Control Yuan member Lee Ping-nan (李炳南) and government officials involved in national security on Wednesday flew to Taiping Island (太平島), the largest island in the Spratly Islands (南沙群島).
Speaking by telephone, Lee, who initiated the trip, declined to identify the officials who accompanied him, but said the excursion by C-130 transport plane was part of an investigation into the government’s efforts to safeguard sovereignty in the South China Sea that he is working on with Control Yuan members Ger Yeong-kuang (葛永光) and Chou Yang-shan (周陽山).
The trio planned to forward suggestions on how the government should reaffirm the nation’s sovereignty over the Spratlys, the Paracel Islands (西沙群島), Macclesfield Bank (中沙群島) and the Pratas Islands (東沙群島), as well as their surrounding waters, seabeds and subsoil, Lee said.
“I would suggest that the government restore its military deployment on Taiping Island, where 120 Coast Guard Administration officers are stationed in addition to 30 air force and marine officers in charge of the weather radar station,” Lee said.
Amid rising tensions between China, the Philippines and Vietnam over their respective claims in the region, which is also claimed all or in part by Taiwan, Malaysia, Brunei and Indonesia, lawmakers have suggested the government dispatch military forces. It has not done so, but has had the marines train coast guard personnel stationed on the island.
Half of the 120 coast guards on Taiping have completed training that makes them “equivalent to the marines in terms of combat skills,” Lee said, adding that the rest of the coast guard detachment would undergo the same training.
Lee said he would also suggest the government improve the runway, harbor facilities and infrastructure on Taiping to allow for smooth logistics support for the coast guards and for the possibility of opening the island to tourists.
In related news, following a seven-day research trip by a group of maritime law students and academics to Taiping last month, a group of 23 college students set off on Wednesday on a four-day excursion to the Pratas to learn about the islands’ ecosystem.
At a regularly scheduled Ministry of Foreign Affairs press conference yesterday, Baushuan Ger (葛葆宣), deputy secretary-general of the Department of East Asian and Pacific Affairs, said that the ministry has not received any complaints from rival claimants about the research trips, which were organized by the Ministry of Education, the Coast Guard Administration, the Ministry of National Defense and Dongsha Atoll Marine National Park Headquarters.
The foreign ministry fully supported the trips because they could enhance the country’s claim to sovereignty over the region, Ger said.
FREEDOM OF NAVIGATION: The UK would continue to reinforce ties with Taiwan ‘in a wide range of areas’ as a part of a ‘strong unofficial relationship,’ a paper said The UK plans to conduct more freedom of navigation operations in the Taiwan Strait and the South China Sea, British Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs David Lammy told the British House of Commons on Tuesday. British Member of Parliament Desmond Swayne said that the Royal Navy’s HMS Spey had passed through the Taiwan Strait “in pursuit of vital international freedom of navigation in the South China Sea.” Swayne asked Lammy whether he agreed that it was “proper and lawful” to do so, and if the UK would continue to carry out similar operations. Lammy replied “yes” to both questions. The
‘OF COURSE A COUNTRY’: The president outlined that Taiwan has all the necessary features of a nation, including citizens, land, government and sovereignty President William Lai (賴清德) discussed the meaning of “nation” during a speech in New Taipei City last night, emphasizing that Taiwan is a country as he condemned China’s misinterpretation of UN Resolution 2758. The speech was the first in a series of 10 that Lai is scheduled to give across Taiwan. It is the responsibility of Taiwanese citizens to stand united to defend their national sovereignty, democracy, liberty, way of life and the future of the next generation, Lai said. This is the most important legacy the people of this era could pass on to future generations, he said. Lai went on to discuss
SECOND SPEECH: All political parties should work together to defend democracy, protect Taiwan and resist the CCP, despite their differences, the president said President William Lai (賴清德) yesterday discussed how pro-Taiwan and pro-Republic of China (ROC) groups can agree to maintain solidarity on the issue of protecting Taiwan and resisting the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). The talk, delivered last night at Taoyuan’s Hakka Youth Association, was the second in a series of 10 that Lai is scheduled to give across Taiwan. Citing Taiwanese democracy pioneer Chiang Wei-shui’s (蔣渭水) slogan that solidarity brings strength, Lai said it was a call for political parties to find consensus amid disagreements on behalf of bettering the nation. All political parties should work together to defend democracy, protect Taiwan and resist
By refusing to agree spending increases to appease US President Donald Trump, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez threatened to derail a summit that NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte needs to run smoothly for the sake of the military alliance’s future survival. Ahead of yesterday’s gathering in The Hague, Netherlands, things were going off the rails. European officials have expressed irritation at the spoiler role that Sanchez is playing when their No. 1 task is to line up behind a pledge to raise defense spending to 5 percent of GDP. Rutte needed to keep Spain in line while preventing others such as Slovakia
RSS