Seventeen graduate and doctoral students from three universities on Friday concluded a nine-day seminar, organized by the Ministry of National Defense on how Taiwan defends its territory in the disputed South China Sea.
Conducted mostly on Itu Aba (Taiping Island, 太平島), the students studied the government’s South China Sea military strategy and how sovereignty is defined under international law, the ministry said.
The students, accompanied by three lecturers, on April 20 sailed to Itu Aba on a La Fayette-class frigate, which was on a naval patrol mission to the South China Sea, the ministry said.
The group visited 11 sites, including a well, a farm and ruins of buildings built by the Aboriginals who once lived there.
They also took part in a flag-raising ceremony and mailed postcards.
The students visited navy and coast guard personnel posted on the island, and thanked them for their dedication to defending the territory, the ministry said.
The visit was part of the ministry’s efforts to declare sovereignty using soft power, the ministry said.
The 0.51km2 island lies about 1,600km southwest of Kaohsiung. It has been under the jurisdiction of the Republic of China since 1946.
Taiwan, China, Vietnam, Malaysia, the Philippines and Brunei claim sovereignty over all or some of the South China Sea islands and their surrounding waters.
Twenty-four Republican members of the US House of Representatives yesterday introduced a concurrent resolution calling on the US government to abolish the “one China” policy and restore formal diplomatic relations with Taiwan. Led by US representatives Tom Tiffany and Scott Perry, the resolution calls for not only re-establishing formal relations, but also urges the US Trade Representative to negotiate a free-trade agreement (FTA) with Taiwan and for US officials to advocate for Taiwan’s full membership in the UN and other international organizations. In a news release announcing the resolution, Tiffany, who represents a Wisconsin district, called the “one China” policy “outdated, counterproductive
Actress Barbie Hsu (徐熙媛) has “returned home” to Taiwan, and there are no plans to hold a funeral for the TV star who died in Japan from influenza- induced pneumonia, her family said in a statement Wednesday night. The statement was released after local media outlets reported that Barbie Hsu’s ashes were brought back Taiwan on board a private jet, which arrived at Taipei Songshan Airport around 3 p.m. on Wednesday. To the reporters waiting at the airport, the statement issued by the family read “(we) appreciate friends working in the media for waiting in the cold weather.” “She has safely returned home.
MUST REMAIN FREE: A Chinese takeover of Taiwan would lead to a global conflict, and if the nation blows up, the world’s factories would fall in a week, a minister said Taiwan is like Prague in 1938 facing Adolf Hitler; only if Taiwan remains free and democratic would the world be safe, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Francois Wu (吳志中) said in an interview with Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera. The ministry on Saturday said Corriere della Sera is one of Italy’s oldest and most read newspapers, frequently covers European economic and political issues, and that Wu agreed to an interview with the paper’s senior political analyst Massimo Franco in Taipei on Jan. 3. The interview was published on Jan. 26 with the title “Taiwan like Prague in 1938 with Hitler,” the ministry
TRUMP ERA: The change has sparked speculation on whether it was related to the new US president’s plan to dismiss more than 1,000 Joe Biden-era appointees The US government has declined to comment on a post that indicated the departure of Laura Rosenberger as chair of the American Institute in Taiwan (AIT). Neither the US Department of State nor the AIT has responded to the Central News Agency’s questions on the matter, after Rosenberger was listed as a former chair on the AIT’s official Web site, with her tenure marked as 2023 to this year. US officials have said previously that they usually do not comment on personnel changes within the government. Rosenberger was appointed head of the AIT in 2023, during the administration of former US president Joe