The government’s stance on the South China Sea issue remains unchanged, despite the ruling expected today from the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague on the territorial dispute between the Philippines and China, Presidential Office spokesman Alex Huang (黃重諺) said yesterday.
All relevant agencies have a decent grasp of the case, Huang told a routine media briefing.
“The agencies have also evaluated various possible outcomes. So far, the government’s stance on the South China Sea disputes remains the same,” he said. “First, we believe all claimants’ territorial and maritime claims in the area must conform to international law and the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea. Second, we urge all parties to resolve disputes through peaceful means and include Taiwan in a multilateral peaceful conflict settlement process.”
Photo: Chen Chih-chu, Taipei Times
All claimants are also expected to respect the freedom of navigation and flight, while shelving disputes and engaging in joint development of resources in the contested waters, he said.
However, Huang did not give a direct response when asked what the administration’s stance on the “11-dash line” was, saying only that the Republic of China (ROC) government stands firm on its claim of sovereignty over islands in the South China Sea, including Itu Aba Island (Taiping Island, 太平島).
The “11-dash line” — also known as the “U-shaped line” — was featured in the “Location Map of the South China Sea Islands” drawn up by the ROC government in 1947. After the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) lost the Chinese Civil War and fled to Taiwan, the Chinese Communist Party changed it to a “nine-dash line.”
Photo: CNA
The court’s ruling was also a topic at a meeting of the legislature’s Internal Administration Committee.
Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Leo Lee (李澄然) told the committee that the ministry would “react strongly” and issue a formal protest “should the court say that Taiping is a rock.”
“Taiwan is not a part of the arbitration, so from a legal perspective, any decision made by the Permanent Court of Arbitration is not applicable to Taiwan. The ministry’s stance on sovereignty over [Taiping] remains the same [as under former president Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九)],” Lee said.
“Taiping Island is an island, which is a fact known to all,” Lee said.
Neither Lee nor Mainland Affairs Council Minister Katharine Chang (張小月) gave a clear response to questions about rumors the government is planning to change its position on territorial claims.
People First Party Legislator Chen Yi-chieh (陳怡潔) and Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Chao Tien-lin (趙天麟) questioned the stance of President Tsai Ing-wen’s (蔡英文) government after media reports that it planned to drop the “11-dash line” claim and base sovereignty claims on de facto control over Itu Aba and other islands.
Lee and Chang would only say that the government remains firm on sovereignty over the islands, which did not please Chao.
“While the government has to remain firm on sovereignty over Ita Abu, it must not take radical action to put Ita Abu at the center of the sovereignty dispute in the South China Sea,” the DPP lawmaker said.
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