Taiwan president visits island in disputed South China Sea

President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) is scheduled to visit Itu Aba Island (Taiping Island, 太平島) in the South China Sea today if the weather permits, Presidential Office spokesman Charles Chen (陳以信) said yesterday.

U.S. State Department spokesman Mark Toner said Wednesday that the United States was disappointed by Ma’s trip, saying it could exacerbate tensions, and renewed a call for dialogue between parties to the dispute.

Taiwan’s outgoing president touched off objections Thursday when he visited a disputed island in the South China Sea, the first time in his eight years as president.

While Taiwan and China share identical claims to nearly the entire South China Sea and its islands, reefs and atolls, the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia and Brunei also say parts of the strategically vital sea belong to them.

The US has argued that the islands do not fall under claims of sovereign territory, and sent a guided missile cruiser, the USS Lassen, within 12 nautical miles of Subi Reef, the site of one of China’s maritime constructions, in October past year.

For now, Tsai has pledged to not only work to establish Taiwan’s unique identity independent of mainland China, but also to address Taiwan’s flagging economy, low wages and deepening income inequality once she is inaugurated in May.

“Protecting the rights of the country and keeping its territory whole, protecting the rights of the Chinese, are the shared responsibilities and duties of China and Taiwan”, said Ma Xiaoguang. The Nationalist government fled to Taiwan during their civil war with Communist forces.

Ma said in a separate statement that he had told Washington of his plans to visit the island that is also claimed by China, the Philippines and Vietnam.

Taiwan has just finished a lighthouse and added a $100 million (92 million euros) upgrade to Itu Aba port.

But Ma’s one-day visit to Itu Aba, known as Taiping in Taiwan, comes amid growing global concern over rising tensions in the waterway and quickly drew the ire of the American Institute in Taiwan (AIT), the de facto US embassy in Taipei in the absence of formal diplomatic ties.

Washington, which has said it does not want to see an escalation of tensions in the region, said Wednesday Ma’s trip was “extremely unhelpful and does not contribute to the peaceful resolution of disputes in the South China Sea”. It said it had “undisputable authority” over islands in the South China Sea. Ma said the Philippines has claimed in the past that Taiping can only be defined as a rock because it has no fresh water and isn’t self sufficient. It occupies a number of other islets in the South China Sea, including the Pratas island group to the north.

Taiwan has been upgrading facilities on the island, where about 180 people live, majority coastguard personnel.