President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) is to unveil a monument to his East China Sea peace initiative when he visits an islet near the disputed Diaoyutai Islands (釣魚台) today, ahead of the third anniversary of an agreement between Taiwan and Japan to address fishing disputes in overlapping waters.
Ma is to host the unveiling ceremony on Pengjia Islet (彭佳嶼), situated just over 30 nautical miles (55.5km) north of Keelung and 76 nautical miles west of the Diaoyutais in the East China Sea.
Under the administrative jurisdiction of Keelung City, Pengjia Islet is Taiwan’s northernmost territory that is closest to the contested island chain.
Photo: George Tsorng, Taipei Times
After he arrives on the islet on an S-70C helicopter, Ma is to inspect a weather observation station and a patrol station, as well as tour a lighthouse. He is then to unveil the monument to his East China Sea peace initiative and give a speech.
Ma last visited Pengjia in September 2012, during which he laid out the details of his East China Sea peace initiative. Ma came up with the peace proposal in August 2012 amid escalating spats over the Diaoyutais, known as the Senkakus in Japan.
While reaffirming Taiwan’s claim to the Diaoyutais, Ma also called for all claimants to shelve their differences, pursue peace and reciprocity and jointly explore the resources in the area.
The Diaoyutais, about 120 nautical miles northeast of Taipei, are also claimed by China, which calls them the Diaoyu Islands (釣魚嶼).
In an effort to address fishing disputes in waters near the Diaoyutais, Taiwan and Japan signed a fishery agreement April 10, 2013. Under the terms of the agreement, Taiwanese and Japanese fishermen are allowed to fish in a designated area in the region.
Ma’s visit to Pengjia Islet will come just one day before the anniversary of the agreement. He is to be accompanied by senior government officials from the Ministry of the Interior, the Council of Agriculture and the Coast Guard Administration.
Personnel from the Coast Guard, the Customs Administration and the Central Weather Bureau are stationed on Pengjia. Meanwhile, Ma yesterday spoke at a workshop on the South China Sea at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Ma in his speech yesterday reiterated the government’s contention that from the perspectives of history, geography and international law, the Republic of China has sovereignty over the Spratly Islands (Nansha Islands, 南沙群島), Paracel Islands (Xisha Islands, 西沙群島), Macclesfield Bank (Zhongsha Islands, 中沙群島) and Pratas Islands (Dongsha Islands, 東沙群島) in the South China Sea, and their waters.
The Taipei Zoo on Saturday said it would pursue legal action against a man who was filmed climbing over a railing to tease and feed spotted hyenas in their enclosure earlier that day. In videos uploaded to social media on Saturday, a man can be seen climbing over a protective railing and approaching a ledge above the zoo’s spotted hyena enclosure, before dropping unidentified objects down to two of the animals. The Taipei Zoo in a statement said the man’s actions were “extremely inappropriate and even illegal.” In addition to monitoring the hyenas’ health, the zoo would collect evidence provided by the public
A decision to describe a Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs statement on Singapore’s Taiwan policy as “erroneous” was made because the city-state has its own “one China policy” and has not followed Beijing’s “one China principle,” Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Tien Chung-kwang (田中光) said yesterday. It has been a longstanding practice for the People’s Republic of China (PRC) to speak on other countries’ behalf concerning Taiwan, Tien said. The latest example was a statement issued by the PRC after a meeting between Singaporean Prime Minister Lawrence Wong (黃循財) and Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) on the sidelines of the APEC summit
A road safety advocacy group yesterday called for reforms to the driver licensing and retraining system after a pedestrian was killed and 15 other people were injured in a two-bus collision in Taipei. “Taiwan’s driver’s licenses are among the easiest to obtain in the world, and there is no mandatory retraining system for drivers,” Taiwan Vision Zero Alliance, a group pushing to reduce pedestrian fatalities, said in a news release. Under the regulations, people who have held a standard car driver’s license for two years and have completed a driver training course are eligible to take a test
‘SIGN OF DANGER’: Beijing has never directly named Taiwanese leaders before, so China is saying that its actions are aimed at the DPP, a foundation official said National Security Bureau (NSB) Director-General Tsai Ming-yen (蔡明彥) yesterday accused Beijing of spreading propaganda, saying that Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) had singled out President William Lai (賴清德) in his meeting with US President Joe Biden when talking about those whose “true nature” seek Taiwanese independence. The Biden-Xi meeting took place on the sidelines of the APEC summit in Peru on Saturday. “If the US cares about maintaining peace across the Taiwan Strait, it is crucial that it sees clearly the true nature of Lai and the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) in seeking Taiwanese independence, handles the Taiwan question with extra
RSS