Taiwan's claim of sovereignty over the Senkaku Islands in the East China Sea, Wu Poh-hsiung, head of the party also known as Kuomintang, reiterated during a speech at the Foreign Correspondents' Club of Japan. But the two sides "should avoid any conflict," he added.
Tokyo lodged a complaint with Beijing after two Chinese survey ships were spotted Monday inside Japan's territorial waters around the Senkaku Islands. A collision in June between a Taiwanese sport fishing boat and a Japan Coast Guard vessel near the islets also strained Taipei-Tokyo ties.