New Party Chairman Yok Mu-ming (
Yok said at a press conference that the government has made no effort to protect the Republic of China's (ROC) sovereignty over the Tiaoyutais, while former president Lee Teng-hui (李登輝) has gone as far as to claim that the Tiaoyutais are part of Japanese territory.
Noting that Lee slammed Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Lien Chan (
Arguing that the Tiaoyutais are part of the ROC's territory, Yok said that if the government continues to condone Lee's nonsense and makes no response to the controversy regarding the sovereignty of the Tiaoyutais, the New Party will initiate the "public trial" on May 15, to highlight the government's "collusion" with Japan over the issue.
New Party Legislator Joanna Lei (雷倩) said that the Chun Xiao oil and gas field -- China's southernmost offshore oil and gas field in the East China Sea, only 4km from the median line with Japanese territory and currently at the heart of an ongoing Chinese-Japanese dispute -- is located within the ROC's 370km economic zone and is also part of the Tiaoyutai reef area.
The government, however, has not uttered a word about Japan's recent sovereignty claims over the Chun Xiao oil and gas field, giving away mammoth interests equal to NT$8 million (US$254,000) for each of the nation's citizens for nothing, Lei said.
Lei claimed that the Tiaoyutai island group is part of ROC territory, saying that the Ilan County Government formally registered the uninhabited islands as territory under ROC jurisdiction last April in accordance with a Ministry of the Interior plan and priced the Tiaoyutai land at NT$100 per m2.
Since the Chun Xiao oil and gas field is located within the Tiaoyutai area and within the ROC's economic zone, the government should move to claim it and protect the nation's interests, Lei said.
The Tiaoyutais, which are located between Taiwan and Okinawa, are claimed by Taiwan, China and Japan.
China ceded the island group to Japan in 1895 at a time when Qing dynasty was in sharp decline and losing territory to aggressive foreign powers.
After World War II, the islands were put under US control, at which time the ROC government demanded their return.
In 1972, however, the US returned the islands to the Japanese government -- a decision that governments and patriotic groups on both sides of the Taiwan Strait continue to protest.
The Ilan County Land Administration Office incorporated the Tiaoyutai islets under the jurisdiction of the Toucheng Township Government in Ilan in February last year to signify the ROC's sovereignty claim.
GOOD DIPLOMACY: The KMT has maintained close contact with representative offices in Taiwan and had extended an invitation to Russia as well, the KMT said The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) would “appropriately handle” the fallout from an invitation it had extended to Russia’s representative to Taipei to attend its international banquet last month, KMT Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) said yesterday. US and EU representatives in Taiwan boycotted the event, and only later agreed to attend after the KMT rescinded its invitation to the Russian representative. The KMT has maintained long-term close contact with all representative offices and embassies in Taiwan, and had extended the invitation as a practice of good diplomacy, Chu said. “Some EU countries have expressed their opinions of Russia, and the KMT respects that,” he
An increase in Taiwanese boats using China-made automatic identification systems (AIS) could confuse coast guards patrolling waters off Taiwan’s southwest coast and become a loophole in the national security system, sources familiar with the matter said yesterday. Taiwan ADIZ, a Facebook page created by enthusiasts who monitor Chinese military activities in airspace and waters off Taiwan’s southwest coast, on Saturday identified what seemed to be a Chinese cargo container ship near Penghu County. The Coast Guard Administration went to the location after receiving the tip and found that it was a Taiwanese yacht, which had a Chinese AIS installed. Similar instances had also
CHANGES: After-school tutoring periods, extracurricular activities during vacations or after-school study periods must not be used to teach new material, the ministry said The Ministry of Education yesterday announced new rules that would ban giving tests to most elementary and junior-high school students during morning study and afternoon rest periods. The amendments to regulations governing public education at elementary schools and junior high schools are to be implemented on Aug. 1. The revised rules stipulate that schools are forbidden to use after-school tutoring periods, extracurricular activities during summer or winter vacation or after-school study periods to teach new course material. In addition, schools would be prohibited from giving tests or exams to students in grades one to eight during morning study and afternoon break periods, the
AMENDMENT: Contact with certain individuals in China, Hong Kong and Macau must be reported, and failure to comply could result in a prison sentence, the proposal stated The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) yesterday voted against a proposed bill by Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) lawmakers that would require elected officials to seek approval before visiting China. DPP Legislator Puma Shen’s (沈伯洋) proposed amendments to the Act Governing Relations Between the People of the Taiwan Area and the Mainland Area (臺灣地區與大陸地區人民關係條例), stipulate that contact with certain individuals in China, Hong Kong and Macau should be reported, while failure to comply would be punishable by prison sentences of up to three years, alongside a fine of NT$10 million (US$309,041). Fifty-six voted with the TPP in opposition