Deputy Legislative Speaker Johnny Chiang (江啟臣) on Monday urged President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) to visit Itu Aba Island (Taiping Island, 太平島) to assert the nation’s sovereignty over the outpost, following the completion of a pier improvement project.
Monday marked the official end of a more than NT$1.7 billion (US$53.71 million) project to deepen and improve a harbor at the South China Sea island.
In a Facebook post, Chiang said he last month called on the president to visit Itu Aba for the pier reopening to assert Taiwan’s sovereignty over the largest of the Spratly Islands and boost morale of troops stationed there.
Photo: Reuters
“Although Taiping Island is 1,600km away, it is still Republic of China territory,” he wrote.
“We will provide the greatest support and the strongest backing,” he said, vowing to visit again.
Chiang called on Tsai to visit before leaving office in two months in order to continue the precedent for presidents to visit, as former presidents Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) and Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) did before.
Other Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) lawmakers joined Chiang’s call on Monday.
KMT Legislator Lai Shyh-bao (賴士葆) said he hopes Tsai would visit, as the island is also part of the nation’s territory.
Tsai is caving into pressure from Washington to not go, “but don’t forget that the US was also strongly opposed to Ma going,” he said.
In January, legislators from Tsai’s own Democratic Progressive Party also called on the president to attend the inauguration ceremony for the renovated harbor.
Tsai has not visited the island in her eight years in office.
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