The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) yesterday rejected as “unacceptable” Vietnam’s accusation that a recent military drill near a Taiwan-controlled island in the disputed South China Sea violated Hanoi’s sovereignty.
MOFA said in a statement that it had learned that Vietnamese Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokeswoman Pham Thu Hang said on Thursday that a round of live-fire drills conducted by Taiwan in the waters surrounding Itu Aba Island (Taiping Island, 太平島) a day earlier was a “serious violation of Vietnam’s sovereignty over the islands.”
The spokeswoman had also said that the drill caused tensions and complicated the situation in the disputed region, MOFA said.
Photo: Fabian Hamacher, Reuters
Vietnam’s accusation is “totally unacceptable,” it said.
The government of the Republic of China, the official name of Taiwan, retains all rights over its South China Sea islands and their waters, in accordance with international law and the law of the sea, MOFA said.
“Taiping Island is indisputably the territory of the Republic of China (Taiwan), and the government of the Republic of China (Taiwan) has the authority to exercise all the rights of a sovereign state over Taiping Island and its relevant waters,” the statement said.
MOFA cited President Tsai Ing-wen’s (蔡英文) 2016 principles concerning South China Sea disputes, saying she called for peaceful resolutions to issues regarding stability and peace in the region, while upholding equality and shared prosperity.
Itu Aba, the largest of the Spratly Islands (Nansha Islands, 南沙群島), lies 1,600km southwest of Kaohsiung and is administered as part of the city’s Cijin District (旗津).
The island is also claimed by Vietnam, China and the Philippines.
The island is occupied by Taiwanese coast guard personnel trained by the Marine Corps, and drills are regularly held there.
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