Saturday, February 02, 2008
Taiwan's president visits disputed island in Spratlys chain; RP voices concern (9:57 p.m.)
TAIPEI, Taiwan -- Taiwan's president inaugurated a runway Saturday on a disputed island in the South China Sea, sparking a protest from the Philippines which also claims sovereignty over the isle, officials said.
Chen Shui-bian, Taiwan's first president to visit Taiping island in the Spratlys chain, also met with troops there, said Lee Nan-yang, the president's spokesman.
"There's no question about Taiwan's sovereignty on Taiping island, and we will continue to build structures there to help beef up patrols and sea security," Chen said in a statement after returning from the island 1,600 kilometers (1,000 miles) south of Taiwan.
The Spratlys consist of about 100 barren islets, reefs and atolls dotting the world's busiest shipping lanes.
Vietnam, China, Taiwan, the Philippines, Malaysia and Brunei each claim all or part of the chain, believed to be rich in oil, gas and fish stocks.
Taiping is uninhabited except for several dozen Taiwanese troops stationed there.
Taiwanese forces took the island over and named it Taiping in 1946. They built medical facilities for soldiers and passing sailors, and installed weather and environmental surveillance equipment on the island - the chain's largest - Chen said.
He said an agreement signed by China, the Philippines and Vietnam in 2005 to collect earthquake data in the sea near the island "has seriously invaded Taiwan's rights."
No other claimant has built anything on Taiping.
Chen's trip was an apparent attempt to show his political strength in the waning days of his second and final four-year term, which ends in three months.
In Manila, Philippine Foreign Secretary Alberto Romulo called Chen's visit "lamentable."
"The Philippines expresses serious concern over this reported development that works against the joint efforts by claimant countries in the South China Sea to achieve peace and stability in the region," Romulo said in a statement.
"The Philippines therefore urges all parties concerned to exercise prudence, self-restraint and use diplomacy as the tool to settle disputes."
Taiwan began building the runway two years ago, saying it was for coastal patrols, fishing and emergency medical needs, and insisting it was not for military use.
China and Vietnam, which have permanent structures elsewhere in the Spratlys, clashed diplomatically over the chain in 1988 and 1992. Other claimants have also engaged in low-level confrontations.
Tensions over the Spratlys flared again. China and Vietnam agreed last month to handle the dispute through negotiations and pledged to safeguard peace in the South China Sea. (AP) |
