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Minnie Chan

About 30 Taiwanese fishermen and lawmakers headed for Tai­ping Island in the South China Sea on Wednesday to support Taiwanese claims to sovereignty and fishing rights in the area.
The fishing boat flotilla and flight by lawmakers comes after an international tribunal last week rejected Taipei’s right to an exclusive economic zone around Taiping, also known as Itu Aba.
“It’s a serious issue to reduce Taiping Island to a ‘reef’,” Central News Agency quoted Cheng Chun-chung, the fisherman spearheading the flotilla protest, as saying.
Taiwanese lawmakers, fishing flotilla bound for Taiping Island
About 20 Pingtung county fishermen set off at about noon for Taiping in five boats draped in
Taiwanese flags and banners ­saying: “Safeguard fishing rights in the South China Sea,” and ­“Protect ancestral assets”. The protesters said they would spend the two-week trip fishing to underscore Taiwan’s sovereignty over the waters.
Ten boats signed up for the trip but five pulled out after warnings from fisheries authorities, organisers said.
Cheng said a fisheries official told him his boat licence would be revoked if he went to the island because his vessel was restricted to sailing between Taiwan, the mainland and Hong Kong. But Cheng said he would not back down.

A few hours earlier, eight lawmakers from Taiwan’s ruling Democratic Progressive Party and opposition Kuomintang (KMT) boarded a military aircraft for a flight to Taiping, landing on the island at about 10.50am, CNA ­reported.
The legislators visited military facilities and a weather station on the island, and inspected solar power and satellite equipment before returning to Pingtung in the afternoon.
The Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague ruled on July 12 that Taiping was a rock rather than an island and was therefore not entitled to a 200-nautical-mile exclusive economic zone under international law.
Taipei to hasten frigate patrol for Taiping Island in wake of South China Sea ruling
An island must be able to ­sustain human habitation or ­economic life, according to the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea.

KMT legislator Johnny Chiang Chi-chen, who headed the group, said the lawmakers sampled ­coconut juice from trees planted on the island.
Another lawmaker on the trip, Wang Ding-yu, said a well and ­solar power facilities had been established on the island, proving Taiping was habitable and could sustain human life.
Chiang also criticised Taiwan’s government for not taking substantial action to defend the island’s sovereignty in the region.
Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen called the Hague ruling unacceptable and said it was not binding on Taiwan.
Taiwan did not take part in the Hague proceedings.



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South China Sea

South China Sea: Taiwanese lawmakers land on Taiping Island in sovereignty, fishing rights push

Taiwanese lawmaker Johnny Chiang holding a Taiwanese flag during a visit to Taiping island in the South China Sea. Photo: AFP / The Office of Kuomintang (KMT) lawmaker Johnny Chiang

Taiwanese fishermen display flags and placards before departing to Taiping island, part of the disputed Spratly Islands chain in the South China Sea, at a fishing harbour in southern Pingtung on July 20, 2016. Taiwanese lawmakers and fishermen were heading to an island in the disputed South China Sea Wednesday to protest an international tribunal ruling that undermined Taipei's claims there. / AFP PHOTO / STR / Taiwan OUT

epa05433151 Taiwanese fisherman wearing Taiwan flag sail off to Taiping Island (Itu Aba) in the disputed South China Sea to protest for their right in Pingtung County, in southern Taiwan, 20 July 2016. Five Taiwanese fishing boat with 20 fishermen sail off to Taiping Island to defend Taiwanese sovereignty over the South China Sea. EPA/RIVER WANG TAIWAN OUT

Taipei to hasten frigate patrol for Taiping Island in wake of South China Sea ruling

Taiping Island, or Itu Aba, in the Spratlys, is claimed and occupied by Taiwan. Photo: Kyodo

In this photo released by the Taiwan Presidential Office, Taiwan's President Ma Ying-jeou speaks during his visit to Taiping island, also known as Itu Aba, in the Spratly archipelago, south of Taiwan, Thursday, Jan. 28, 2016. Outgoing President Ma, defying a rare criticism from key ally the United States, visited the island in the disputed South China Sea on Thursday to emphasize Taiwan's sovereignty claims in the increasingly tense region. The monument dedicated by Ma on Dec. 12, 2015, reads: "Peace in the South China Sea and our national secure forever." (Taiwan's Presidential Office via AP)

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Taiwan’s single holding of Itu Aba is the biggest feature in the Spratlys and the one some analysts believe has the strongest claim to island status and an economic zone. Photo: Reuters

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Philippine Foreign Affairs Secretary Perfecto Yasay said he met Wang Yi, his Chinese counterpart, on the sidelines of a Asia-Europe summit in Mongolia last week. Photo: EPA

In this undated photo released by Xinhua News Agency, a Chinese H-6K bomber patrols the islands and reefs in the South China Sea. China is closing off a part of the South China Sea for military exercises this week, the government said Monday, July 18, 2016, days after an international tribunal ruled against Beijing's claim to ownership of virtually the entire strategic waterway. (Liu Rui/Xinhua via AP) NO SALES

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Commander of the Chinese Navy Admiral Wu Shengli points out the layout of the Chinese Navy Headquarters to visiting US Chief of Naval Operations Admiral John Richardson in Beijing on Monday. Photo: Reuters

Harry's View

Commander of the Chinese Navy, Admiral Wu Shengli (centre R), walks with US Chief of Naval Operations Admiral John Richardson (centre L), during a welcoming ceremony at the Chinese Navy headquarters in Beijing on July 18, 2016. / AFP PHOTO / POOL / Ng Han Guan

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Diplomacy

Moves come after an international tribunal in the Hague rejected Taipei’s right to an exclusive economic zone around Taiping on July 12


Taiwan