A supreme court justice of the Philippines holds President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) in such high esteem that he said he would nominate him for a Nobel peace prize if his East and South China Sea peace initiatives produces good results for regional peace and stability.
Philippine media outlet Interaksyon, on Wednesday reported that Senior Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the Philippines Antonio Carpio made the remarks during a speech to students and faculty at the University of Santo Tomas in Manila last week.
The media quoted Carpio as telling his audience that it was only his personal view, which might not necessarily be in line with the Philippine government position.
Carpio reportedly quoted Ma as saying that the government of the Republic of China (ROC) announced the geographic locations of its islands in the South China Sea in 1947, when most other nations only had the concept of territorial waters, but not of other sea territories.
In September last year, during a visit to Academia Historica in Taipei, Ma said that when the ROC sent Navy ships to take over the islands in the South China Sea that had been occupied by Japan during World War II, no countries lodged a protest.
Besides elaborating on the legitimacy of Taiwan’s claims of sovereignty over the islands, Ma put forth a proposal that basically extended his call for peace in the East China Sea by urging all parties concerned to peacefully resolve their disputes over the South China Sea islands.
The People’s Republic of China (PRC) has relied on the ROC government’s “nine-dash line” map to claim that the PRC has “indisputable territory” over the South China Sea, including over islands, reefs, shoals and waters claimed by the Philippines, Taiwan and their ASEAN neighbors, according to the Interaksyon report.
Carpio has found a new diplomatic weapon in Ma that could help the Philippines in its lopsided battle against China and its overarching ambition to convert the entire South China Sea into its private garrison, it said.
It said that Carpio supports Ma’s position that the ROC’s “nine-dash line” map of 1947 is limited to the islands and their adjacent territorial waters within the South China Sea, and that the ROC government, according to Ma, had made “no other so-called claims to sea regions.”
“President Ma’s interpretation of the ‘9-dash lines’ drastically reduces the area of dispute from nearly the entire South China Sea to only the Spratly Islands [Nansha Islands, 南沙群島] and their surrounding territorial seas, comprising less than 5 percent of the waters of the South China Sea,” Carpio said.
The media outlet said Carpio was enthusiastic in his admiration for Ma because of his lawyer background, like Carpio himself, and his Harvard doctoral degree with specialization in the law of the sea and his academic articles on the subject.
INCREASED CAPACITY: The flights on Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays would leave Singapore in the morning and Taipei in the afternoon Singapore Airlines is adding four supplementary flights to Taipei per week until May to meet increased tourist and business travel demand, the carrier said on Friday. The addition would raise the number of weekly flights it operates to Taipei to 18, Singapore Airlines Taiwan general manager Timothy Ouyang (歐陽漢源) said. The airline has recorded a steady rise in tourist and business travel to and from Taipei, and aims to provide more flexible travel arrangements for passengers, said Ouyang, who assumed the post in July last year. From now until Saturday next week, four additional flights would depart from Singapore on Monday, Wednesday, Friday
Taiwan’s three major international carriers are increasing booking fees, with EVA Airways having already increased the charge to US$28 per flight segment from US$25, while China Airlines (CAL) and Starlux Airlines are set to follow suit. Booking fees are charged by airlines through a global distribution system (GDS) and passed on to passengers. Carriers that apply the fees include CAL, EVA, Starlux and Tigerair Taiwan. A GDS is a computerized network operated by a company that connects airlines with travel agents and ticketing platforms, allowing reservations to be made and processed in real time. Major players include Amadeus, Sabre and Travelport. EVA Air began
The Ministry of National Defense yesterday reported the return of large-scale Chinese air force activities after their unexplained absence for more than two weeks, which had prompted speculation regarding Beijing’s motives. China usually sends fighter jets, drones and other military aircraft around the nation on a daily basis. Interruptions to such routine are generally caused by bad weather. The Ministry of National Defense said it had detected 26 Chinese military aircraft in the Taiwan Strait over the previous 24 hours. It last reported that many aircraft on Feb. 25, when it spotted 30 aircraft, saying Beijing was carrying out another “joint combat
When Paraguayan opposition lawmaker Leidy Galeano returned from an all-expenses-paid tour of six Chinese cities late last year, she was convinced Paraguay risked missing out on major economic gains by sticking with longtime ally Taipei over Beijing — a message that participants on the trip heard repeatedly from Chinese officials. “Everything I saw there, I wanted for my country,” said Galeano, a member of the newly-formed Yo Creo party whose senior figures have spoken favorably about China. This trip and others like it — which people familiar with the visits said were at the invitation of the Chinese consulate in Sao Paulo
RSS