MOFA tries to deflect Spratly criticism

Taiwan is continuing to communicate with countries that have expressed concerns over a trip by President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) to Taiping Island (太平島) in the disputed Spratly Islands and Taiwan's construction of a runway there, a top foreign official said yesterday.

Reacting to a protest lodged by the Philippines a day earlier, Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokeswoman Phoebe Yeh (葉非比) said Chen's visit to the island in the South China Sea, like the construction of the airstrip there, was for humanitarian purposes.

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.