Activists yesterday urged President Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) administration to take action on the disputed sovereignty of the Diaoyutai Islands (釣魚台) by the end of the year before they take the issue to the International Court of Justice.
The activists, led by former Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) legislator Chang Chun-hung (張俊宏), said they were concerned about a possible war between China and Japan, both of which also claim the islands, as Japan recently conducted a large-scale military exercise in the region.
“We call for Ma to invite Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) to sign Ma’s East China Sea peace initiative on a Kidd class frigate, with US President Barack Obama as witness,” Chang told a press conference.
Taiwan has sole sovereignty over the Diaoyutais, the activists said, and if Ma fails to take action, they would submit the case to the International Court of Justice.
Former New Party lawmaker Chien Ta (錢達) said the best solution for the decades-long dispute is handing the islands sovereignty to Taiwan because a war is almost guaranteed to break out between Japan and China if either of them is given sovereignty.
The activists filed lawsuits against Abe earlier this year over his “infringement of Taiwan’s fishing rights” following Japan’s nationalization of three of the islands, known as the Senkakus in Japan, on Sept. 10 last year.
The Ministry of Economic Affairs has fined Taobao NT$1.2 million (US$36,900) for advertisements that exceeded its approved business scope and ordered the Chinese e-commerce platform to make corrections in the first half of this year or its license would be revoked. Lawmakers have called for stricter supervision of Chinese e-commerce platforms and more stringent measures to prevent China from laundering its goods through Taiwan as US President Donald Trump’s administration cracks down on origin laundering. The legislature’s Finance Committee yesterday met to discuss policies to prevent China from dumping goods in Taiwan, inviting government agencies to report on the matter. Democratic Progressive Party
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NEW WORLD: Taiwan is pursuing innovative approaches to international relations through economics, trade and values-based diplomacy, the foreign minister said Taiwan would implement a “three-chain strategy” that promotes democratic values in response to US tariffs, Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) said. Taiwan would aim to create a “global democratic value chain,” seek to capitalize on its position within the first island chain and promote a “non-red supply chain,” Lin was quoted as saying in the ministry’s written report to the Legislative Yuan submitted ahead of the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee meeting slated for today. The Ministry would also uphold a spirit of mutual beneficial collaboration, maintaining close communication and consultations with Washington to show that Taiwan-US cooperation
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