The US Department of State on Thursday said it appreciates the road map President Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) administration has devised for South China Sea peace initiatives, which urges all parties concerned to be included in a mechanism for talks regarding South China Sea affairs and to cooperate on a variety of issues.
“We appreciate Taiwan’s call on all claimants to exercise restraint, refrain from taking any unilateral action that might escalate tensions and respect international law as reflected in the Law of the Sea Convention,” Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs spokeswoman Anna Richey-Allen said.
In an e-mailed response to media queries about Ma’s proposal, Richey-Allen said Washington’s position on the South China Sea is principled and long-standing.
“While the United States does not take a position on the competing sovereignty claims over land features in the South China Sea, we do take a position that maritime claims must accord with the law of the sea,” she said. “We have a strong interest in peace and security and in the manner in which claimants address their disputes.”
She said the US does not take a position on the sovereignty of islands claimed by Taiwan in the South China Sea.
Her remarks came after Ma paid a visit to Itu Aba Island (Taiping Island, 太平島) in the South China Sea and proposed a road map for his South China Sea peace initiative in a speech there.
The road map calls on all parties concerned to be included in a mechanism for talks regarding South China Sea affairs, and to cooperate on a variety of issues, such as the conservation and management of biological resources, marine scientific research and crime prevention at sea, the Presidential Office said in a statement on Thursday.
Ma said the road map is based on a framework of three “yeses” and three “noes”: “yes” to cooperation, sharing and pragmatism and “no” to confrontation, monopolizing and intransigence.
In the short term, all parties concerned should shelve their disputes, pledge to replace military confrontation with peaceful consultations, refrain from taking action that might affect stability and peace in the region and ensure the freedom and safety of navigation and flights, while in the mid-term, they should cooperate on a variety of environmental and marine issues, as well as humanitarian assistance and disaster relief, he said.
In the long term, Ma proposed a mechanism for “zonal development” of specific maritime areas for bilateral or multilateral development.
Several nations, including Taiwan, China, the Philippines, Brunei, Malaysia and Vietnam, claim all or parts of the South China Sea.
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