Former President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) yesterday said that he hoped President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) would reconsider her decision to not visit Itu Aba Island (Taiping Island, 太平島) before her term ends.
Taiping, the largest of the Spratly Islands (Nansha Islands, 南沙群島), lies 1,600km southwest of Kaohsiung, and is administered by the city’s Cijin District (旗津). It hosts about 200 coast guard personnel trained by the Marine Corps, and is also claimed by China, the Philippines and Vietnam.
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) lawmakers have called on Tsai to visit the island to reaffirm Taiwan’s sovereignty, following the completion of a dredging project to allow larger vessels to dock.
Photo: Reuters
The National Security Bureau has advised Tsai not to visit the island due to difficulties in maintaining the security of the head of state during the visit, amid rising geopolitical conflicts in the South China Sea.
In a Facebook post yesterday, Ma said he disagreed with the assessment, adding that flight safety and security concerns had already existed when he and former president Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) visited the island.
“If former president Chen and I could handle these issues, so can President Tsai. It is not a technical issue that cannot be resolved,” Ma wrote.
He visited the island about four months before his second term ended in 2016, despite opposition from Taiwan’s allies, as he was determined to visit to declare Taiwan’s sovereignty over the island and deliver the South China Sea Peace Initiative (南海和平倡議), he said, adding that the move contributed to regional peace.
“I have done my part in advising the president and would respect her decision. However, from the perspective of national interests, it is crucial that the president personally inspects Taiping Island to show our clear position on Taiwan’s sovereignty over the island, and to boost the morale of the general public as well as the troops stationed on the island,” Ma said.
WANG RELEASED: A police investigation showed that an organized crime group allegedly taught their clients how to pretend to be sick during medical exams Actor Darren Wang (王大陸) and 11 others were released on bail yesterday, after being questioned for allegedly dodging compulsory military service or forging documents to help others avoid serving. Wang, 33, was catapulted into stardom for his role in the coming-of-age film Our Times (我的少女時代). Lately, he has been focusing on developing his entertainment career in China. The New Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office last month began investigating an organized crime group that is allegedly helping men dodge compulsory military service using falsified documents. Police in New Taipei City Yonghe Precinct at the end of last month arrested the main suspect,
A cat named Mikan (蜜柑) has brought in revenue of more than NT$10 million (US$305,390) for the Kaohsiung MRT last year. Mikan, born on April 4, 2020, was a stray cat before being adopted by personnel of Kaohsiung MRT’s Ciaotou Sugar Refinery Station. Mikan was named after a Japanese term for mandarin orange due to his color and because he looks like an orange when curled up. He was named “station master” of Ciaotou Sugar Refinery Station in September 2020, and has since become famous. With Kaohsiung MRT’s branding, along with the release of a set of cultural and creative products, station master Mikan
RISING TOURISM: A survey showed that tourist visits increased by 35 percent last year, while newly created attractions contributed almost half of the growth Changhua County’s Lukang Old Street (鹿港老街) and its surrounding historical area clinched first place among Taiwan’s most successful tourist attractions last year, while no location in eastern Taiwan achieved a spot in the top 20 list, the Tourism Administration said. The listing was created by the Tourism Administration’s Forward-looking Tourism Policy Research office. Last year, the Lukang Old Street and its surrounding area had 17.3 million visitors, more than the 16 million visitors for the Wenhua Road Night Market (文化路夜市) in Chiayi City and 14.5 million visitors at Tainan’s Anping (安平) historical area, it said. The Taipei 101 skyscraper and its environs —
Taiwan on Friday said a New Zealand hamburger restaurant has apologized for a racist remark to a Taiwanese customer after reports that it had first apologized to China sparked outrage in Taiwan. An image posted on Threads by a Taiwanese who ate at Fergburger in Queenstown showed that their receipt dated Sunday last week included the words “Ching Chang,” a racial slur. The Chinese Consulate-General in Christchurch in a statement on Thursday said it had received and accepted an apology from the restaurant over the incident. The comment triggered an online furor among Taiwanese who saw it as an insult to the
RSS