President Ma Ying-jeou says he hopes that Taiwan will be involved in the process of resolving disputes in the South China Sea. The president was speaking during a meeting with head of the American Institute in Taiwan, Raymond F. Burghardt, on Thursday.
Ma said that because of the number of islets, reefs, and shoals that dot the South China Sea, the Law of the Sea alone will not be enough to resolve questions of sovereignty over the disputed waters.
On the one hand, the issue involves the Law of the Sea, and on the other hand, it involves regular international laws on territory, so simply relying on the Law of the Sea will not be enough to solve the problem. Therefore, I think that at this time, we need to take a broader perspective and refer back to our experience [resolving disputes] in the East China Sea. We hope that the Republic of China will be able to fully participate in the process of resolving the South China Sea issue in the future. The Republic of China is Taiwan’s official name.
Taiwan currently has effective control over Taiping Island, the largest of the disputed Spratly Islands. Ma said that work on the island’s harbor and landing strip is maintenance work, and is not an expansion of Taiwan’s presence on the island.