The Presidential Office has reiterated Taiwan’s sovereignty over the Diaoyutai Islands. The office issued a statement Wednesday calling the islands an inalienable part of Taiwan’s territory.
The statement comes after the release of a book by former President Lee Teng-hui that ridicules the idea of the disputed islands belonging to Taiwan. The islands are also known as the Senkaku Islands in Japan. They are under de facto Japanese control, but are claimed by Taiwan and Mainland China.
In Wednesday’s statement, Presidential Office spokesperson Charles Chen said Taiwan’s sovereignty over the islands is an indisputable fact. Chen said any statement to the contrary amounts to a humiliating surrender of the nation’s sovereignty.
Chen said from a geographical, geological, historical, and legal perspective, the islands belong to Taiwan. He said that any statements denying these facts are unacceptable.
President elect Tsai Ing-wen also spoke about Lee’s new book on Wednesday. During an interview, Tsai said her party, the DPP, has always held that the islands belong to Taiwan.