The government reiterated yesterday that the status of Itu Aba Island (Taiping Island, 太平島) in the Spratly Islands (Nansha Islands, 南沙群島) is unquestionably that of an island, not a reef.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs reaffirmed the government’s stance that Itu Aba is unquestionably an island according to the definition in the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, in its latest response to a ruling by the Permanent Court of Arbitration in the Netherlands last week that it has jurisdiction to hear a Philippine complaint against China over the island.
Ministry spokeswoman Eleanor Wang (王珮玲) yesterday said that the ruling by the court was only about its jurisdiction over the case and did not touch upon the issue of whether Taiping is an island or a reef.
It is an unquestionable fact that it is an island, she said, in response to media reports that the complaint filed by the Philippines had downgraded Itu Aba Island to a reef.
In the complaint, the Philippines argues that China’s “nine-dash line” territorial claim over the South China Sea is unlawful under the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea.
The case could be relevant to Taiwan because it also claims sovereignty over the island based on a similar line to China’s nine-dash line.
In response to reporters’ questions on whether the government would lodge a protest with Manila, Wang only said that the South China Sea issue is an important and complex one. The government would take relevant measures at an appropriate time, she added.
The ministry’s remarks came a day after the Cabinet said that the nation would take all necessary steps to defend its sovereignty and maritime rights over its islands in the South China Sea.
While Taiwan is not a party to the court case, the Cabinet said it did not expect any decision on the island when the court of arbitration makes its ruling.
The Cabinet said that under the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, an inhabitable island can claim the territorial waters, continental shelf and exclusive economic zone around it.
As Itu Aba is the largest naturally formed island in the Spratly Islands and is capable of maintaining human habitation and an economy, it can claim an exclusive economic zone and continental shelf, it added.
The Cabinet said that it would not recognize or accept a ruling by an international arbitration panel over disputed territory in the South China Sea.
The coast guard took over the task of defending the island in 2000.
A group of Taiwanese-American and Tibetan-American students at Harvard University on Saturday disrupted Chinese Ambassador to the US Xie Feng’s (謝鋒) speech at the school, accusing him of being responsible for numerous human rights violations. Four students — two Taiwanese Americans and two from Tibet — held up banners inside a conference hall where Xie was delivering a speech at the opening ceremony of the Harvard Kennedy School China Conference 2024. In a video clip provided by the Coalition of Students Resisting the CCP (Chinese Communist Party), Taiwanese-American Cosette Wu (吳亭樺) and Tibetan-American Tsering Yangchen are seen holding banners that together read:
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Heat advisories were in effect for nine administrative regions yesterday afternoon as warm southwesterly winds pushed temperatures above 38°C in parts of southern Taiwan, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. As of 3:30pm yesterday, Tainan’s Yujing District (玉井) had recorded the day’s highest temperature of 39.7°C, though the measurement will not be included in Taiwan’s official heat records since Yujing is an automatic rather than manually operated weather station, the CWA said. Highs recorded in other areas were 38.7°C in Kaohsiung’s Neimen District (內門), 38.2°C in Chiayi City and 38.1°C in Pingtung’s Sandimen Township (三地門), CWA data showed. The spell of scorching