President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) yesterday said China’s announcement of a new air defense identification zone (ADIZ) over the East China Sea has not helped with cross-strait development and the government would urge Beijing not to demarcate a similar zone over the South China Sea.
In an interview with Japan’s Mainichi Shimbun, Ma said China’s ADIZ over the East China Sea had sparked great concern in the region because the zone includes the Diaoyutai Islands (釣魚台), which are the territory of the Republic of China (ROC).
The Diaoyutais, which lie about 120 nautical miles (220km) northeast of Taipei, are also claimed by China and Japan, which call them the Senkaku Islands.
“The move does not bring positive development to cross-strait relations. In the future, we will talk to mainland China and ask them not to set up a similar ADIZ over the South China Sea,” he said.
When asked to comment about Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s plans to push for a change in the Japanese constitution regarding its self-defense rights, Ma said the Treaty of Mutual Cooperation and Security between the US and Japan has played an important role in stabilizing Asia, and the Republic of China government has been supportive of the treaty.
“As a mature democratic nation, I think Japan will take neighboring countries’ reactions into consideration and act wisely,” he said.
The government issued a statement reiterating the ROC’s sovereignty over the Diaoyutais shortly after China announced its new air defense zone on Nov. 23, while promoting Ma’s East China Sea peace initiative calling on the concerned parties to resolve disputes through negotiations.
Japan and South Korea have ignored China’s demand to be notified about any flights passing through the zone and have sent military aircraft into the area in recent days, after US military aircraft flew through it.
The issue of China’s ADIZ has also been a key issue on the agenda for US Vice President Joe Biden’s current tour of Japan, China and South Korea.
Ma yesterday reiterated the efforts by the government to promote peace across the Taiwan Strait, and said it has never avoided political issues affecting cross-strait relations.
Citing the signing of cross-strait agreements and the proposed establishment of cross-strait representative offices, Ma said these issues carried some political significance, and the government is also promoting the service trade agreement to enhance exchanges and enable Taiwanese to profit from them.
He said the government will continue to adopt an “economics first, politics later” policy for dealing with China, and will address political issues when the timing is right.
In related news, American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) Chairman Raymond Burghardt is to arrive in Taipei tomorrow for a five-day visit.
Burghardt is set to meet with Ma and key political and business figures during his stay.
The visit has sparked the local media’s interest because of its timing, coming in the wake of China’s air defense zone declaration and Biden’s tour.
The AIT said the visit will be Burghardt’s 15th trip to Taiwan since he became chairman in February 2006.
Additional reporting by CNA
‘ABUSE OF POWER’: Lee Chun-yi allegedly used a Control Yuan vehicle to transport his dog to a pet grooming salon and take his wife to restaurants, media reports said Control Yuan Secretary-General Lee Chun-yi (李俊俋) resigned on Sunday night, admitting that he had misused a government vehicle, as reported by the media. Control Yuan Vice President Lee Hung-chun (李鴻鈞) yesterday apologized to the public over the issue. The watchdog body would follow up on similar accusations made by the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and would investigate the alleged misuse of government vehicles by three other Control Yuan members: Su Li-chiung (蘇麗瓊), Lin Yu-jung (林郁容) and Wang Jung-chang (王榮璋), Lee Hung-chun said. Lee Chun-yi in a statement apologized for using a Control Yuan vehicle to transport his dog to a
Taiwan yesterday denied Chinese allegations that its military was behind a cyberattack on a technology company in Guangzhou, after city authorities issued warrants for 20 suspects. The Guangzhou Municipal Public Security Bureau earlier yesterday issued warrants for 20 people it identified as members of the Information, Communications and Electronic Force Command (ICEFCOM). The bureau alleged they were behind a May 20 cyberattack targeting the backend system of a self-service facility at the company. “ICEFCOM, under Taiwan’s ruling Democratic Progressive Party, directed the illegal attack,” the warrant says. The bureau placed a bounty of 10,000 yuan (US$1,392) on each of the 20 people named in
The High Court yesterday found a New Taipei City woman guilty of charges related to helping Beijing secure surrender agreements from military service members. Lee Huei-hsin (李慧馨) was sentenced to six years and eight months in prison for breaching the National Security Act (國家安全法), making illegal compacts with government employees and bribery, the court said. The verdict is final. Lee, the manager of a temple in the city’s Lujhou District (蘆洲), was accused of arranging for eight service members to make surrender pledges to the Chinese People’s Liberation Army in exchange for money, the court said. The pledges, which required them to provide identification
INDO-PACIFIC REGION: Royal Navy ships exercise the right of freedom of navigation, including in the Taiwan Strait and South China Sea, the UK’s Tony Radakin told a summit Freedom of navigation in the Indo-Pacific region is as important as it is in the English Channel, British Chief of the Defence Staff Admiral Tony Radakin said at a summit in Singapore on Saturday. The remark came as the British Royal Navy’s flagship aircraft carrier, the HMS Prince of Wales, is on an eight-month deployment to the Indo-Pacific region as head of an international carrier strike group. “Upholding the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, and with it, the principles of the freedom of navigation, in this part of the world matters to us just as it matters in the
RSS