Four fishing boats that sailed to Itu Aba Island (Taiping Island, 太平島) in the South China Sea to assert the nation’s sovereignty over the island and its surrounding waters returned to a noisy welcome in Pingtung County yesterday.
The boats arrived at Yanpu Fishing Port (鹽埔漁港) in Hsinyuan Township (新園) at 10am, and were greeted with applause, firecrackers and shouts of “true heroes.”
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairwoman Hung Hsiu-chu (洪秀柱) was among more than 600 people in the crowd.
Photo: CNA
More than 1,200 empty plastic bottles were offered to the crowd so that they could take home water the fishing boats shipped back from Itu Aba.
The flotilla sailed for Itu Aba on July 20 in response to a July 12 ruling by the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague, Netherlands.
In a case the Philippines brought against China, the court ruled that all high-tide features in the Spratly Islands (Nansha Islands, 南沙群島), including Itu Aba, are legally “rocks” rather than islands and therefore not entitled to 200 nautical mile (370.4km) exclusive economic zones.
Photo: Yeh Yung-chien, Taipei Times
Although Taiwan was not a party to the case and has said it would not be bound by the ruling, other nations in the region could use it to limit where Taiwanese fishermen can operate, which the fishermen said would hurt their livelihoods.
Three out of the four ships docked at Itu Aba on Monday last week. One ship was not able to dock at the island because it was carrying three reporters from Hong Kong-based Phoenix TV, which was not allowed as permits are required for anyone visiting Itu Aba, as it is categorized as a military-controlled zone.
The ship instead anchored in waters off the island.
Another boat had mechanical problems and did not finish the journey.
The Fisheries Agency yesterday said in a statement that while it respects the fishermen’s motive for sailing to the island, it might still fine them for alleged violations of the Fisheries Act (漁業法) and other laws, to uphold integrity of the law and safeguard the nation’s fishing operations.
People First Party caucus convener Lee Hung-chun (李鴻鈞) said the government should not use the law to intimidate fishermen who sail to Itu Aba in support of the nation’s sovereignty.
Separately yesterday, the Ministry of National Defense said it has rejected Hung’s application to travel to Itu Aba, as Hung is not a public servant and has not been invited to participate in national security-related affairs.
Nvidia Corp yesterday unveiled its new high-speed interconnect technology, NVLink Fusion, with Taiwanese application-specific IC (ASIC) designers Alchip Technologies Ltd (世芯) and MediaTek Inc (聯發科) among the first to adopt the technology to help build semi-custom artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure for hyperscalers. Nvidia has opened its technology to outside users, as hyperscalers and cloud service providers are building their own cost-effective AI chips, or accelerators, used in AI servers by leveraging ASIC firms’ designing capabilities to reduce their dependence on Nvidia. Previously, NVLink technology was only available for Nvidia’s own AI platform. “NVLink Fusion opens Nvidia’s AI platform and rich ecosystem for
‘WORLD’S LOSS’: Taiwan’s exclusion robs the world of the benefits it could get from one of the foremost practitioners of disease prevention and public health, Minister Chiu said Taiwan should be allowed to join the World Health Assembly (WHA) as an irreplaceable contributor to global health and disease prevention efforts, Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) said yesterday. He made the comment at a news conference in Taipei, hours before a Taiwanese delegation was to depart for Geneva, Switzerland, seeking to meet with foreign representatives for a bilateral meeting on the sidelines of the WHA, the WHO’s annual decisionmaking meeting, which would be held from Monday next week to May 27. As of yesterday, Taiwan had yet to receive an invitation. Taiwan has much to offer to the international community’s
CAUSE AND EFFECT: China’s policies prompted the US to increase its presence in the Indo-Pacific, and Beijing should consider if this outcome is in its best interests, Lai said China has been escalating its military and political pressure on Taiwan for many years, but should reflect on this strategy and think about what is really in its best interest, President William Lai (賴清德) said. Lai made the remark in a YouTube interview with Mindi World News that was broadcast on Saturday, ahead of the first anniversary of his presidential inauguration tomorrow. The US has clearly stated that China is its biggest challenge and threat, with US President Donald Trump and US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth repeatedly saying that the US should increase its forces in the Indo-Pacific region
ALL TOGETHER: Only by including Taiwan can the WHA fully exemplify its commitment to ‘One World for Health,’ the representative offices of eight nations in Taiwan said The representative offices in Taiwan of eight nations yesterday issued a joint statement reiterating their support for Taiwan’s meaningful engagement with the WHO and for Taipei’s participation as an observer at the World Health Assembly (WHA). The joint statement came as Taiwan has not received an invitation to this year’s WHA, which started yesterday and runs until Tuesday next week. This year’s meeting of the decisionmaking body of the WHO in Geneva, Switzerland, would be the ninth consecutive year Taiwan has been excluded. The eight offices, which reaffirmed their support for Taiwan, are the British Office Taipei, the Australian Office Taipei, the
RSS