The nation's territory should cover the islands of Taiwan, Penghu, Kinmen, Matsu and the more controversial Pratas, Spratly and Diaoyu islands, according to the Cabinet.
Dubbed the "constitution of the land," the draft national land planning law would, for the first time, specify the Republic of China's (ROC) territory, specifying land, coastal and sea areas.
The Constitution does not clearly define the "existing national boundaries" and an interpretation by the Council of Grand Justices in 1993 failed to resolve the politically sensitive issue.
The ROC Territorial Waters and Neighboring Areas Law (
The Taiwan Strait is only 200km wide, making a clear delineation between China and Taiwan difficult.
The Pratas Islands are 440km southwest of Kaohsiung and 260km south of China's Guangdong Province. The Spratly Islands are 70km north of Hong Kong. The eight uninhabited Diaoyu Islands are 220km northwest of Taiwan.
Besides Taiwan, the Philippines, China and Indonesia claim the Spratly Islands. The Pratas Islands are claimed by China, Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines and Vietnam.
Only Taiwan, however, has personnel -- armed coast guards, who recently replaced a marine garrison -- stationed on the Spratly and the Pratas Islands.
Arguments have also been going on between Taiwan, China and Japan since 1971 over the Diaoyutais.
BACK IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD: The planned transit by the ‘Baden-Wuerttemberg’ and the ‘Frankfurt am Main’ would be the German Navy’s first passage since 2002 Two German warships are set to pass through the Taiwan Strait in the middle of this month, becoming the first German naval vessels to do so in 22 years, Der Spiegel reported on Saturday. Reuters last month reported that the warships, the frigate Baden-Wuerttemberg and the replenishment ship Frankfurt am Main, were awaiting orders from Berlin to sail the Strait, prompting a rebuke to Germany from Beijing. Der Spiegel cited unspecified sources as saying Beijing would not be formally notified of the German ships’ passage to emphasize that Berlin views the trip as normal. The German Federal Ministry of Defense declined to comment. While
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