TAIPEI (TVBS News) — Former President Ma Ying-jeou expressed full support on Friday (May 10) for Kuomintang (KMT) and Taiwan People's Party (TPP) legislators visiting Taiping Island to uphold national sovereignty. Ma made the statement via Facebook.
Ma, during his presidency on May 26, 2015, proposed the "South China Sea Peace Initiative," expressing the Republic of China government's basic stance on the South China Sea dispute. He expressed willingness to jointly develop and share South China Sea resources with other parties.
After proposing the peace initiative, Ma visited Taiping Island before leaving office.
Ma noted that there is a precedent for the President of the Republic of China visiting Taiping Island. After the victory of the Anti-Japanese War in 1945, the island was reclaimed by the Republic of China Navy in 1946. Former president Chen Shui-bian built an airport runway during his term and visited the island in 2008 on a C-130 transport plane.
Ma pointed out that Taiping Island, with an area of 51 square kilometers, is about twice the size of Taipei's Daan Forest Park. It has clean water and arable land, meeting the definition of an "island" stipulated in Article 121 of the 1994 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea.
Ma emphasized that Taiping Island is the territory of the Republic of China, and it is entirely appropriate for legislators to visit the island to uphold national sovereignty.
