The Presidential Office is downplaying speculation that a trip by Minister of the Interior Yeh Jiunn-rong (葉俊榮) to Itu Aba Island (Taiping Island, 太平島) yesterday was aimed at paving the way for a similar visit by President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文).
Yeh visited the island, along with Coast Guard Administration Director-General Lee Chung-wei (李仲威), Kaohsiung city officials, experts on climate change and researchers in the Ministry of Science and Technology’s South China Sea research project.
The aim of the trip was to explore the possibilities of inter-ministerial cooperation on the establishment of long-term observation facilities on the island and global collaboration on climate change, officials said.
Photo: Wang Jung-hsiang, Taipei Times
Itu Aba, which is part of the Spratly Islands (Nansha Islands, 南沙群島), has been under the administration of the Kaohsiung City Government since 1990, and the city officials’ trip was to place an address plaque on the island’s hospital. The plaque reads: “Nansha No. 2.”
“In light of the rapid onset of global warming and abrupt climate change, global cooperation on the issues is urgently needed,” Presidential Office spokesman Alex Huang (黃重諺) told a routine news conference.
Yeh’s visit was part of the plans that Tsai announced during a recent high-level national security meeting to boost momentum for scientific research on the island and promote global cooperation on ecological research and climate change, he said.
Asked by reporters to confirm speculation that Yeh’s trip would be followed by one by Tsai, Huang did not give a direct answer, saying only that the president currently has no plans to visit, but has not ruled out the possibility.
Pressed about Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Alicia Wang’s (王育敏) comment earlier in the day that it was too late for Yeh to visit Itu Aba to underscore Taiwan’s sovereignty, Huang said it was unnecessary to respond to such comments, as the island belongs to the Republic of China (ROC).
Yeh’s trip was the first visit to Itu Aba by a Cabinet member since the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague, Netherlands, issued a ruling last month that categorized Itu Aba and other high-tide features in the Spratlys as “rocks” that are not enough to support claims to exclusive economic zones.
Tsai has been under pressure since the court’s ruling was announced to take concrete actions to assert and defend the nation’s sovereignty over Itu Aba, including visiting it herself.
In related news, a Ministry of Foreign Affairs official denied that the US had been informed of Yeh’s visit in advance.
“Taiping Island is part of the ROC’s territory and is placed under the administration of Kaohsiung’s Cijin District (旗津). Is it necessary for the minister [Yeh] to notify our ally of such a visit? I do not think so,” the official said.
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