Opening the Dongsha Atoll National Park for tourism requires further deliberation due to national security and ecological concerns, Ocean Affairs Council Minister Lee Chung-wei (李仲威) said yesterday, adding that the council continues to defend the nation’s sovereignty in the South China Sea.
The Pratas Islands (Dongsha Islands, 東沙群島), which are about 450km from Kaohsiung, are administered as a national park. The main island is only populated by coast guard and military personnel, as well as some scientific researchers.
The Ministry of the Interior plans to open the park for tourism from next month or May, starting with one-day tours brought by charter flights, Minister of the Interior Hsu Kuo-yung (徐國勇) said in January.
Photo courtesy of National Sun Yat-sen University
The council later that month said it would cooperate with the plan, but Lee yesterday appeared more reserved when answering questions from People First Party Legislator Chen Yi-chieh (陳怡潔) at a meeting of the Legislative Yuan’s Internal Administration Committee.
The plan is still being evaluated, while more deliberations about ecological protection and national security are needed, Lee said.
Asked if Taiwan might join a South China Sea code of conduct being negotiated by China and ASEAN members, Lee said that the council has expressed its intention to participate in the talks, but has met many obstacles.
It is unfair that the nation is excluded from the negotiations, given that it is one of the territorial claimants, he said.
Any disputes in the sea should be resolved through international law, while the council would cultivate more ocean-related legal experts and continue to express its stance to involved nations through foreign affairs channels, he said.
The council in June is to hold an international conference to reiterate the nation’s sovereignty and announce ecological conservation results, Lee added.
Asked about the tourism plan, Academia Sinica biodiversity researcher Jeng Ming-shiou (鄭明修) was concerned about the potential environmental impact.
While a flight from Kaohsiung to the atoll only takes about 80 minutes, one-day tours would be less realistic, as biking around the main island only takes 30 minutes, said Jeng, who has visited the islands to conduct research 51 times since 1994.
Construction of resorts and tourist service facilities might be needed in case tourists stay overnight due to tiredness or bad weather, and more ships would be needed to replenish daily supplies and bring garbage back to Taiwan proper, Jeng said.
The ministry would prioritize one-day ecological tours, which are still being discussed without a definite timetable, Deputy Minister of the Interior Chen Tsung-yen (陳宗彥) said separately, adding that hotels are not included in the plan.
GOOD DIPLOMACY: The KMT has maintained close contact with representative offices in Taiwan and had extended an invitation to Russia as well, the KMT said The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) would “appropriately handle” the fallout from an invitation it had extended to Russia’s representative to Taipei to attend its international banquet last month, KMT Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) said yesterday. US and EU representatives in Taiwan boycotted the event, and only later agreed to attend after the KMT rescinded its invitation to the Russian representative. The KMT has maintained long-term close contact with all representative offices and embassies in Taiwan, and had extended the invitation as a practice of good diplomacy, Chu said. “Some EU countries have expressed their opinions of Russia, and the KMT respects that,” he
An increase in Taiwanese boats using China-made automatic identification systems (AIS) could confuse coast guards patrolling waters off Taiwan’s southwest coast and become a loophole in the national security system, sources familiar with the matter said yesterday. Taiwan ADIZ, a Facebook page created by enthusiasts who monitor Chinese military activities in airspace and waters off Taiwan’s southwest coast, on Saturday identified what seemed to be a Chinese cargo container ship near Penghu County. The Coast Guard Administration went to the location after receiving the tip and found that it was a Taiwanese yacht, which had a Chinese AIS installed. Similar instances had also
CHANGES: After-school tutoring periods, extracurricular activities during vacations or after-school study periods must not be used to teach new material, the ministry said The Ministry of Education yesterday announced new rules that would ban giving tests to most elementary and junior-high school students during morning study and afternoon rest periods. The amendments to regulations governing public education at elementary schools and junior high schools are to be implemented on Aug. 1. The revised rules stipulate that schools are forbidden to use after-school tutoring periods, extracurricular activities during summer or winter vacation or after-school study periods to teach new course material. In addition, schools would be prohibited from giving tests or exams to students in grades one to eight during morning study and afternoon break periods, the
AMENDMENT: Contact with certain individuals in China, Hong Kong and Macau must be reported, and failure to comply could result in a prison sentence, the proposal stated The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) yesterday voted against a proposed bill by Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) lawmakers that would require elected officials to seek approval before visiting China. DPP Legislator Puma Shen’s (沈伯洋) proposed amendments to the Act Governing Relations Between the People of the Taiwan Area and the Mainland Area (臺灣地區與大陸地區人民關係條例), stipulate that contact with certain individuals in China, Hong Kong and Macau should be reported, while failure to comply would be punishable by prison sentences of up to three years, alongside a fine of NT$10 million (US$309,041). Fifty-six voted with the TPP in opposition