Foreign experts on marine law, policy and sciences yesterday gathered in Kaohsiung for the International Dongsha Conference, where an Indonesian expert urged nations in the South China Sea area — including Taiwan and China — to conduct “informal” research programs together.
The two-day conference on the Pratas Islands, which Taiwan calls the Dongsha Islands (東沙群島) and administers as a national park, opened on Thursday.
On the first day, Ocean Affairs Council Deputy Minister Chuang Ching-ta (莊慶達) accompanied Kiribati Ambassador to Taiwan Tessie Eria Lambourne; Thailand Trade and Economic Office Executive Director Thongchai Chasawath; and nearly 70 experts from the US, UK, Canada, Belgium, Japan, Indonesia, India, Vietnam, Malaysia and the Philippines on a visit to the atoll.
It was the first international meeting hosted by the council since its creation on April 28 last year, council Minister Lee Chung-wei (李仲威) told the gathering in Kaohsiung yesterday.
That conference aimed to promote Taiwan’s ecological conservation efforts on the atoll and included speeches related to marine law and policy, ocean research, maritime industry and culture, he said.
How to promote joint research projects became a focal issue during the first panel discussion coordinated by Lin Cheng-yi (林正義), director of the Institute for National Defense and Security Research, a think tank inaugurated last year by the Ministry of National Defense.
Hasjim Djalal, a former Indonesian ambassador to the UN and founder of Indonesia’s Center for Southeast Asian Studies, raised concerns over the problem of marine waste, citing as examples the Philippines’ and Malaysia’s refusals to import plastic waste from other countries.
He urged nations in the region to undertake informal scientific research dealing with the marine environment and biodiversity without touching on territorial disputes.
From the audience, Academia Sinica Institute of European and American Studies research fellow Song Yann-huei (宋燕輝) asked Djalal if Indonesia would invite US President Donald Trump, Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) and President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) to attend the 30th Workshop on Managing Potential Conflicts in the South China Sea next year.
The anniversary should be marked by the attendance of higher authorities from across the globe, Song said, adding that Taiwanese experts have informally participated in the workshop since 1991.
Djalal said that they would invite those interested in attending the meeting, but have not yet decided on the invitees.
As China and ASEAN members are drafting a South China Sea code of conduct, Taiwan should voice its desire to join the code or assert its importance in the region through other ways, Song said.
Even if Taiwan claims the Pratas Islands and Itu Aba Island (Taiping Island, 太平島), it might be rejected from regional collaboration, such as law enforcement and disaster rescue efforts, if it does not play a part in the code, he said.
Lacking direct access to the draft code, the council has been collecting related information through think tanks and other channels, Department of International Development Director Joseph Hsieh (謝亞杰) said.
The coast guard on Friday took a Chinese fishing boat and the 17 people on board into custody, after it rammed into a patrol boat while attempting to flee. A 100-tonne coast guard vessel at about 8am discovered a Chinese fishing boat illegally operating in waters about 11 nautical miles (20.4km) northwest of Hsinchu, the Hsinchu offshore flotilla of the Coast Guard Administration said. The crew refused to allow law enforcement to board the ship and attempted to flee, it added. The coast guard vessel and another ship chased the fishing boat for about a half hour, during which time the Chinese boat
Vice President William Lai (賴清德) yesterday said that Beijing was trying to “annex” Taiwan, while China said its recent series of drills near Taiwan are aimed at combating the “arrogance” of separatist forces. The Ministry of National Defense earlier this month said that it had observed dozens of Chinese fighters, drones, bombers and other aircraft, as well as warships and the Chinese aircraft carrier Shandong, operating nearby. The increased frequency of China’s military activities has raised the risk of events “getting out of hand” and sparking an accidental clash, Minister of National Defense Chiu Kuo-cheng (邱國正) said last week. Asked about the spurt
China’s Office of the Commissioner of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Hong Kong has asked foreign consulates in Hong Kong to submit details of their local staff, which is more proof that the “one country, two systems” model no longer exists, a Taiwanese academic said. The office sent letters dated Monday last week to consulates in the territory, giving them one month to submit the information it requires. The move followed Beijing’s attempt to obtain floor plans for all properties used by foreign missions in Hong Kong last year, which raised concerns among diplomats that the information could be used for
‘ABNORMITY’: News of the military exercises on the coast of the Chinese province facing Taiwan were made public by the Ministry of National Defense on Thursday Taiwan’s military yesterday said it has detected the Chinese military initiating a round of exercises at a bay area in coastal Fujian Province, which faces Taiwan, since early yesterday morning and it has been closely monitoring the drills. The exercises being conducted at Fujian’s Dacheng Bay featured an undisclosed number of People’s Liberation Army’s (PLA) warplanes, warships and ground troops, the Ministry of National Defense said in a press statement. The ministry did not disclose what kind of military exercises are being conducted there and for how long they would be happening, but it did say that it has been closely watching
RSS