New Party Chairman Yok Mu-ming (
Yok said at a press conference that the government has made no effort to protect the Republic of China's (ROC) sovereignty over the Tiaoyutais, while former president Lee Teng-hui (李登輝) has gone as far as to claim that the Tiaoyutais are part of Japanese territory.
Noting that Lee slammed Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Lien Chan (
Arguing that the Tiaoyutais are part of the ROC's territory, Yok said that if the government continues to condone Lee's nonsense and makes no response to the controversy regarding the sovereignty of the Tiaoyutais, the New Party will initiate the "public trial" on May 15, to highlight the government's "collusion" with Japan over the issue.
New Party Legislator Joanna Lei (雷倩) said that the Chun Xiao oil and gas field -- China's southernmost offshore oil and gas field in the East China Sea, only 4km from the median line with Japanese territory and currently at the heart of an ongoing Chinese-Japanese dispute -- is located within the ROC's 370km economic zone and is also part of the Tiaoyutai reef area.
The government, however, has not uttered a word about Japan's recent sovereignty claims over the Chun Xiao oil and gas field, giving away mammoth interests equal to NT$8 million (US$254,000) for each of the nation's citizens for nothing, Lei said.
Lei claimed that the Tiaoyutai island group is part of ROC territory, saying that the Ilan County Government formally registered the uninhabited islands as territory under ROC jurisdiction last April in accordance with a Ministry of the Interior plan and priced the Tiaoyutai land at NT$100 per m2.
Since the Chun Xiao oil and gas field is located within the Tiaoyutai area and within the ROC's economic zone, the government should move to claim it and protect the nation's interests, Lei said.
The Tiaoyutais, which are located between Taiwan and Okinawa, are claimed by Taiwan, China and Japan.
China ceded the island group to Japan in 1895 at a time when Qing dynasty was in sharp decline and losing territory to aggressive foreign powers.
After World War II, the islands were put under US control, at which time the ROC government demanded their return.
In 1972, however, the US returned the islands to the Japanese government -- a decision that governments and patriotic groups on both sides of the Taiwan Strait continue to protest.
The Ilan County Land Administration Office incorporated the Tiaoyutai islets under the jurisdiction of the Toucheng Township Government in Ilan in February last year to signify the ROC's sovereignty claim.
Travel agencies in Taiwan are working to secure alternative flights for travelers bound for New Zealand for the Lunar New Year holiday, as Air New Zealand workers are set to strike next week. The airline said that it has confirmed that the planned industrial action by its international wide-body cabin crew would go ahead on Thursday and Friday next week. While the Auckland-based carrier pledged to take reasonable measures to mitigate the impact of the workers’ strike, an Air New Zealand flight arriving at Taipei from Auckland on Thursday and another flight departing from Taipei for Auckland on Saturday would have to
The Taipei City Government yesterday confirmed that it has negotiated a royalties of NT$12.2 billion (US$380 million) with artificial intelligence (AI) chip giant Nvidia Corp, with the earliest possible signing date set for Wednesday next week. The city has been preparing for Nvidia to build its Taiwan headquarters in Beitou-Shilin Technology Park since last year, and the project has now entered its final stage before the contract is signed. Taipei Mayor Chiang Wan-an (蔣萬安) said the city government has completed the royalty price negotiations and would now push through the remaining procedures to sign the contract before
Taipei Zoo welcomes the Lunar New Year this year through its efforts to protect an endangered species of horse native to central Asia that was once fully extinct outside of captivity. The festival ushering in the Year of the Horse would draw attention to the zoo’s four specimens of Przewalski’s horse, named for a Russian geographer who first encountered them in the late 19th century across the steppes of western Mongolia. “Visitors will look at the horses and think that since this is the Year of the Horse: ‘I want to get to know horses,’” said zookeeper Chen Yun-chieh, who has been
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Thursday said the name of the Taiwanese Representative Office in Lithuania was agreed by both sides, after Lithuania’s prime minister described a 2021 decision to let Taiwan set up a de facto embassy in Vilnius as a “mistake.” Lithuanian Prime Minister Inga Ruginiene, who entered office in September last year, told the Baltic News Service on Tuesday that Lithuania had begun taking “small first steps” aimed at restoring ties with Beijing. The ministry in a statement said that Taiwan and Lithuania are important partners that share the values of freedom and democracy. Since the establishment of the
RSS