Presidential Office spokesperson Charles Chen (陳以信) yesterday blasted president-elect Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) for calling President Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) barbs against those criticizing his trip to Itu Aba Island (Taiping Island, 太平島) “inappropriate.”
Ma on Thursday was upset after Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Chao Tien-lin (趙天麟) and others condemned his one-day trip to Itu Aba as an unnecessary provocation, saying they should not “hold him back by dragging his feet” when he tried to defend Taiwan’s sovereignty over the island.
Before Ma made the retort, the DPP said that Chao’s remarks were his personal views and the DPP’s official stance originates with Tsai, who maintains Taiwan’s sovereignty over the region and supports freedom of navigation by either airplanes or naval vessels.
Nevertheless, in response to Ma’s comments, Tsai on Friday said that Ma should “face serious issues with a serious attitude; the way he commented on the issue is very inappropriate.”
“If Tsai thought that a DPP lawmaker’s criticism of Ma was right, why did the DPP have to claim that it was Chao’s personal view to distance itself from the remarks? And if Tsai believes [Ma’s trip to the island] should not be condemned, why did she say that Ma’s call for the nation’s support was ‘inappropriate’?” Chen said, adding that Tsai’s self-contradictory logic is hard to understand or support.
Chen said Itu Aba is the territory of the Republic of China and is the largest island with drinkable fresh water among the Spratly Islands (Nansha Islands, 南沙群島), but the island’s legal status is now being seriously challenged by the Philippines, which has attempted to relegate the island’s status to that of a “rock” before the Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA) in The Hague, the Netherlands, and thereby strip its 200 nautical mile (370km) exclusive economic zone.
The “ridiculous claims” made by the Philippines would deal significant damage to the nation’s rights and interests if acceded, Chen said.
“So was it not the perfect time for President Ma to make a trip in order to voice our deep concerns to the international community and the PCA?” he asked.
“Should President Ma just sit and watch the PCA make a ruling that is against our interests and later be slammed as the president who ‘neglected his duty and humiliated his nation?’” Chen asked.
The challenge by another nation to Itu Aba’s legal status is an extremely serious issue, Chen said, adding that the ruling and opposition parties should present a united front to face the challenge.
“Why does Tsai not condemn inappropriate criticism made from within the DPP? Why does she not, along with Ma, publicly assert to the international community that Itu Aba is an island rather than a rock in her capacity as president-elect?” Chen asked.
Super Typhoon Kong-rey is the largest cyclone to impact Taiwan in 27 years, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said today. Kong-rey’s radius of maximum wind (RMW) — the distance between the center of a cyclone and its band of strongest winds — has expanded to 320km, CWA forecaster Chang Chun-yao (張竣堯) said. The last time a typhoon of comparable strength with an RMW larger than 300km made landfall in Taiwan was Typhoon Herb in 1996, he said. Herb made landfall between Keelung and Suao (蘇澳) in Yilan County with an RMW of 350km, Chang said. The weather station in Alishan (阿里山) recorded 1.09m of
NO WORK, CLASS: President William Lai urged people in the eastern, southern and northern parts of the country to be on alert, with Typhoon Kong-rey approaching Typhoon Kong-rey is expected to make landfall on Taiwan’s east coast today, with work and classes canceled nationwide. Packing gusts of nearly 300kph, the storm yesterday intensified into a typhoon and was expected to gain even more strength before hitting Taitung County, the US Navy’s Joint Typhoon Warning Center said. The storm is forecast to cross Taiwan’s south, enter the Taiwan Strait and head toward China, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The CWA labeled the storm a “strong typhoon,” the most powerful on its scale. Up to 1.2m of rainfall was expected in mountainous areas of eastern Taiwan and destructive winds are likely
The Central Weather Administration (CWA) yesterday at 5:30pm issued a sea warning for Typhoon Kong-rey as the storm drew closer to the east coast. As of 8pm yesterday, the storm was 670km southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻) and traveling northwest at 12kph to 16kph. It was packing maximum sustained winds of 162kph and gusts of up to 198kph, the CWA said. A land warning might be issued this morning for the storm, which is expected to have the strongest impact on Taiwan from tonight to early Friday morning, the agency said. Orchid Island (Lanyu, 蘭嶼) and Green Island (綠島) canceled classes and work
KONG-REY: A woman was killed in a vehicle hit by a tree, while 205 people were injured as the storm moved across the nation and entered the Taiwan Strait Typhoon Kong-rey slammed into Taiwan yesterday as one of the biggest storms to hit the nation in decades, whipping up 10m waves, triggering floods and claiming at least one life. Kong-rey made landfall in Taitung County’s Chenggong Township (成功) at 1:40pm, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The typhoon — the first in Taiwan’s history to make landfall after mid-October — was moving north-northwest at 21kph when it hit land, CWA data showed. The fast-moving storm was packing maximum sustained winds of 184kph, with gusts of up to 227kph, CWA data showed. It was the same strength as Typhoon Gaemi, which was the most
RSS