The government is contemplating possible measures to enhance actions to safeguard the nation’s sovereignty in the South China Sea, Minister of Foreign Affairs Timothy Yang (楊進添) said yesterday.
“Related agencies have been considering how to protect [the nation’s] interests in the region, including sending more personnel from the Coast Guard Administration, having personnel stationed in the area, procuring more advanced equipment or dispatching patrol vessels to the South China Sea,” Yang said.
China claims sovereignty over islands and their adjacent waters in the South China Sea, which contains important shipping routes and is believed to hold rich oil and gas reserves, while Taiwan, Vietnam, Philippines, Brunei and Malaysia also lay claim to parts of the area.
Yang said actions taken by claimants in the disputed area were not helping to resolve the sovereignty controversy and he urged the countries concerned to set aside disputes so that peaceful resolutions could be reached through consultation and dialogue.
He reiterated Taiwan’s position that the Spratly Islands (南沙群島), the Paracel Islands (西沙群島), the Macclesfield Bank (中沙群島) and the Pratas Islands (東沙群島), as well as their surrounding waters, are all an inherent part of the territory of the Republic of China.
As it is a disputed area, Taiwan remains willing to work with other countries to explore resources in the South China Sea to jointly create peace and prosperity, Yang said.
Taiwan is to receive the first batch of Lockheed Martin F-16 Block 70 jets from the US late this month, a defense official said yesterday, after a year-long delay due to a logjam in US arms deliveries. Completing the NT$247.2 billion (US$7.69 billion) arms deal for 66 jets would make Taiwan the third nation in the world to receive factory-fresh advanced fighter jets of the same make and model, following Bahrain and Slovakia, the official said on condition of anonymity. F-16 Block 70/72 are newly manufactured F-16 jets built by Lockheed Martin to the standards of the F-16V upgrade package. Republic of China
Taiwan-Japan Travel Passes are available for use on public transit networks in the two countries, Taoyuan Metro Corp said yesterday, adding that discounts of up to 7 percent are available. Taoyuan Metro, the Taipei MRT and Japan’s Keisei Electric Railway teamed up to develop the pass. Taoyuan Metro operates the Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport MRT Line, while Keisei Electric Railway offers express services between Tokyo’s Narita Airport, and the Keisei Ueno and Nippori stations in the Japanese capital, as well as between Narita and Haneda airports. The basic package comprises one one-way ticket on the Taoyuan MRT Line and one Skyliner ticket on
A new tropical storm formed late yesterday near Guam and is to approach closest to Taiwan on Thursday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. Tropical Storm Pulasan became the 14th named storm of the year at 9:25pm yesterday, the agency said. As of 8am today, it was near Guam traveling northwest at 21kph, it said. The storm’s structure is relatively loose and conditions for strengthening are limited, WeatherRisk analyst Wu Sheng-yu (吳聖宇) said on Facebook. Its path is likely to be similar to Typhoon Bebinca, which passed north of Taiwan over Japan’s Ryukyu Islands and made landfall in Shanghai this morning, he said. However, it
Starlux Airlines, Taiwan’s newest international carrier, has announced it would apply to join the Oneworld global airline alliance before the end of next year. In an investor conference on Monday, Starlux Airlines chief executive officer Glenn Chai (翟健華) said joining the alliance would help it access Taiwan. Chai said that if accepted, Starlux would work with other airlines in the alliance on flight schedules, passenger transits and frequent flyer programs. The Oneworld alliance has 13 members, including American Airlines, British Airways, Cathay Pacific and Qantas, and serves more than 900 destinations in 170 territories. Joining Oneworld would also help boost