The Central News Agency reported that about 20 fishermen aboard four
boats left for Taiping from a southern port at around 11 a.m.
Taiwanese legislators arrived Wednesday on a South China Sea island which Taiwan administers to assert sovereignty after an international tribunal ruled last week that the island is legally only a "rock."
Democratic Progressive Party legislators Lo Chih-cheng and Wang Ding-yu, both members of the legislature's Foreign and National Defense Committee, wrote on their Facebook pages that they and six other lawmakers embarked on a day trip to Taiping Island early in the morning.
Taiping Island, or Itu Aba, is the largest naturally formed feature in the Spratly Archipelago and is located some 1,600 kilometers south of Taiwan. The flight to the island takes about four hours.
The move came after the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague ruled July 12 that China's blanket claim to much of the South China Sea has no legal basis and defined the Taiwan-controlled Taiping Island and all other high-tide features in the Spratly chain as "rocks."
Taiwan called the ruling "unacceptable" and said it is "not legally binding on Taiwan" because Taiwan was never invited to the hearing as a concerned party nor consulted in the arbitration process.
The administration of President Tsai Ing-wen has sent a 1,000-ton coast guard cutter to the area to replace another one dispatched there. A navy vessel was also sent to Taiping.
Criticizing the Tsai administration for being too "weak" in responding to the ruling, Nationalist Party legislator Johnny Chiang requested that the Defense Ministry arrange the visit to Taiping Island.
The Central News Agency reported that about 20 fishermen aboard four boats left for Taiping from a southern port at around 11 a.m.
"We will bring back water from Taiping," one fisherman was quoted as saying.
He said the classifying of Taiping as a "rock" was a serious matter, and that the purpose of his trip was to protect the island and fishermen's rights in their traditional fishing ground.
Spokesman for the voyage Luo Chiang-fei said that while the Tsai administration is under pressure from the United States and Japan to exercise restraint amid heightened tensions in the region, the fishermen are duty bound to safeguard their interests by raising public awareness of the matter.
In addition to Taiwan and China, the disputes over islands and reefs in the South China Sea also involve Vietnam, the Philippines, Malaysia and Brunei.
The tribunal hearing in The Hague was instigated by the Philippines due to its disputes with China, which has undertaken massive land reclamation activities on a number of reefs and islands in the South China Sea.
==Kyodo
20/7/16
--
-
Related:
Democratic Progressive Party legislators Lo Chih-cheng and Wang Ding-yu, both members of the legislature's Foreign and National Defense Committee, wrote on their Facebook pages that they and six other lawmakers embarked on a day trip to Taiping Island early in the morning.
Taiping Island, or Itu Aba, is the largest naturally formed feature in the Spratly Archipelago and is located some 1,600 kilometers south of Taiwan. The flight to the island takes about four hours.
The move came after the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague ruled July 12 that China's blanket claim to much of the South China Sea has no legal basis and defined the Taiwan-controlled Taiping Island and all other high-tide features in the Spratly chain as "rocks."
Taiwan called the ruling "unacceptable" and said it is "not legally binding on Taiwan" because Taiwan was never invited to the hearing as a concerned party nor consulted in the arbitration process.
The administration of President Tsai Ing-wen has sent a 1,000-ton coast guard cutter to the area to replace another one dispatched there. A navy vessel was also sent to Taiping.
Criticizing the Tsai administration for being too "weak" in responding to the ruling, Nationalist Party legislator Johnny Chiang requested that the Defense Ministry arrange the visit to Taiping Island.
- Besides legislators, fishermen in southern Taiwan also set sail for Taiping Island on Wednesday.
The Central News Agency reported that about 20 fishermen aboard four boats left for Taiping from a southern port at around 11 a.m.
"We will bring back water from Taiping," one fisherman was quoted as saying.
He said the classifying of Taiping as a "rock" was a serious matter, and that the purpose of his trip was to protect the island and fishermen's rights in their traditional fishing ground.
Spokesman for the voyage Luo Chiang-fei said that while the Tsai administration is under pressure from the United States and Japan to exercise restraint amid heightened tensions in the region, the fishermen are duty bound to safeguard their interests by raising public awareness of the matter.
In addition to Taiwan and China, the disputes over islands and reefs in the South China Sea also involve Vietnam, the Philippines, Malaysia and Brunei.
The tribunal hearing in The Hague was instigated by the Philippines due to its disputes with China, which has undertaken massive land reclamation activities on a number of reefs and islands in the South China Sea.
==Kyodo
20/7/16
--
-
Related:
Taiwanese legislators to visit South China Sea island
Taiwan sends warship to South China Sea after ruling
Mainland, Taiwan must defend South China Sea sovereignty
U.S. destroyer sails into S. China Sea area claimed by China
GR
FR
DE
ES
IT
RU
EU
No comments :
Post a Comment
Only News