A report that Taiwan is considering leasing Itu Aba Island (Taiping Island, 太平島) to the US constitutes “fake news” and could mislead the public the Taipei-based Institute for National Defense and Security Research said on Friday.
Spreading groundless information could affect the public’s understanding of the matter, the institute said in a statement, urging the media to verify facts before reporting them.
The institute, which is affiliated with the Ministry of National Defense, was launched in May to study China’s military. Former minister of national defense Feng Shih-kuan (馮世寬) is serving as its first chairman.
While serving as defense minister, Feng repeatedly denied such rumors at legislative hearings when questioned by lawmakers, the institute said in a statement.
Rumors that Taiwan is mulling leasing the island in the disputed South China Sea have surfaced several times over the past few years, including in July 2016, July last year and last month, it said.
The most recent report about Taiwan considering to lease the island to the US was published by Chinese news Web site xilu.com.
“Such an idea is very dangerous, because the people on both sides of the Taiwan Strait are all firmly opposed to any such moves that are harmful to the Chinese people,” Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman Wu Qian (吳謙) said at a news conference in Beijing on Thursday
In response to Wu’s comment, Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman Andrew Lee (李憲章) reiterated that Taiwan has no plans to lease the island.
“The government has no plans to lease Taiping Island to any other country, including the US,” Lee said. “Neither the US nor any other country has made such a request.”
It was the second time in a month that Lee commented on the matter, which has attracted attention from local and foreign media.
The report was fabricated and designed to create instability in the region or conflict between the two sides of the Strait, he said, urging the perpetrators to stop attacking Taiwan over a groundless rumor.
Itu Aba, located about 1,600km from Kaohsiung, is part of the Spratly Islands (Nansha Islands, 南沙群島). It has an area of only 0.51 square kilometers and houses 200 Taiwanese soldiers, but no civilian residents.
Taiwan would benefit from more integrated military strategies and deployments if the US and its allies treat the East China Sea, the Taiwan Strait and the South China Sea as a “single theater of operations,” a Taiwanese military expert said yesterday. Shen Ming-shih (沈明室), a researcher at the Institute for National Defense and Security Research, said he made the assessment after two Japanese military experts warned of emerging threats from China based on a drill conducted this month by the Chinese People’s Liberation Army’s (PLA) Eastern Theater Command. Japan Institute for National Fundamentals researcher Maki Nakagawa said the drill differed from the
‘WORSE THAN COMMUNISTS’: President William Lai has cracked down on his political enemies and has attempted to exterminate all opposition forces, the chairman said The legislature would motion for a presidential recall after May 20, Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) said yesterday at a protest themed “against green communists and dictatorship” in Taipei. Taiwan is supposed to be a peaceful homeland where people are united, but President William Lai (賴清德) has been polarizing and tearing apart society since his inauguration, Chu said. Lai must show his commitment to his job, otherwise a referendum could be initiated to recall him, he said. Democracy means the rule of the people, not the rule of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), but Lai has failed to fulfill his
OFF-TARGET: More than 30,000 participants were expected to take part in the Games next month, but only 6,550 foreign and 19,400 Taiwanese athletes have registered Taipei city councilors yesterday blasted the organizers of next month’s World Masters Games over sudden timetable and venue changes, which they said have caused thousands of participants to back out of the international sporting event, among other organizational issues. They also cited visa delays and political interference by China as reasons many foreign athletes are requesting refunds for the event, to be held from May 17 to 30. Jointly organized by the Taipei and New Taipei City governments, the games have been rocked by numerous controversies since preparations began in 2020. Taipei City Councilor Lin Yen-feng (林延鳳) said yesterday that new measures by
A rally held by opposition parties yesterday demonstrates that Taiwan is a democratic country, President William Lai (賴清德) said yesterday, adding that if opposition parties really want to fight dictatorship, they should fight it on Tiananmen Square in Beijing. The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) held a protest with the theme “against green communists and dictatorship,” and was joined by the Taiwan People’s Party. Lai said the opposition parties are against what they called the “green communists,” but do not fight against the “Chinese communists,” adding that if they really want to fight dictatorship, they should go to the right place and face
RSS