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Taiwan closely following developments on South China Sea ruling

ROC Central News Agency

2016/07/05 19:15:36

Taipei, July 5 (CNA) Taiwan is closely following the developments arising from an upcoming ruling by an international court on a dispute between the Philippines and China over the South China Sea, and has been preparing for various scenarios, Presidential Office spokesman Alex Huang (黃重諺) said Tuesday.

The government has been making preparations for the issue, Huang told reporters, adding that it will deal with the issue under three principles.

First, the government maintains that all parties concerned in territorial disputes in the South China Sea should base their claims on international law, he said.

Second, all claimants should respect freedom of navigation and overflight in the region; and third, all the claimants should address the disputes through peaceful means and Taiwan should be included in any multilateral mechanism to deal with such disputes, Huang said.

Huang's remarks came one week before the Permanent Court of Arbitration in the Dutch city of The Hague will give a ruling July 12 on the dispute between China and the Philippines.

China was scheduled to start military exercises in a designated area around the disputed Paracel Islands in the South China Sea from Tuesday to July 11, according to media reports.

The Philippines has brought the case to the international court to undermine China's claims that it has sovereignty over the South China Sea.

Manila argues that the land formations China claims in the South China Sea are nothing more than reefs and therefore not entitled to 200-nautical-mile exclusive economic zones, claims that buttress Beijing's insistence that it has sovereignty over the waters.

China has repeatedly rejected the tribunal's jurisdiction over the case since it was filed in 2013.

Although Taiwan is not a party to the case, its claims in the South China Sea are similar to China's, and Taiping Island (also known as Itu Aba), which is controlled by Taiwan, was brought up in testimony during court hearings.

Should the court rule that Taiping Island is not an island under international law, it would also undercut some of Taiwan's claims.

Taiwan has no way of knowing what the ruling will say, but the government has prepared for various scenarios, and Taiwan will make clear its stance when the ruling is announced, Foreign Minister David Lee (李大維) said Monday.

Six countries -- Taiwan, China, the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia and Brunei -- claim part or all of the islands in the resource-rich South China Sea and their surrounding waters.

(By Sophia Yeh and Elaine Hou)
ENDITEM/J