The legislature’s caucus leaders, including the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT), yesterday approved a non-binding resolution demanding that President Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) administration lodge an official protest with China over its unilateral demarcation of an air defense identification zone (ADIZ) in the East China Sea.
The resolution asks Ma to file a stern protest against the Chinese demarcation, which it said has destabilized regional stability, and to take concerted action with the nation’s democratic allies by refusing to submit flight plans as Beijing has requested.
It also states that Beijing’s announcement of the ADIZ on Saturday last week and the Chinese aircraft carrier Liaoning’s passage through the Taiwan Strait on Thursday have escalated tensions that not only affect Taipei, but also Tokyo, Seoul and Washington.
Photo: Wang Yi-sung, Taipei Times
The resolution calls on China to exercise restraint, resolve the dispute with Japan, South Korea, Australia, Taiwan and the US through multilateral negotiations, and advises that China withdraw the demarcation to safeguard peace in the area.
Earlier yesterday, Taiwan Solidarity Union lawmakers had occupied the legislative podium to protest China’s action and called for a boycott of legislative proceedings. The deadlock was broken after Legislative Speaker Wang Jin-pyng (王金平) convened a cross-party meeting, and all party caucuses reached a consensus on the resolution.
However, the TSU’s proposal that visiting Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Straits Chairman Chen Deming (陳德銘) should be expeled was not included in the resolution.
The Executive Yuan issued a five-point statement in response to the resolution later yesterday.
First, the National Security Council had issued a four-point statement on Saturday last week in response to China’s ADIZ demarcation, in which it said that the government would firmly safeguard its sovereignty over the Diaoyutai Islands (釣魚台) and urges all concerned parties to exercise self-restraint to resolve regional disputes peacefully, the Executive Yuan said in the statement.
Second, China did not consult Taiwan before announcing its new ADIZ demarcation, which overlaps with Taiwan’s air defense zone and the Taipei Flight Information Region. This has not contributed to positive cross-strait relations, it said, adding that the government would “express our firm and serious concern to the mainland [China] through appropriate channels.”
Third, China’s air defense zone will not change how the military conducts operations in the region, and the military will increase inspections in the area to enhance air and sea defenses to protect national security and public interests, the statement said.
Fourth, the Civil Aeronautics Administration will handle issues related to the requirement imposed by China that commercial flights notify China before planes fly through the newly designated zone in line with related International Civil Aviation Organization regulations and based on requests made by airlines to ensure aviation safety, it said.
Fifth, the government is extremely concerned about how the situation develops and has made unequivocal calls to concerned parties to resolve disputes through bilateral or multilateral channels and in a peaceful manner to jointly maintain peace and stability in the region, the Executive Yuan said.
Executive Yuan spokesperson Cheng Li-wun (鄭麗文) declined to to elaborate when asked about the statement.
CLOSURES: Several forest recreation areas have been closed as a precaution, while some ferry and flight services have been suspended or rescheduled A land warning for Tropical Storm Danas was issued last night at 8:30pm, as the storm’s outer bands began bringing heavy rain to southeastern regions, including Hualien and Taitung counties, and the Hengchun Peninsula (恆春半島), according to the Central Weather Administration (CWA). As of 9:15pm, the storm was approximately 330km west-southwest of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan proper’s southernmost tip, moving north-northeast at 10-20kph, the CWA reported. A sea warning had already been issued at 8:30am yesterday. The storm had maximum sustained winds near its center of 83kph, with gusts of up to 108kph, according to the CWA. As of 9:30pm last night, Kaohsiung, Tainan,
POWERFUL DETERRENT: Precision fire and dispersed deployment of units would allow Taiwanese artillery to inflict heavy casualties in an invasion, a researcher said The nation’s military has boosted its self-defense capability with the establishment of a new company equipped with the US-supplied High Mobility Artillery Rocket System (HIMARS). The company, part of the army’s 58th Artillery Command, is Taiwan’s first HIMARS unit. Minister of National Defense Wellington Koo (顧立雄), who presided over the formation ceremony in Taichung on Friday, called the unit a significant addition to the nation’s defensive strength, saying it would help deter adversaries from starting a war. The unit is made up of top-performing soldiers who received training in the US, according to the Ministry of National Defense. The HIMARS can be equipped with
UNILATERAL: The move from China’s aviation authority comes despite a previous 2015 agreement that any changes to flight paths would be done by consensus The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) yesterday slammed Beijing for arbitrarily opening the M503 flight route’s W121 connecting path, saying that such unilateral conduct disrespected the consensus between both sides and could destabilize the Taiwan Strait and the wider region. The condemnation came after the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) earlier yesterday announced it “has activated the W121 connecting path of the M503 flight route,” meaning that west-to-east flights are now permitted along the path. The newly activated west-to-east route is intended to “alleviate the pressure caused by the increase of flights,” China’s state-run Xinhua news agency quoted China’s Taiwan Affairs Office
STRONG WINDS: Without the Central Mountain Range as a shield, people should be ready for high-speed winds, CWA weather forecaster Liu Yu-chi said Danas was yesterday upgraded to a typhoon and could grow stronger as it moves closely along the nation’s west coastline, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. Hsinchu and Chiayi cities, Taichung, Tainan and Kaohsiung, as well as Hsinchu, Miaoli, Changhua, Yunlin, Nantou, Chiayi, Penghu and Pingtung counties have canceled work and school today. Work and school in Keelung, Taipei, New Taipei City and Taoyuan, and Yilan, Taitung, Hualien, Kinmen and Lienchiang (Matsu) counties would continue as usual, although offices and schools would be closed in Taoyuan’s Luju (蘆竹), Dayuan (大園), Guangyin (觀音) and Sinwu (新屋) districts. As of 5pm yesterday, the typhoon’s
RSS