Press Release from the General Secretary Junichi Watanabe
“Good evening, ladies and Gentlemen
Today was a revealing day. That Speech from Spanish President was rather revealing if not inaccurate. What we saw here was basically a sign of a leader of a nation with no ambitions other than total control to realise some imperial dream. That is total control of the entire strait which includes Yosai. They claim that the Red Strait is 100% Spanish because....Well they said so? And no other reason. So here we are again, no progress or any hope of normalising after a little over 6 months. It’s déjà vu.
The fact is what we wanted and still want for that matter is simple. Equal share of the strait with both sides having equal sides and both nations allowed to make their own laws. It makes sense, we try to treat others like we want to be treated, the golden rule as the Christians say. The fact is that we had one summit in which neither Yosai nor Spain could agree to any terms, that part is true, which ended up with the status quo, and that was the extent of our contact.
I remember having several meetings with my colleague Secretary of State Mr Yuichi Matsuda about approaching ways to normalise relations with Spain and giving each of our nations some space and time for cooler heads to prevail and see if we can revisit the issue and come up with some agreement later. We didn’t know what that would look like or how it would materialise but we wanted some form of mutually beneficial agreement. Something that both of us can agree on that doesn’t force another nation to enforce a foreign tax that has no right or jurisdiction within my government and doesn’t unfairly tax other nations purely on the basis of an unlucky geographical position.
However earlier this year on the 21st of January they announced a ban on all our ships entering Gibraltar. We than knew that it was pointless to negotiate in good faith after that. So here we are. I just want to address that the reason Spain says it wants to tax nations cargo coming in and out of both straits is purely over concerns over the maintenance and conservation of marine and coast wildlife and the ecosystem of said ecosystems.
In which the council thought if that was the case then it can compensate with some form on compensation over lost revenue if the tax were to be abolished. They clearly said no, the council then suggested a Green Fund where states can sign up and pay contributions towards the protection and conservation of the marine ecosystem of said straits in which they states can discuss how the agency would be funded, and how it would work and function, they clearly rejected it again without clear explanation, if the tax was truly about the protecting the environment so they claim, then wouldn't one think that either one of those proposals was a reasonable offer? I want it to be known that my government has no objections to either of these ideas, as conveyed by Councilor Ms Izumi Miwako.
Which again leads us back here. They have shown that they clearly don’t intend to negotiate in good faith and that any amendments they propose is only to allow them exemptions to rules that we all have to follow as equal members of this union. But they have shown that the only thing they wish to do is claim entire bodies of water which share coastlines of other nations based on at best, dubious claims and at worst nationalistic ones and just taking revenue from those nations purely because of some sense of entitlement.
The President of Spain clearly has no intentions of following the rules and doesn’t want to operate on equal footing with Yosai or other members of this union other than a small select group and his this paranoid fantasy idea that Yosai which has not acted agressively towards Spain at all is out to get them merely over the fact that we do not wish to impose or take part in a tax which has no right to be forced or be enforced by a foreign jurisdiction. He says that nations without a coastline have no voice in this legislation.
Yosai believes in democracy, while it is true landlocked nations would have less of a stake to concern themselves over this potential legislation, they are a part of a global supply chain as well and they too have the right to vote on said legislation after all the most common and cheapest way to export is still over the water.
It really that simple. Nothing more nothing less, and with that I have said my peace and will leave what I have said to consider. Good night.”
