Twenty opposition lawmakers are to visit the Itu Aba (Taiping Island, 太平島) on May 16, the largest group of legislators to have set foot on the island.
The last time legislators visited the island was in 2016, and the delegation then consisted of five legislators, all from the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP).
No DPP member has signed up to visit the island on May 16, citing the approaching inauguration of president-elect William Lai (賴清德) and vice president-elect Hsiao Bi-khim (蕭美琴) on May 20.
Photo courtesy of Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Johnny Chiang’s office
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Ma Wen-chun (馬文君), convener of the legislative Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee, said the visit has three purposes: to show Taiwan’s sovereignty over the island, to inspect ongoing construction and to express good wishes to the garrison there.
The island has always been the sovereign territory of the nation, Ma said, adding that former presidents Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) and Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) visited Itu Aba while in office to boost the morale of the Coast Guard Administration garrison stationed there.
If President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) will not do it, we will, Ma Wen-chun said.
The delegation has purposefully picked a date before the inauguration ceremony to emphasize the nation’s sovereignty over the island, she said.
The delegation is on the morning of May 16 to travel in a C-130 Hercules to the island and intends to stay there for two hours, she said.
National Taiwan University law professor Chiang Huang-chih (姜皇池) yesterday said that a visit by legislators to Itu Aba Island would help nothing except to antagonize Taiwan’s neighbors and create unnecessary friction between states in the region.
Taiwan has ruled over Itu Aba for more than seven decades, and visiting the island would not serve to reinforce Taipei’s claims, he said, adding that the visit is very likely to antagonize the Philippines and Vietnam.
The island is also claimed by Vietnam, China and the Philippines.
In 2016, the intergovernmental Permanent Court of Arbitration, in a case brought by the Philippines against China, ruled that the island is a “rock” and therefore it is not subject to the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea. China and Taiwan rejected the ruling.
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