Taiwan will uphold its sovereignty over islands in the South China Sea and its rights to the region based on international and maritime laws, President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) said yesterday.
Taiwan would also continue to uphold the freedom of navigation and flight in the South China Sea based on peaceful, humanitarian, ecological and sustainable development values, Tsai said.
She made the remarks during the opening ceremony of an exhibition, titled “Sustainable Governance and Enduring Peace: An Exhibition Commemorating the 70th Anniversary of the Recovery of the South China Sea Islands,” at Academia Historica, which co-organized the exhibition with the Ministry of the Interior.
Photo: CNA
Tsai said that several nations have overlapping claims in the South China Sea and there are issues involving regional security, diplomatic relations and political and economic interests.
“The government will continue to cooperate and negotiate with these nations,” Tsai said.
Itu Aba Island (Taiping Island, 太平島), the largest island in the Spratly Islands (Nansha Islands, 南沙群島), has been “a major site for Taiwan to make substantive contributions to regional peace and stability,” she said.
Tsai said that the government in July proposed to handle the South China Sea issue based on four principles.
First, territorial disputes should be dealt with in accordance with international law and maritime law; second, Taiwan should be included in the multilateral dispute settlement mechanism; third, claimants in the South China Sea have an obligation to maintain freedom of navigation and flight; fourth, Taiwan supports putting aside disputes to make way for joint development of resources in the region, Tsai said.
Based on these four principles, the government has achieved some results, starting with stepping up patrols around the Pratas Islands (Dongsha Islands, 東沙群島) and the Spratlys and cracking down on foreign fishing boats illegally operating in the waters, she said.
Tsai also spoke of humanitarian exercises held last week in waters around Itu Aba on Tuesday, saying this demonstrated that Taiwan is capable of turning the island into a humanitarian rescue center and logistics base.
Taiwan has also promoted cooperation with neighboring nations on seismological, tsunami-related, climate change and ocean development projects on the island.
Tsai held a video conference with the commander of the military base on Itu Aba and asked about the daily lives of the personnel stationed there.
She expressed her appreciation for their contributions, calling them “the pride of Taiwan.”
Colonel Wang Mao-lin (王茂霖) told Tsai that personnel there — mostly coast guard officers — undergo training every day and can take a vacation to Taiwan proper every three months.
There are 20 sheep being raised in a field and they return to their pens at noon upon hearing military songs, Wang said, prompting laughter from Tsai.
There are also about 30 to 40 kinds of fruits and vegetables and 220 chickens being raised on the island, Wang said.
Taiwan, China, the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia and Brunei claim all or some of the islands in the South China Sea.
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