Defense minister's Taiping Island visit canceled
ROC Central News Agency
2008-05-05 12:37:22
Taipei, May 5 (CNA) Defense Minister Michael M. Tsai's planned inspection tour of the remote Taiping Island in the South China Sea on May 7 has been canceled due to poor weather conditions, Deputy Defense Minister Lin Chen-yi said Monday.
Fielding questions at the Legislative Yuan Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee, Lin said the tour has been canceled because of the rainy weather, but it remains to be decided whether the tour will be rescheduled for next week.
Lin was asked by Kuomintang Legislator Lai Shyh-bao whether the Ministry of National Defense (MND) knows that Tsai's planned tour of Taiping Island has caused jitters among neighboring countries.
Taiping -- Taiwan's southernmost territory -- is the largest in the Spratly Islands chain, which is composed of a string of rocky outcrops possibly holding large oil and gas deposits. Apart from Taiwan, five other countries -- China, Vietnam, the Philippines, Malaysia and Brunei -- also claim sovereignty over the Spratlys.
Lin responded that indeed the MND had heard noises from some Philippine lawmakers on the matter, but so far the ministry had not received any formal protest from the government of the Philippines.
Lin also said that Tsai's planned tour was in part aimed at reinforcing Taiwan's sovereignty claim over the Spratlys.
(By Deborah Kuo)
ENDITEM /pc
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