Timing inappropriate for President Tsai to visit Taiping Island: minister

Taipei, March 20 (CNA) Foreign Minister Joseph Wu (吳釗燮) on Wednesday said now is not an appropriate time for President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) to visit Taiping Island due to recent skirmishes between Chinese and Philippine coast guard vessels in the South China Sea.

Wu made the comments amid opposition to the Kuomintang's (KMT) call on President Tsai to visit the Taiwan-controlled island to reaffirm the Republic of China (ROC) Taiwan's sovereignty following the completion of a dredging project on Taiping to allow larger vessels to dock.

According to the KMT, former Presidents Chen Shiu-bian (陳水扁) of the Democratic Progressive Party and Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) both visited Taiping during their presidency.

KMT Legislator Ma Wen-chun (馬文君), a convener of the Legislature's Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee, has also recently proposed forming a legislative delegation to visit Taiping on May 16.

Asked to comment on the issue during a legislative session on Wednesday, Foreign Minister Wu said that there is no doubt that Taiping is the ROC Taiwan's territory, no matter whether President Tsai visits.

It is the central government's job to consider all factors before a president visits Taiping, Wu said.

However, due to skirmishes between China and the Philippines in the South China Sea over the past months, Wu said there were more appropriate times for Tsai to visit Taiping.

"We believe that we need to find a better timing [for such a visit] or it would be leaving Taiwan with a negative impression internationally as a troublemaker in the region," Wu told lawmakers.

According to Wu, the Chinese government is now sending around 20 warships to patrol the South China Sea on a daily basis.

However, Wu said the central government fully respects the rights of Ma and other committee members to visit Taiping themselves for an inspection tour.

The Coast Guard Administration (CGA) announced the completion of the dredging project to allow larger vessels to dock at a pier serving Taiping Island earlier this year.

The NT$1.7 billion (US$54.4 million) project to dredge sediment and deepen navigation channels will allow 4,000-tonne CGA vessels to dock at Taiping for resupply, the CGA said.

Taiping, also known as Itu Aba, the largest of the naturally occurring Spratly Islands in the South China Sea, lies 1,600 kilometers southwest of Kaohsiung and is administered as part of the southern Taiwan city's Cijin District.

The Taiwan-controlled island hosts around 200 coast guardsmen trained by the Marine Corps.

The island is also claimed by Vietnam, China and the Philippines.

It is one of the two territories controlled by the government of Taiwan in the South China Sea, the other being Dongsha, or Pratas Island, which lies 450 kilometers southwest of Kaohsiung.