The Chinese (Taiwan) Society of International Law urged President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) to visit Itu Aba Island (Taiping Island, 太平島) before leaving office as a way of reinforcing the nation’s sovereignty over the island and demonstrating its willingness to safeguard the freedom of navigation in the region.
“[Such a visit can] manifest the sovereignty of the Republic of China [ROC] and demonstrate to the international community the nation’s willingness to safeguarding the freedom of navigation and overflight by every nation in accordance with international law,” the group said.
The statement came about a week after Minister of the Interior Chen Wei-zen (陳威仁) and Coast Guard Administration (CGA) Minister Wang Chung-yi (王崇儀) led a government delegation on an inspection tour of the island on Dec. 12.
Ma was rumored to be scheduled to visit the island the same day to preside over a ceremony to mark the completion of a new pier on the island.
However, former US National Security Council senior director for Asian affairs Evan Medeiros advised Ma in a speech against making a trip to Taiping Island, saying it would be counterproductive and would further escalate regional tensions.
“[Such a trip] will send the wrong signal to the region at the wrong time … and will set an unhelpful precedent as the first leader of the claimants to visit an outpost in nearly a decade,” Medeiros said.
The group yesterday also rejected the Philippines’ characterization of Itu Abu Island as a “rock” to a arbitration tribunal on the South China Sea, citing personal accounts from three of its members who participated the delegation.
“Taiping Island has its own natural sources of good quality freshwater and soil, enabling the growth of lush native plants and a large number of trees,” it said.
There are more than 100 coast guard personnel stationed on the island, who have cultivated a large variety of vegetables and fruits and raised livestock, as well as 10 hospital beds serviced by three doctors and two nurses, the group said.
The group said Taiping Island, which has been under ROC control for more than 69 years, satisfies all criteria in Article 121 of the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea.
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