Taiwan president visits disputed Taiping island in South China Sea

The CNA cited a statement containing the speech released by the Presidential Office as saying that short- and long-term steps including trust building, codes of conduct on unexpected encounters, setting up hotlines and other security mechanisms, and measures to conserve and manage resources.

Itu Aba lies in the Spratly archipelago, where China’s rapid construction of seven man-made islands has drawn alarm across parts of Asia and been heavily criticized by Washington.

Cohen said he would like to “see Taiwan do more, not less, with respect to Taiping Island”, as it seeks to assert its sovereignty over the island and prove that the island is a naturally formed one.

Vietnam’s top official in Taiwan said Hanoi “resolutely opposed” the visit. However, the island has also been upgrading its outpost on Taiping, spending more than $100 million to improve the island’s airstrip and build a wharf capable of allowing its 3,000-ton coast guard cutters to dock. Based on this vision, Ma laid down a three-pronged approach to further headway in the peaceful and prosperous development of the South China Sea.

Defying rare criticism from the U.S., Ma flew to the island of Taiping in the South China Sea and sought to cast Taiwan as a peaceful, humanitarian player in a region where China’s robust assertions of its territorial claims are sharpening disputes with its neighbors.

Beijing’s response towards Mr Ma’s trip was measured.

The last time a Taiwanese president visited the island was back in 2008.

Ma’s trip on Thursday irked USA officials. “How can we be causing tensions?”

Asked to comment on Ma’s planned visit, the mainland’s Taiwan Affairs Office reiterated that China and Taiwan had a common duty to protect Chinese sovereignty in the waterway.

“The US and we [Taiwan], when it comes to the big direction for the South China Sea, are the same”, Ma told reporters on his return. The city state of Brunei also claims a part of the South China Sea.

Hemmed in diplomatically by China, which claims Taiwan as its own territory, Ma’s government also wishes to be seen as a legitimate actor in the struggle for influence in the area, where tensions have been sharpened by China’s increasingly robust assertions of ownership.

By contrast, in her visit to the USA prior to the election past year, then DPP candidate Tsai Ing-wen echoed the language of Washington, saying ‘a future DPP administration will be committed to following both global law, the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, and respecting the freedom of navigation’. Ma has been seeking to leave on a high note, as witnessed by his historic summit with Chinese President Xi Jinping in November, the first meeting between leaders of the two sides since they split amid civil war in 1949.

The isle, which it calls Taiping but which is also referred to as Itu Aba is administered by Taiwan.

Itu Aba was now the fourth largest island in the Spratlys after China’s land reclamation work on Mischief Reef, Fiery Cross Reef and Subi Reef, Taiwan’s coastguard said in October. Military strategists say that is because Itu Aba could fall into China’s hands should it ever take over Taiwan.