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Taiwan fishermen excited to set foot on Taiping Island
2016/07/26 11:59:45

Taipei, July 26 (CNA) Ten crew members of three Taiwanese fishing boats set foot in the port of Taiping Island in the South China Sea on Tuesday, expressing their excitement at finally seeing the island up close.

The fishing boats left Pingtung County on July 20 for the Taiwan-held island to highlight Taiwan's sovereignty there and that it is in fact an "island" under international law after an international tribunal ruled on July 12 that it was not.

The boats docked at the port Monday night, and after requesting permission from the commander of Taiping Island, the fishermen were allowed access to the island's port area on Tuesday.

But they were forbidden from entering the island itself as it is a restricted military base, said Captain Chen Fu-sheng (陳富盛) of the Pingtung-based Man Sheng Chi No. 8, one of the three boats that reached the island.

"Since we have come to Taiping Island, we feel like we should set foot on its land, or we will have regrets," Chen told CNA in a telephone interview.

"I saw the stone stele that former president Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) took a photo with. There are also coconut and papaya trees on the island," Chen said.

Chen said he believed Taiping Island is an island because there are trees, fresh water and chickens and cows on the island.

He said his crew has filled up bottles of fresh water and plan to bring them back to Taiwan "to give each reporter (unable to come along) a bottle."

The three fishing boats departed for Taiwan at about 11 a.m. after being replenished with 21 canisters of fresh water two cartons of canned pork and beef.

No Taiwan reporters were allowed to cover the journey. A crew from the Hong Kong-based Phoenix TV managed to go with a fourth fishing boat but the it was not allowed to dock and set anchor instead in waters off the island.

During their brief stay, two of the fishermen who landed on the island were sent to a medical station in the port to be treated for toothache and skin infection. They returned to their boats after being treated.

The flotilla of four fishing boats embarked on the journey July 20.

The fishermen's trip was taken in response to a July 12 ruling by the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague.

In a case brought by the Philippines against China, the court said all high-tide features in the Spratly Islands, including Itu Aba (Taiping Island), are legally "rocks" rather than islands and therefore not entitled to 200-nautical-mile exclusive economic zones.

Without a 200-nautical-mile economic zone, Taiwanese fishermen could end up having a much smaller area in the South China Sea in which to operate.

(By Kuo Chih-hsuan and Christie Chen)

Lawmakers visit Taiping Island to reaffirm ROC sovereignty

Publication Date: July 20, 2016
Source:Taiwan Today


View attachment 320722 Legislators pose in southern Taiwan’s Pingtung Airport July 20 as they prepare to depart for Taiping Island in the South China Sea to reaffirm the Republic of China’s (Taiwan) sovereignty in the region. (CNA)


Legislators from the Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee and the Internal Administration Committee of the Legislative Yuan, the nation’s highest lawmaking body, visited Taiping Island in the Nansha (Spratly) Islands July 20 to reassert the Republic of China’s (Taiwan) sovereignty following the recent release of an award rendered by the Permanent Court of Arbitration in the Philippines-initiated South China Sea Arbitration.

Lawmakers Chen Ting-fei, Lo Chih-cheng, Tsai Shih-ying and Wang Ting-yu of the ruling Democratic Progressive Party, as well as Chiang Chi-chen, Hsu Chih-jung, Huang Chao-shun and Lu Yu-ling from the main opposition Kuomintang, flew from southern Taiwan’s Pingtung Airport to Taiping Island on a military transport aircraft.

During a roughly two-hour visit, the legislators inspected a number of facilities on the island, including its satellite and solar power equipment and weather station. “Taiping Island is absolutely not a rock, as described by the arbitral tribunal, and is in fact an island,” said the KMT’s Chiang, who led the team of lawmakers. “The ROC has administered Taiping Island for seven decades and has continuously worked to improve the facilities on the island, which is fully capable of sustaining human life.”

DPP lawmaker Wang praised the high quality of local agricultural produce after sampling coconut milk from fruit grown on Taiping Island. He also lauded the dedication of personnel stationed there, adding “there can be no question that Taiping Island is an inherent part of the ROC’s sovereign territory.”

Comprising numerous decisions, the July 12 award classified Taiping Island as a rock and not an island. This would call into question the ROC’s rightful claim to a 200-nautical-mile exclusive economic zone around Taiping Island.

The award has produced strong reactions in Taiwan. The Office of the President, Executive Yuan and several ministries issued statements following the announcement of the award reaffirming the ROC is entitled to all rights over the South China Sea islands and their surrounding waters in accordance with international law and the U.N. Convention on the Law of the Sea. These statements have generated widespread international media coverage.

On July 13, President Tsai Ing-wen ordered ROC navy Kangding-class frigate Dihua to depart 24 hours early on a regular patrol of the South China Sea, and three days later the Coast Guard Administration dispatched a 1,000-ton cutter to the region on a mission of undetermined duration.

The Legislative Yuan issued a statement July 15 jointly drafted by the caucuses of the DPP, KMT, New Power Party and People First Party rejecting the PCA award and announcing that Taiwan remains committed to the ongoing development and administration of Taiping Island across the areas of academic research, environmental protection, infrastructure development, natural resources exploration, security, tourism, and transportation and communications.

Taiping Island, with an area of 0.51 square kilometers, is the largest naturally formed island in the Nansha (Spratly) Islands. It can sustain human habitation and an economic life of its own, and meets the criteria of an island as defined in Article 121 of UNCLOS. As such, the ROC enjoys full rights associated with territorial waters, a contiguous zone, an exclusive economic zone and a continental shelf in accordance with UNCLOS. (KTJ-CM)

By denying Taiping island status, the kangaroo court has shown that it is not an ignorant court, by a paid off and bought off one.

An ignorant decision would have made them look better.
 
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Thursday, July 28, 2016, 17:10
China, Russia navies to hold drills in S. China Sea
By Agencies
1469692213158_925.jpg
This photo taken on May 5, 2016 shows crew members of China's South Sea Fleet taking part in a drill in the Xisha Islandsin the South China Sea. (STR/AFP)

BEIJING - China and Russia will hold routine naval exercises in the South China Sea in September, China said on Thursday, adding that the drills were aimed at strengthening their cooperation and were not aimed at any other country.

"This is a routine exercise between the two armed forces, aimed at strengthening the developing China-Russia strategic cooperative partnership," China's defense ministry spokesman Yang Yujun told a news conference.

"The exercise is not directed against third parties."

China and Russia are veto-wielding members of the UN Security Council, and have held similar views on many major issues such as the crisis in Syria, putting them at odds with the United States and Western Europe.

Last year, they held joint military drills in the Sea of Japan and the Mediterranean.
 
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China urges Japan, U.S.,Australia to do right things for peace in Asia-Pacific
Source: Xinhua | 2016-07-28 01:11:24 | Editor: huaxia

BEIJING, July 27 (Xinhua) -- China on Wednesday urged Japan, the United States and Australia to view and deal with the South China Sea issue in a right attitude.

None of the three nations are directly-concerned parties to the issue, said Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lu Kang in response to question on a trilateral statement issued by the three countries on Monday evening, which touched upon the South China Sea situation.

Lu said China urges relevant countries to respect the efforts of the directly-concerned parties to safeguard peace and stability in the South China Sea, and do right things to serve peace, stability and prosperity in the Asia-Pacific region.

China and members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) have already set rules in the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea (DOC), he said.

During the foreign ministers' meeting between China and ASEAN nations (10+1), China and the ASEAN nations issued a joint statement on full and effective implementation of the DOC, which reiterates that disputes should be resolved peacefully through negotiation between the parties directly concerned, said Lu.

Japan, the U.S. and Australia have been citing international laws for some time, but in fact they have been adopting a double standard towards international laws, which they adopt only when the international laws fit their needs, said the spokesperson.

Lu reaffirmed China's non-acceptance of the illegal and void award issued by the Arbitral Tribunal in the South China Sea arbitration established at the unilateral request of the Philippines.

The award given by the Arbitral Tribunal is beyond the scope of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) and has gravely violated the international law and the general practice of international arbitration, and it does not stand for the international law, he said.

China firmly opposes any proposition and action based on the award, Lu stressed.
 
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Thursday, July 28, 2016, 17:10
China, Russia navies to hold drills in S. China Sea
By Agencies
1469692213158_925.jpg
This photo taken on May 5, 2016 shows crew members of China's South Sea Fleet taking part in a drill in the Xisha Islandsin the South China Sea. (STR/AFP)

BEIJING - China and Russia will hold routine naval exercises in the South China Sea in September, China said on Thursday, adding that the drills were aimed at strengthening their cooperation and were not aimed at any other country.

"This is a routine exercise between the two armed forces, aimed at strengthening the developing China-Russia strategic cooperative partnership," China's defense ministry spokesman Yang Yujun told a news conference.

"The exercise is not directed against third parties."

China and Russia are veto-wielding members of the UN Security Council, and have held similar views on many major issues such as the crisis in Syria, putting them at odds with the United States and Western Europe.

Last year, they held joint military drills in the Sea of Japan and the Mediterranean.
Hmm...things are getting interesting. Basically if China grabs Viet n Pinoy island. America would get involved and Russia will also join in. WW3? You think the US would risk this for over some 'rocks'?

We need those 3 battlegroups damn it! We can make almost the whole ships domestically, only left aircraft engines, nuclear propulsion n emals
 
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Vietnam slams Taiwanese officials' visit to Spratly Island

July 28, 2016 | 05:35 pm GMT+7

'All activities in these areas without Vietnam's consent are deemed illegal.'

Vietnam has issued a stern response to the recent trip made by Taiwanese officials to Ba Binh Island in the Spratlys, an island chain in the South China Sea, which Hanoi calls the East Sea.

Vietnam, Taiwan, China, Malaysia, the Philippines and Brunei have overlapping claims to the Spratly Island.

The fact that some Taiwanese officials have visited Ba Binh Island, known internationally as Itu Aba, has seriously violated Vietnam’s territorial sovereignty over the Spratlys, Le Hai Binh, Vietnam’s foreign ministry spokesman, said in a statement Thursday.

“Vietnam affirms its indisputable sovereignty over Truong Sa (the Spratlys) and Hoang Sa (the Paracels). All activities in these areas without Vietnam's consent are deemed illegal,” Binh said.

“Vietnam resolutely opposes [the activity] and urges Taiwan not to commit similar violations to help maintain peace and stability in the East Sea,” Binh continued, adding that Hanoi believes that such moves would escalate tensions in the region.

The Taiwanese visit took place at a time of simmering tension in the flashpoint waters after an international court in the Hague on July 12 rejected China's sweeping claims to large swaths of the South China Sea.

Neither China nor Taiwan has accepted the ruling. Taiwan has said that the decision on Itu Aba, its sole holding in the Spratlys, "seriously impaired" its territorial rights.
 
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Vietnam slams Taiwanese officials' visit to Spratly Island

July 28, 2016 | 05:35 pm GMT+7

'All activities in these areas without Vietnam's consent are deemed illegal.'

Vietnam has issued a stern response to the recent trip made by Taiwanese officials to Ba Binh Island in the Spratlys, an island chain in the South China Sea, which Hanoi calls the East Sea.

Vietnam, Taiwan, China, Malaysia, the Philippines and Brunei have overlapping claims to the Spratly Island.

The fact that some Taiwanese officials have visited Ba Binh Island, known internationally as Itu Aba, has seriously violated Vietnam’s territorial sovereignty over the Spratlys, Le Hai Binh, Vietnam’s foreign ministry spokesman, said in a statement Thursday.

“Vietnam affirms its indisputable sovereignty over Truong Sa (the Spratlys) and Hoang Sa (the Paracels). All activities in these areas without Vietnam's consent are deemed illegal,” Binh said.

“Vietnam resolutely opposes [the activity] and urges Taiwan not to commit similar violations to help maintain peace and stability in the East Sea,” Binh continued, adding that Hanoi believes that such moves would escalate tensions in the region.

The Taiwanese visit took place at a time of simmering tension in the flashpoint waters after an international court in the Hague on July 12 rejected China's sweeping claims to large swaths of the South China Sea.

Neither China nor Taiwan has accepted the ruling. Taiwan has said that the decision on Itu Aba, its sole holding in the Spratlys, "seriously impaired" its territorial rights.

Well, warships are on the way. Stop them if you got the guts.
 
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Argentina-VN institute backs tribunal’s East Sea-related verdict

The Argentina-Vietnam Cultural Institute (ICAV) on July 27 issued a statement in support of the recent ruling by the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague, the Netherlands, related to territorial disputes in the East Sea.

20160729095726-east-sea.jpg


Image taken by US aircraft shows that China has continue its reclamation activities in the East Sea (Source: WSJ)

The statement declared that the ruling has created a firm legal foundation for nations involved in disputes on sovereignty in the sea, and guaranteed the principles of the Convention on the Law of the Sea 1982 (UNCLOS).

It also stressed that the verdict has legal validity to all the parties involved.

Through the statement, the ICAV asked the countries involved to comply with the ruling and protect peace in accordance with international law.

It protested all actions that cause tensions in the East Sea such as increasing military personnel and equipment presence, building artificial islands, and hindering the legitimate rights of fishermen and maritime freedom.

On July 12, the Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA) in The Hague, the Netherlands, issued its ruling on a case brought by the Philippines against China’s nine-dash line claim in the East Sea, saying China’s claims to historic rights for waters within the nine-dash line are contrary to the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea.

The tribunal also found no legal basis for China to claim historic rights to resources within the nine-dash line.

The country has no historic title over waters of the East Sea. At the same time, China has caused permanent and irreparable harm to the coral reef ecosystem at Truong Sa (Spratly) archipelago, the court said.

VNA
 
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