As per the press information some 40 fishermen from four Taiwanese boats were held in Myanmar after being probed by naval forces. They were detained apparently on suspicions of illegal fishing, confirms an official and media. Tsay Tzu-yaw, deputy director of Taiwan’s Fishery Administration, told that they can confirm four fishing boats registered in (south Taiwan’s) Pingtung county have been held in Yangon since last week.
According to the Chinese media, the four boats left the Thai island of Phuket on November 18. They reported being chased by the Myanmar military the following day, before radio contact was lost. Tsay informed that it remained unclear why the boats were seized, but the China Times reported Monday the four vessels entered Myanmar’s exclusive economic zone without permission.
As per the law Myanmar has the right to outline an exclusive economic zone stretching up to 200 nautical miles from its shores and claim the right to exploit the resources within that area. Tsay expressed that the administration has asked (Taiwan’s) ministry of foreign affairs for assistance to get information about the incident.
