Taiwan is continuing to communicate with countries that have expressed concerns over a trip by President Chen Shui-bian (
Reacting to a protest lodged by the Philippines a day earlier, Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokeswoman Phoebe Yeh (
In Manila, Philippine Foreign Secretary Alberto Romulo called Chen's visit "lamentable."
"The Philippines expresses serious concern over this reported development that works against the joint efforts by claimant countries in the South China Sea to achieve peace and stability in the region," Romulo said in a statement issued on Saturday.
Vietnam also criticized Chen's weekend visit to the Spratlys in a statement reported by the Vietnam News Agency yesterday.
"Taiwan has to take full responsibility for any consequence caused by this action," foreign ministry spokesman Le Dung said. "Vietnam considers the action a serious escalation that violated Vietnam's territorial sovereignty in regard to the Truong Sa [Spratly] archipelago and increased tension as well as complication in the region."
Dung said that Vietnam has strong historic and legal claims to sovereignty over the Spratly and Paracel archipelagos.
Quoting Chen as saying that "the sovereignty dispute should be replaced with environmental protection and depletion of resources should be replaced with sustainable ecology," Yeh said all countries concerned should seek a peaceful solution through dialogue.
The Spratlys consist of about 100 barren islets, reefs and atolls dotting the world's busiest shipping lanes in the South China Sea.
Vietnam, China, Taiwan, the Philippines, Malaysia and Brunei each claim all or part of the low-lying islands, believed to be rich in oil, gas and fish stocks.
Taiping's only inhabitants are several dozen Taiwanese troops stationed there. Taiwanese forces have built medical facilities on the island for soldiers and passing sailors, and have installed weather and environmental surveillance equipment.
China and Vietnam clashed diplomatically over the island group in 1988 and 1992. Other countries have engaged in low-level skirmishes over their own claims. China and Vietnam agreed last month to handle their disputes over the islands through negotiations and pledged to safeguard peace in the South China Sea.
The Philippines representative to Taiwan, Antonio Basilio, said recently that the Philippines "will continue to enhance its ties with Taiwan," downplaying controversy over the disputed Spratly Islands.
Basilio expressed concern over the visit but said Taiwan would remain a very important economic partner of the Philippines.
Noting that the Philippines and Taiwan are in the final stage of negotiations for an "Economic Corridor," Basilio expressed confidence that the venture would help Taiwanese businesses tap markets in Southeast Asia once ASEAN implements a free trade agreement, from which Taiwan is excluded.
The Economic Corridor, based on a memorandum of understanding signed on Dec. 6, 2005, aims at linking the Subic and Clark Special Economic Zones in the Philippines with the Economic Processing Zones in Taiwan.
Basilio said that if Taiwanese businesses meet the "local content" criteria of the Philippines, their products will be considered products of the Philippines and will therefore be eligible for duty-free treatment in ASEAN.
He said that Subic Bay and Clark were working hard to improve infrastructure, with the hope that the plan can be accomplished later this year.
Kenting National Park service technician Yang Jien-fon (楊政峰) won a silver award in World Grand Prix Photography Awards Spring Season for his photograph of two male rat snakes intertwined in combat. Yang’s colleagues at Kenting National Park said he is a master of nature photography who has been held back by his job in civil service. The awards accept entries in all four seasons across six categories: architectural and urban photography, black-and-white and fine art photography, commercial and fashion photography, documentary and people photography, nature and experimental photography, and mobile photography. Awards are ranked according to scores and divided into platinum, gold and
More than half of the bamboo vipers captured in Tainan in the past few years were found in the city’s Sinhua District (新化), while other districts had smaller catches or none at all. Every year, Tainan captures about 6,000 snakes which have made their way into people’s homes. Of the six major venomous snakes in Taiwan, the cobra, the many-banded krait, the brown-spotted pit viper and the bamboo viper are the most frequently captured. The high concentration of bamboo vipers captured in Sinhua District is puzzling. Tainan Agriculture Bureau Forestry and Nature Conservation Division head Chu Chien-ming (朱健明) earlier this week said that the
The first bluefin tuna of the season, brought to shore in Pingtung County and weighing 190kg, was yesterday auctioned for NT$10,600 (US$333.5) per kilogram, setting a record high for the local market. The auction was held at the fish market in Donggang Fishing Harbor, where the Siaoliouciou Island-registered fishing vessel Fu Yu Ching No. 2 delivered the “Pingtung First Tuna” it had caught for bidding. Bidding was intense, and the tuna was ultimately jointly purchased by a local restaurant and a local company for NT$10,600 per kilogram — NT$300 ,more than last year — for a total of NT$2.014 million. The 67-year-old skipper
BREACH OF CONTRACT: The bus operators would seek compensation and have demanded that the manufacturer replace the chips with ones that meet regulations Two bus operators found to be using buses with China-made chips are to demand that the original manufacturers replace the systems and provide compensation for breach of contract, the Veterans Affairs Council said yesterday. Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Michelle Lin (林楚茵) yesterday said that Da Nan Bus Co and Shin-Shin Bus Co Ltd have fielded a total of 82 buses that are using Chinese chips. The bus models were made by Tron-E, while the systems provider was CYE Electronics, Lin said. Lin alleged that the buses were using chips manufactured by Huawei subsidiary HiSilicon Co, which presents a national security risk if the
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