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Taiwan has important role in Diaoyutai Islands row: President

ROC Central News Agency

2013/03/07 20:31:58

Taipei, March 7 (CNA) President Ma Ying-jeou said Thursday that Taiwan has an important role to play in the territorial dispute over the Diaoyutai Islands in the East China Sea that has led to tension between Japan and China in recent months.

Ma said “Taiwan has a very important role to play,” when asked about the dispute over the Diaoyutais which involves Taiwan, Japan and China.

Amid the tension in the region, Taiwan has urged all parties concerned to refrain and seek peaceful resolution. Last August, Ma proposed the East China Sea peace initiative to call for all sides to shelve differences and jointly explore and develop resources.

All claimants to the Diaoyutais should sit down and use existing platforms for discussion in an effort to settle the dispute, Ma said at a speech.

The speech was part of an annual conference for participants in an international education program sponsored by the U.S. Department of State, who are studying or teaching in Taiwan, China, Hong Kong and Macau.

The Diaoyutais, called the Senkakus in Japan and the Diaoyu Islands in China, lie about 100 nautical miles northeast of Taiwan. They have been under Japan's administrative control since 1972, but are also claimed by Taiwan and China.

Tension over the territorial dispute in the area has escalated since the Japanese government bought three of the islets in the group from their private owner last September in an attempt to reinforce its sovereignty claim.

(By Elaine Hou)