Taipei to hasten frigate patrol for Taiping Island in wake of South China Sea ruling
Ruling, especially regarding Taiwan-occupied island, will never be accepted, says presidential office
Taipei will bring forward plans to send a frigate to patrol waters near the biggest land feature in the Spratlys after a Hague tribunal ruled on Tuesday that Taipei-controlled Taiping Island was a “rock” that conferred no exclusive maritime rights.
Taiwanese Foreign Minister David Lee said President Tsai Ing-wen was expected to take “action” on Wednesday after top-level national security meeting on Tuesday on the Permanent Court of Arbitration’s ruling. Lee refused to specify the action but local news media said Tsai was likely to board a La Fayette-class frigate to boost the crew’s morale before the vessel set off for Taiping.
An emergency response centre has also been set up at the defence ministry.
The ruling ... has seriously hurt our rights over the islands in the South China Sea, and we can never accept it
Although the ruling was a result of a dispute between Beijing and Manila over claims to disputed land formations and waters, Taipei found the tribunal’s reference of Taiping unacceptable, saying Taiwan has long considered the 46 hectare feature an island.
“The ruling, especially the part involving Taiping Island, has seriously hurt our rights over the islands in the South China Sea, and we can never accept it,” the Presidential Office said.
It added that the ruling was not legally binding, and it would do all it could to uphold Taiwan’s sovereignty claims to “various islets” and their surrounding territorial waters.
“The Republic of China [in Taiwan] enjoys every right in line with the international law and the United Nations’ Convention on the Law of the Sea regarding the islands in the South China Sea.”
The ROC regime took control of Taiping after Japan’s surrender in the second world war and stationed military personnel there even after the regime retreated to Taiwan. The mainland inherited the ROC’s claim to the South China Sea, including the U-shape “nine-dash” line first promoted by the ROC regime in 1947. Tuesday’s ruling also said the line contravened Unclos.
In Beijing, the State Council’s Taiwan Affairs Office said both the mainland and Taiwan should safeguard territorial sovereignty and maritime rights in the South China Sea.
Xinhua quoted TAO spokesman Ma Xiaoguang as saying the two sides shared responsibility for the overall and fundamental interests of the Chinese nation.
Relations between the mainland and Taiwan have been strained since the Tsai took office in May and official communication has stalled.
Taiwan has physically controlled Taiping, making it a must for the Tsai government to stand firm on Taipei’s claims
Analysts said the Tsai government had adopted a strategy of maintaining outright claims to Taiping, but keeping an ambiguous position towards the nine-dash line.
“This is because Taiwan has physically controlled Taiping, making it a must for the Tsai government to stand firm on Taipei’s claims,” said Edward Chen I-hsin, professor of international studies at Tamkang University in Taiwan.
