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No cooperation with China in South China Sea: Taiwan

ROC Central News Agency

2016/04/04 22:22:33

Taipei, April 4 (CNA) The Republic of China (Taiwan) has its own foreign policy and will not join forces with China or act in its interests on South China Sea issues, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) said Monday.

The ministry reaffirmed the country's long-held stance after some claimed that the government's recent moves to highlight Taiping Island's legal status, including an invitation to foreign news media to visit the island, was serving the interests of China.

Because China claims Taiping Island as its own, Taiwan must lower its voice in the international community to curb Beijing's expansionism in the South China Sea, they have contended.

The ministry reiterated the government's contention that from the perspectives of history, geography and international law, the ROC has sovereignty over the Spratly (Nansha) Islands, the Paracel (Xisha) Islands, the Macclesfield Bank (Zhongsha Islands), and the Pratas (Dongsha) Islands in the South China Sea, and their waters.

That's why when lawyers from the Philippines argued in an international arbitration court that Taiping Island was not an island, but a rock, the ROC government felt compelled to defend the legal status of its territory, the ministry said.

It also challenged the argument that Taiwan was doing China's bidding in the South China Sea, saying it lacked a factual or legal basis and failed to recognize that Taiwan is not a party in the case before the arbitration court.

The ministry said the government has acted in accordance with the United Nations Charter and international law in promoting the peaceful resolution of disputes and the freedom of flight and navigation.

Taiwan proposed the South China Sea Peace initiative in May 2015 and the South China Sea Peace Initiative Roadmap in January 2016, and it has safeguarded Taiping for over 60 years without clashing with other countries or hindering navigation freedom.

The ministry said Taiwan's long-term peaceful efforts in the South China Sea have demonstrated to the world its firm determination to safeguard the country's sovereignty and its rights to territorial seas and that others should not have any doubts about this.

(By Tai Ya-chen and Lilian Wu)
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