Ma Ying Jeou of Taiwan to visit Taiping Island

[Keel]

President Ma set to visit Taiping Island (update)
2016/01/27 13:42:04

Taipei, Jan. 27 (CNA) President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) will visit Taiping Island in the South China Sea on Thursday, weather permitting, to greet soldiers stationed there ahead of the Lunar New Year holiday, Presidential Office spokesman Charles Chen (陳以信) said Wednesday.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has officially notified Taiwan's diplomatic allies of the plan, while Presidential Office Secretary-General Tseng Yung-chuan (曾永權) contacted the Democratic Progressive Party on Ma's behalf to invite President-elect Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) to send an envoy on the trip.

DPP spokesman Yang Chia-liang (楊家俍) said the party had responded to Tseng and told him that the DPP has no plans to send a representative to take part in the visit.

Taiping Island, which lies 1,600 kilometers south of Taiwan, is the largest natural island controlled by Taiwan in the disputed South China Sea. Ma, whose second and final term as president ends on May 20, has never been there during his nearly eight years as president.

Describing the island as an inherent part of the territory of the Republic of China (Taiwan), Chen said the president has never ruled out a visit to the island and noted that former President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) went to the island during his time in office.

The president will be accompanied by some 20 government officials, scholars and experts, Chen said, but no arrangements will be made for media outlets to join the trip.

Ma will hold a press conference after returning from the visit, Chen said.

The planned visit comes as the government moves to reinforce Taiwan's sovereignty claim over the island in the wake of China's buildup in the region and the Philippines' case against Beijing at the Permanent Court of Arbitration in the Hague.

Beijing claims the waters and land in the South China Sea based on a "nine-dotted line" and reinforces those claims by saying the islands, reefs and atolls it considers its own have 200-nautical-mile (370 km) exclusive economic zones.

The Philippines is disputing that, arguing that under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) the atolls and reefs claimed by Beijing are nothing more than "rocks" or "sunken reefs" that can generate 12 nautical miles of territorial waters at best.

They are not naturally formed "islands" capable of sustaining human habitation or economic life, which are entitled to exclusive economic zones under UNCLOS, the Philippines has argued.

The case does not directly involve Taiwan, but it may have indirect implications because Taiwan also claims all of the South China Sea using a similar "dotted line" to China's and has a presence on Taiping Island, also known as Itu Aba.

Ma has insisted on Taiping's status as an "island" under the UN convention's guidelines, writing in a Facebook post in December that Taiping Island is self-sustaining, with fresh water and vegetable and poultry farms.

An expert panel formed by the Council of Agriculture that toured the island on Jan. 22 and 23 to check on its natural and agricultural environment also confirmed that Taiping qualifies as an island.

(By Claudia Liu, Sophia Yeh and Evelyn Kao)
Enditem/ls
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[nang2]

The coward who dared not to visit before election. This visit brings nothing significant.

 

[Keel]

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[Keel]

The coward who dared not to visit before election. This visit brings nothing significant.

It aint matter a bit if Ma didnt go before or during election because the election has long gone to DPP's favour

It matters now because he wants to score points for KMT when he has invited Tsai to go but she refused - a tactic to accentuate that Tsai is a puppet to the bones of japan and usa even when a matter as important as sovereignty is put on the table.

Whenever and whatever they can damage the oppositions' strength, they'll do it.

 

[Jlaw]

The coward who dared not to visit before election. This visit brings nothing significant.

KMT is the party for cowards.

It aint matter a bit if Ma didnt go before or during election because the election has long gone to DPP's favour

It matters now because he wants to score points for KMT when he has invited Tsai to go but she refused - a tactic to accentuate that Tsai is a puppet to the bones of japan and usa even when a matter as important as sovereignty is put on the table.

Whenever and whatever they can damage the oppositions' strength, they'll do it.

Both parties are cowards. One is a US lap dog, the other a Japanese lap dog. Pick your poison.

 

[Dungeness]

President Ma set to visit Taiping Island (update)
2016/01/27 13:42:04

Taipei, Jan. 27 (CNA) President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) will visit Taiping Island in the South China Sea on Thursday, weather permitting, to greet soldiers stationed there ahead of the Lunar New Year holiday, Presidential Office spokesman Charles Chen (陳以信) said Wednesday.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has officially notified Taiwan's diplomatic allies of the plan, while Presidential Office Secretary-General Tseng Yung-chuan (曾永權) contacted the Democratic Progressive Party on Ma's behalf to invite President-elect Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) to send an envoy on the trip.

DPP spokesman Yang Chia-liang (楊家俍) said the party had responded to Tseng and told him that the DPP has no plans to send a representative to take part in the visit.

Taiping Island, which lies 1,600 kilometers south of Taiwan, is the largest natural island controlled by Taiwan in the disputed South China Sea. Ma, whose second and final term as president ends on May 20, has never been there during his nearly eight years as president.

Describing the island as an inherent part of the territory of the Republic of China (Taiwan), Chen said the president has never ruled out a visit to the island and noted that former President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) went to the island during his time in office.

The president will be accompanied by some 20 government officials, scholars and experts, Chen said, but no arrangements will be made for media outlets to join the trip.

Ma will hold a press conference after returning from the visit, Chen said.

The planned visit comes as the government moves to reinforce Taiwan's sovereignty claim over the island in the wake of China's buildup in the region and the Philippines' case against Beijing at the Permanent Court of Arbitration in the Hague.

Beijing claims the waters and land in the South China Sea based on a "nine-dotted line" and reinforces those claims by saying the islands, reefs and atolls it considers its own have 200-nautical-mile (370 km) exclusive economic zones.

The Philippines is disputing that, arguing that under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) the atolls and reefs claimed by Beijing are nothing more than "rocks" or "sunken reefs" that can generate 12 nautical miles of territorial waters at best.

They are not naturally formed "islands" capable of sustaining human habitation or economic life, which are entitled to exclusive economic zones under UNCLOS, the Philippines has argued.

The case does not directly involve Taiwan, but it may have indirect implications because Taiwan also claims all of the South China Sea using a similar "dotted line" to China's and has a presence on Taiping Island, also known as Itu Aba.

Ma has insisted on Taiping's status as an "island" under the UN convention's guidelines, writing in a Facebook post in December that Taiping Island is self-sustaining, with fresh water and vegetable and poultry farms.

An expert panel formed by the Council of Agriculture that toured the island on Jan. 22 and 23 to check on its natural and agricultural environment also confirmed that Taiping qualifies as an island.

(By Claudia Liu, Sophia Yeh and Evelyn Kao)
Enditem/ls
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Too little, too late. This guy just wasted 8 years that could have landed him a spot in Chinese history.

 

[TaiShang]

Taiping is an strategic asset of China (which owns, according to international consensus) China's Taiwan especially in the long run when the time comes to powerfully assert China's sovereignty on the sea features in Nansha.

What Ma Ying-jiu attempts to do is a side-show only, but still not totally bad because the new elected party will play a lot of cute and cuddly to accrue points from the US. It is good to make a tough image of Taiwan, even on the go, by KMT.

 

[XiaoYaoZi]

马肿桶又给蔡主席挖了一个好坑，而且尽然把美国人都给呛了，也就临下台了才胆大起来，不过好歹算是一件好事，外交部也认可了，马还是有点中国人的味的。

 

[Pangu]

Better late than never. At least by visiting now, Ma sends the message that Taiping island is an integral part of China, albeit claimed under KMT, but still Chinese territory. After which, the incoming green germs will have committed treason, if they amend the constitution & renounce their claim to Taiping. It also sends a message to CCP that KMT has done it's part, & cannot be held accountable if the green germs pull some treasonous stunts.

 

[Place Of Space]

KMT is the party for cowards.



Both parties are cowards. One is a US lap dog, the other a Japanese lap dog. Pick your poison.

I can understand one is a US "lap dog", because they been ally since wwii; so weird of DDP the lap dog of Japan, fly likes shiits.

 

[Keel]

During the election, the difference of polls in winning the election between Tsai and Chu was as big as 20% or over that

If Ma did go to the Taiping island when Tsai didnt, as expected, what could have KMT salvaged from the election? 5%, 10% .. they were going to lose the election anyway!

Ma is going this time around and the mark of the start of a routing campaign on the administration of Tsai - just as what Tsai has been doing since KMT is at the helm

The better of 2 "evils" - in medical applications, vaccination is the method of using harmless / or less harmful injections to stimulate and strengthen the bodies' immune system for effective combat against more vicious diseases

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[Keel]

Oh! the US has confirmed Ma is doing the right thing!

US slams Taiwan's Ma over disputed island visit

• Agence France-Presse

on Jan 27, 2016 @ 11:16 AM

The United States slammed Taiwan's President Ma Ying-jeou after he announced he would visit a disputed island in the South China Sea on Thursday, criticising the plan as "extremely unhelpful" in a region rife with tension.

Wednesday's announcement of the visit came weeks after Taiwanese coastguards drove off a Vietnamese fishing boat near Taiping Island, a Taiwan-administered islet in the Spratly archipelago.

The chain is claimed in part or whole by Vietnam, China, the Philippines, Malaysia and Brunei.

"We are disappointed that President Ma Ying-jeou plans to travel to Taiping Island," said Sonia Urbom, spokeswoman of the American Insitute in Taiwan, the de facto US embassy.

"Such an action is extremely unhelpful and does not contribute to the peaceful resolution of disputes in the South China Sea," she said.

The US is Taiwan's main ally and a key arms supplier but has repeatedly said it does not want to see an escalation of tensions in the region.

Taiwan said earlier Wednesday it wanted to reaffirm its sovereignty of Taiping.

"Taiping Island is an inherent part of the Republic of China's territory," said Charles Chen, spokesman for the presidential office, using the official name for Taiwan.

The purpose of the trip was to visit Taiwanese personnel stationed there ahead of the Lunar New Year holiday, Chen said.

China, which sees Taiwan as part of its territory and claims almost all of the South China Sea, offered a measured response to the visit.

Although Taiwan is self-ruling after splitting with the mainland in 1949 following a civil war, Beijing still sees it as part of "one China" to be reunited.

"It is a joint responsibility and duty of compatriots in the mainland and Taiwan to safeguard state sovereignty and territorial integrity," said Ma Xiaoguang, spokesman for China's Taiwan Affairs Office, according to official state news agency Xinhua.

The only time a Taiwanese president has visited Taiping Island was in 2008, when former leader Chen Shui-bian went.

Ma, of the China-friendly ruling Kuomintang, has less than four months left of his term and will be succeeded by Tsai Ing-wen of the opposition Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), who won presidential elections in a landslide victory earlier this month.

The presidential office invited Tsai to join the trip, but the DPP said it did not plan to send any representative.

Taiwan has been boosting its presence in Taiping, the largest island in the Spratlys.

It inaugurated a solar-powered lighthouse, and expanded an airstrip and a pier on the island late last year.

China is seen by other Spratly claimants as the biggest threat in the South China Sea.

Separately, Taiwan conducted military drills Tuesday and Wednesday in the face of growing fears that tensions with the mainland will escalate in the wake of Tsai's election.

The DPP is traditionally a pro-independence party and relations with Beijing are likely to cool following a rapprochement under the KMT.

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[TaiShang]

Better late than never. At least by visiting now, Ma sends the message that Taiping island is an integral part of China, albeit claimed under KMT, but still Chinese territory. After which, the incoming green germs will have committed treason, if they amend the constitution & renounce their claim to Taiping. It also sends a message to CCP that KMT has done it's part, & cannot be held accountable if the green germs pull some treasonous stunts.

If they do such a thing (renounce claim on Taiping), they will be forever gone with a level of disgrace ten times that of Lee Deng-hui.

DPP can play some political tricks with the US and its minions; but, it can only go that far. They were elected because people wanted a change of face -- the regular two-party election cycle.

The United States slammed Taiwan's President Ma Ying-jeou after he announced he would visit a disputed island in the South China Sea on Thursday, criticising the plan as "extremely unhelpful" in a region rife with tension.

It is good for Ma to strain relations with the US on his way out of the office. This will embolden the real patriots of "unification" and "territorial sovereignty" in Taiwan, whose voice has been silenced amidst the hoopla of "landslide election victory."

I would predict a 4-year term for DPP if they even slightly suggested that China's claims can somehow be negotiated. Aside from being a plus on Beijing's scorecard, such a move will alienate most of the voters who "lent" their vote to DPP for a try.

DPP victory has never been about the status of Taiwan (aside from the perceived uniqueness of it), but a desire for a change (change for what, most people have no idea about). Probably, a desire for a change of face, for the most part.

Let's hope the Hillary dynasty will not take over in the US.

 

[XiaoYaoZi]

If they do such a thing (renounce claim on Taiping), they will be forever gone with a level of disgrace ten times that of Lee Deng-hui.

DPP can play some political tricks with the US and its minions; but, it can only go that far. They were elected because people wanted a change of face -- the regular two-party election cycle.

炮党也是搞“群众运动”的一把好手，君不见十多年前的“倒扁大会”搞的是多么的有声有色热闹红火，现下让人掀了台子，这大仇能忍？绿营也绝不是铁板一块，只不过在恶心炮党和夺“大位”共同目标上，“同仇敌忾”而已，一个早被搞臭还能“复活”的扁家就够蔡主席喝一壶的。捞取利益才是王道，“宣独”这种随时都可能惹得“一身剐”的“远大”目标，还是留给下届的炮党来干吧。

 

[ahojunk]

Taiwan uses water cannon to drive off Vietnamese boat in South China Sea

A handout photo showing Taiwan's coastguard (right) spraying a Vietnamese fishing boat with a water cannon.

PUBLISHED | JAN 25, 2016, 8:12 PM SGT

TAIPEI (AFP) - Taiwan's coastguard said on Monday (Jan 25) that one of its vessels used water cannon this month to drive off a Vietnamese fishing boat near disputed islands in the South China Sea.

Two Vietnamese fishing boats were sighted on Jan 6 some 2.5 nautical miles (around 4,600m) off Taiping Island, an Taiwan-administered islet in the Spratlys, the coastguard said in a statement.

The Spratly islands are also claimed in part or in whole by Vietnam, China, the Philippines, Malaysia and Brunei.

The two Taiwanese coastguard boats, which have been deployed there since December to replace smaller vessels, scrambled to drive off the Vietnamese boats.

One left while the second refused and instead attempted to zigzag. One coastguard vessel opened fire with water cannon because of fears it might be rammed, the statement said.

While denying accusations in Vietnamese media that Taiwanese coastguards had enforced the law outside their territorial waters, the coastguard tried to keep the event low-profile.

"That was a regular law-enforcement practise in a sensitive area," one coastguard official told AFP on condition of anonymity.

China is seen by other claimants as the biggest threat in the South China Sea.

The Philippines and Vietnam have complained that China is becoming increasingly aggressive in its actions in the area - such as harassing fishermen - and also through bullying diplomatic tactics.

As part of efforts to strengthen defence capabilities, Taiwan late last year inaugurated a solar-powered lighthouse, an expanded airstrip and a pier on Taiping Island.

It serves as the home port of the 100-tonne coastguard cutters and could accommodate 3,000-tonne naval frigates.