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Taiwan willing to talk with neighbors on proposed Spratly Initiative

ROC Central News Agency

2008-02-04 22:10:16

    Taipei, Feb. 4 (CNA) The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) will negotiate with Southeast Asian nations on the disputed Spratly Islands based on a Spratly Initiative introduced Saturday by President Chen Shui-bian, Minister James Huang said Monday.

    President Chen unveiled the initiative during his visit to the Taiwan-held Taiping Island, the largest in the Spratly Island archipelago in the South China Sea, that called for peaceful methods to develop the area's natural resources.

    Huang said the spirit of the initiative is in line with the consistent positions of the countries that also claim sovereignty over the Spratlys, including the Philippines, Vietnam, China, Malaysia and Brunei. "The MOFA will communicate with neighboring countries on the basis of the spirit of the initiative, " he said.

    The Philippines and Vietnam protested Chen's visit to Taiping, but Huang reiterated Taiwan's sovereignty over the islet, where Taiwan has military and coast guard installations and Taiwanese-built permanent facilities. "The so-called sovereignty disputes have been overly exaggerated," he said.

    Speaking of Chen's visit to Taiping to preside over a ceremony marking the inauguration of a 1,150-meter runway, Huang said the visit was also aimed at extending the president's regards and concerns for personnel stationed in Taiwan's southernmost inhabited territory ahead of the Chinese New Year, which begins Thursday.

    The Spratlys, located farther away from Taiwan than any other of its outlying islands, have the poorest living facilities of any Taiwan-held area, Huang said.

    President Chen had expressed the hope that he would visit Taiping residents before completing his tenure in May, after visiting most of the other military bases of the country over the past seven years to show his concern for soldiers safeguarding the country, Huang added.

(By Elizabeth Hsu)

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