President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) yesterday proposed a peace initiative to address territorial disputes over the Diaoyutai Islands (釣魚台), urging neighboring countries to show restraint and settle the issue peacefully.
“We hope to use the East China Sea Peace Initiative to urge all sides to seriously face the possible impact of this territorial dispute on peace and security in the East China Sea,” Ma said.
Ma called on all parties to refrain from aggression, to shelve their differences, to maintain dialogue, to observe international law and to resolve the dispute by peaceful means. All sides should also seek consensus on a code of conduct for the East China Sea, and establish a mechanism for cooperation on exploring and developing resources in the region, he added.
Photot Mandy CHENG, AFP
All parties concerned should admit the existence of the dispute, while pursuing peaceful means to resolve it, he said during the opening ceremony of an exhibition in Taipei to mark the 60th anniversary of a peace treaty signed between the Republic of China and Japan following the second Sino-Japan War.
Ma, who described himself as a long-term activist in the local Diaoyutais movement since he was a university student, also reiterated the Republic of China’s (ROC) sovereignty over the Diaoyutais, which Taiwan considers to be under the jurisdiction of Yilan County in northeastern Taiwan.
Taiwan, Japan and China have been involved in heated disputes due to competing territorial claims over the Diaoyutais for several years.
Ma’s remarks also come at a time when Japan is moving toward nationalizing the Diaoyutais, known as the Senkaku Islands in Japan.
Minister of Foreign Affairs Timothy Yang (楊進添) said Taiwan had notified Japan of Ma’s proposed peace initiative before the president brought up the idea at the ceremony. However, he added that the Japanese government had made no comment.
The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) yesterday recognized the “long overdue” peace initiative by Ma, but urged Ma to take concrete and cautious diplomatic actions over the Diaoyutai Islands dispute.
“It’s better to have a position than no position, but actions speak louder than words. We urge President Ma to take the necessary measures to back up his words,” DPP Department of International Affairs Director Liu Shih-chung (劉世忠) said.
The Ma administration, which said it would “not give one inch on the islands’ sovereignty” last month, should stop escalating tensions over the disputed islands, stop creating a false perception in the international community that Taiwan and China would “co-manage” the Diaoyutai issue and cautiously deal with Taiwan-Japan relations through diplomatic dialogue and negotiations, Liu said.
Liu said the Ma administration should shoulder part of the blame for rising tensions in the region by sending five coast guard vessels to escort a fishing boat full of activists waving a People’s Republic of China (PRC) flag in the waters around the Diaoyutais.
“It hurts Taiwan’s global image and makes other countries think that Taiwan stands on the same side as China,” he said.
Speaking on the sidelines of a book-launching ceremony yesterday, former representative to Japan Lo Fu-chen (羅福全) said Ma’s effort to promote peace should be recognized, but the initiative was somewhat vague.
Lo, who was a representative to Japan between 2000 and 2004, when the DPP was in power, said he had not been able to fully grasp Ma’s definition of the East China Sea because there are many flashpoints in the region, including a dispute over undersea oil fields between China and Japan and a dispute over Takeshima, also known as Dokdo in Korean, between Japan and South Korea, in addition to the Diaoyutais.
Meanwhile, citing a code of conduct negotiated among Southeast Asian countries to make legally binding a commitment to peaceful resolutions of sovereignty disputes over the South China Sea, the ministry said Taiwan hoped a similar initiative could be negotiated to address disputes over the East China Sea.
SECURITY: As China is ‘reshaping’ Hong Kong’s population, Taiwan must raise the eligibility threshold for applications from Hong Kongers, Chiu Chui-cheng said When Hong Kong and Macau citizens apply for residency in Taiwan, it would be under a new category that includes a “national security observation period,” Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) Minister Chiu Chui-cheng (邱垂正) said yesterday. President William Lai (賴清德) on March 13 announced 17 strategies to counter China’s aggression toward Taiwan, including incorporating national security considerations into the review process for residency applications from Hong Kong and Macau citizens. The situation in Hong Kong is constantly changing, Chiu said to media yesterday on the sidelines of the Taipei Technology Run hosted by the Taipei Neihu Technology Park Development Association. With
CARROT AND STICK: While unrelenting in its military threats, China attracted nearly 40,000 Taiwanese to over 400 business events last year Nearly 40,000 Taiwanese last year joined industry events in China, such as conferences and trade fairs, supported by the Chinese government, a study showed yesterday, as Beijing ramps up a charm offensive toward Taipei alongside military pressure. China has long taken a carrot-and-stick approach to Taiwan, threatening it with the prospect of military action while reaching out to those it believes are amenable to Beijing’s point of view. Taiwanese security officials are wary of what they see as Beijing’s influence campaigns to sway public opinion after Taipei and Beijing gradually resumed travel links halted by the COVID-19 pandemic, but the scale of
A US Marine Corps regiment equipped with Naval Strike Missiles (NSM) is set to participate in the upcoming Balikatan 25 exercise in the Luzon Strait, marking the system’s first-ever deployment in the Philippines. US and Philippine officials have separately confirmed that the Navy Marine Expeditionary Ship Interdiction System (NMESIS) — the mobile launch platform for the Naval Strike Missile — would take part in the joint exercise. The missiles are being deployed to “a strategic first island chain chokepoint” in the waters between Taiwan proper and the Philippines, US-based Naval News reported. “The Luzon Strait and Bashi Channel represent a critical access
Pope Francis is be laid to rest on Saturday after lying in state for three days in St Peter’s Basilica, where the faithful are expected to flock to pay their respects to history’s first Latin American pontiff. The cardinals met yesterday in the Vatican’s synod hall to chart the next steps before a conclave begins to choose Francis’ successor, as condolences poured in from around the world. According to current norms, the conclave must begin between May 5 and 10. The cardinals set the funeral for Saturday at 10am in St Peter’s Square, to be celebrated by the dean of the College
RSS