President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) will lay out the details of his “East China Sea peace initiative” when he visits an islet near the disputed Diaoyutai Islands (釣魚台) today, Presidential Office spokesman Fan Chiang Tai-chi (范姜泰基) said.
The main item on the president’s itinerary during his visit to Pengjia Islet (彭佳嶼) will be a speech on the action plan for a peace initiative he put forward last month to resolve the sovereignty dispute over the Diaoyutais,” Fan Chiang said.
Ma announced the initiative on Aug. 5 amid escalating spats among neighboring countries over the uninhabited island chain.
While reaffirming Taiwan’s claim to the Diaoyutais in his five-point initiative, the president also called for all claimants to shelve their differences, pursue peace and reciprocity and jointly explore the resources in the area.
Located about 185km northeast of Taiwan in the East China Sea, the Diaoyutais are now controlled by Japan, but are also claimed by Taiwan and China.
The dispute over the cluster of islands, known as the Senkakus in Japan, sparked a diplomatic row between Japan and China after activists from Hong Kong and Japan made separate landings there last month to ramp up their countries’ sovereignty claims.
Ma’s visit to Pengjia Islet, which lies 61km off Taiwan’s northernmost tip and 141km west of the Diaoyutais, also comes amid media reports that the Japanese government has decided to buy three islets in the Diaoyutai chain from their private owners to underscore its claim.
Meanwhile, the Coast Guard Administration said it would dispatch seven vessels to patrol the waters off the nation’s northern and northeastern coasts and conduct emergency rescue drills to ensure the president’s safety during today’s trip.
NO-LIMITS PARTNERSHIP: ‘The bottom line’ is that if the US were to have a conflict with China or Russia it would likely open up a second front with the other, a US senator said Beijing and Moscow could cooperate in a conflict over Taiwan, the top US intelligence chief told the US Senate this week. “We see China and Russia, for the first time, exercising together in relation to Taiwan and recognizing that this is a place where China definitely wants Russia to be working with them, and we see no reason why they wouldn’t,” US Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines told a US Senate Committee on Armed Services hearing on Thursday. US Senator Mike Rounds asked Haines about such a potential scenario. He also asked US Defense Intelligence Agency Director Lieutenant General Jeffrey Kruse
China’s intrusive and territorial claims in the Indo-Pacific region are “illegal, coercive, aggressive and deceptive,” new US Indo-Pacific Commander Admiral Samuel Paparo said on Friday, adding that he would continue working with allies and partners to keep the area free and open. Paparo made the remarks at a change-of-command ceremony at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam in Hawaii, where he took over the command from Admiral John Aquilino. “Our world faces a complex problem set in the troubling actions of the People’s Republic of China [PRC] and its rapid buildup of forces. We must be ready to answer the PRC’s increasingly intrusive and
INSPIRING: Taiwan has been a model in the Asia-Pacific region with its democratic transition, free and fair elections and open society, the vice president-elect said Taiwan can play a leadership role in the Asia-Pacific region, vice president-elect Hsiao Bi-khim (蕭美琴) told a forum in Taipei yesterday, highlighting the nation’s resilience in the face of geopolitical challenges. “Not only can Taiwan help, but Taiwan can lead ... not only can Taiwan play a leadership role, but Taiwan’s leadership is important to the world,” Hsiao told the annual forum hosted by the Center for Asia-Pacific Resilience and Innovation think tank. Hsiao thanked Taiwan’s international friends for their long-term support, citing the example of US President Joe Biden last month signing into law a bill to provide aid to Taiwan,
UNWAVERING: Paraguay remains steadfast in its support of Taiwan, but is facing growing pressure at home and abroad to switch recognition to Beijing, Pena said Paraguayan President Santiago Pena has pledged to continue enhancing cooperation with Taiwan, as he and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida expressed opposition to any unilateral change to the “status quo” in the Taiwan Strait using force, Japanese media reported on Saturday. Kishida yesterday completed a trip to France, Brazil and Paraguay, his first visit to South America since taking office in 2021. After the Japanese leader and Pena spoke for more than an hour on Friday, exchanging views on the situation in East Asia in the face of China’s increasing military pressure on Taiwan, they affirmed that “unilateral attempts to change the