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The leading story from this past week was that the Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA) in the Hague gave its verdict on the dispute between the Philippines and China over the South China Sea on Tuesday. The ruling had major implications for Taiwan, which is also a claimant party in the disputed maritime region.
The court declared that the nine-dash line used by Beijing to demarcate its claim to almost the whole of the South China Sea does not have a legal basis.
Part of the ruling also stated that Taiping Island is a rock and not an island. Taiping is the largest natural island in the Spratly chain and is held by Taiwan.
The government responded by saying that it rejects the ruling and does not consider it binding. China had all along rejected to recognize the jurisdiction of the court, which found in favor of the Philippines on all points of the complaint brought by Manila three years ago.
On the day after the verdict, Taiwan dispatched a naval frigate to conduct a patrol in the South China Sea. President Tsai Ing-wen visited the vessel before it set out, saying it was being sent to safeguard Taiwan’s sovereignty and national interests.
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Also this past week, Taiwan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) and the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC), which charts ties with China, both clarified on Monday the time at which they notified China about an accidental missile firing on July 1.
The two organizations were responding to the head of China’s Taiwan Affairs Office, Zhang Zhijun. Zhang had complained that the missile had been aimed at China, and yet Taiwan did not notify China of the incident first.
Zhang’s complaint came despite the fact that his office had earlier cut communication with its Taiwanese counterpart to show Beijing’s dislike of the new government in Taiwan under President Tsai Ing-wen.
Taiwan officials have also said that the missile, which killed one Taiwanese fishing boat captain and injured three crew members, was not aimed at China, and did not cross the center line of the Taiwan Strait. The navy has said that the firing was caused by human error.
Meanwhile, both the foreign ministry and the MAC responded at the legislature on Monday to questions about the timing of when they notified China of the incident.
Both the foreign ministry and MAC had originally said that they had informed the US at noon, and China in the afternoon. But on Monday, Vice Foreign Minister Leo Lee told lawmakers that at noon on the day of the incident, he was at a luncheon with officials from the American Institute in Taiwan (AIT), which is the top US body charting ties with Taiwan. Lee said that it was not until afternoon by the time the foreign ministry informed the US about the accidental missile shooting.
Lee said,"It was after lunch, and we asked the political section chief to stay behind, and the head of the foreign ministry’s Department of North American Affairs told him. At the time it’s more accurate to say that it was ‘after noon’, closer to 2pm, because it was more convenient to talk about it after lunch."
The MAC had originally said it had informed its Chinese counterpart of the incident on the afternoon of July 1. But on Monday, MAC Minister Katharine Chang said that MAC had sent a fax to its counterpart at just after noon.
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And finally this past week this past week, President Tsai Ing-wen said she stands with the people of France after the attack in the city of Nice that killed 84 people, ten of them children.
A 31-year-old French-Tunisian man man drove through a crowd of people in a truck on Thursday evening as they were celebrating Bastille Day, France’s national day. The driver was shot dead by police.
After the latest in a string of terror attacks to hit France, the president wrote on her personal Facebook page to describe her shock and sadness. She also expressed her condolences to the families of the victims.
In addition to the 84 people killed, a further 52 remain in serious condition in hospital at time of reporting.