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Taiwan lawmakers demand military support for Taiping protest
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An aerial view is seen from a military plane carrying international journalists of the Taiwan-controlled Taiping island, also known as Itu Aba, in the Spratly archipelago, roughly 1600 kms. in the South China Sea of southern Taiwan, March 23 . (AP/Johnson Lai)
K
uomintang (KMT) lawmakers urged the Taiwan government Tuesday to exercise greater resolve in protecting the nation’s South China Sea claims and to accompany fishermen planning a protest trip to Taiping Island.
They suggested that the Defense Ministry station troops on Taiping on a long-term basis and deploy vessels to escort the fishermen, who intend to depart for Taiping Wednesday to champion Taiwanese fishing rights.
Maj. Gen. Zhong Shu-ming, director of the ministry's Joint Operations Division, said that military deployment of vessels to accompany the fishermen would require approval from senior officials.
Seven legislators - four from the KMT and three from the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) - are slated to set off for the disputed island the same day on a separate voyage. According to the legislators, this trip is aimed at safeguarding Taiwan’s sovereignty and right to an exclusive economic zone (EEZ) around Taiping.
Opposition lawmakers also blasted Defense Minister Feng Shih-kuan for backtracking on his promise to accompany the legislators to the disputed island.
KMT legislator Johnny Chiang, who is part of the delegation planning to visit Taiping, said countries including Vietnam and Philippines have already drawn their own EZZs in the South China Sea.
The government should proactively assert the nation’s territorial claims to ensure that its right to a 200-nautical-mile economic zone around Taiping is protected, Chiang said.
“It’s strange that the Tsai administration hasn’t held an international press conference” since the Permanent Court of Arbitration decision last week, Chiang said, referring to a Hague ruling that deemed Taiping a “rock” entitled to only a 12-nautical-mile economic zone.
Meanwhile, when asked whether DPP lawmakers would also visit Taiping despite rallying cries not to days ago, DPP caucus whip Ker Chien-ming told reporters that since KMT lawmakers are going, the DPP should as well.
“Everyone’s stance on Taiwan’s sovereignty claims over Taiping Island should be at the same level,” Ker said.
Lawmakers will board an Air Force supplier aircraft headed to Taiping for a routine visit on Wednesday morning.
New Power Party (NPP) lawmaker Freddy Lim said that he had politely refused to go, citing that if too many lawmakers went, it would limit seats for supply workers. “It’s a routine resource supply trip held every three months,” he said.
Fisheries Agency Deputy Director-General Huang Hung-yan, also speaking for the Council of Agriculture, said that they had not banned southern Taiwanese fishermen from sailing to Taiping to assert the nation’s claims.
Fisheries Agency officials only told fishermen partaking in the event that they should not use vessels intended to transport fresh fish, reported the Central News Agency.
The response came after KMT legislator Wang Yu-min, citing news reports, accused the government of threatening to revoke the fishing licenses of any fishermen who set sail for Taiping Wednesday.
At the press conference held with Chiang and KMT caucus leader Lin Te-fu, Wang demanded that the administration investigate the origins of the alleged directive, which she said the Fisheries Agency denied issuing.
“Whoever issued the order should step down,” Wang said.
