fishing – Taiwan Insight

Fisheries as a Means of Outward Mobility During Taiwan’s Martial Law Period

24 September 2025 Chee-Hann Wu

Written by Jess Marinaccio. This article examines Taiwan’s fisheries during martial law, with a focus on the 1976 Jinnan No. 1 incident in New Zealand. Illegal fishing both strained Pacific diplomacy and yet revealed how fishing boats enabled individual mobility. For workers like Zhang Songhuo on Jinnan No. 1, fisheries were not solely a means of livelihood, but also a possible escape route from the authoritarian ROC during the martial law period.

How Fisheries Shaped Taiwan’s Pacific Diplomacy: A Case Study from Australia

21 August 2025 Chee-Hann Wu

Written by Jess Marinaccio. This article examines how Taiwan’s post-1949 expansion into Pacific fisheries, amid shifting maritime laws and Pacific decolonisation, led to frequent illegal fishing incidents. These disputes complicated diplomatic ties, engaged both allies and non-recognisers of the ROC, mobilised diaspora communities, and entrenched fisheries, both legal and illegal, as central to Taiwan-Pacific relations.