Taiwan News
Date: 2016-04-04
By: Central News Agency

The Republic of China (Taiwan) has its own foreign policy and will not join forces with China or act in its interests on South China Sea issues, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) said Monday.

The ministry reaffirmed the country’s long-held stance after some claimed that the government’s recent moves to highlight Taiping Island’s legal status, including an invitation to foreign news media to visit the island, was serving the interests of China.

Because China claims Taiping Island as its own, Taiwan must lower its voice in the international community to curb Beijing’s expansionism in the South China Sea, they have contended.

The ministry reiterated the government’s contention that from the perspectives of history, geography and international law, the ROC has sovereignty over the Spratly (Nansha) Islands, the Paracel (Xisha) Islands, the Macclesfield Bank (Zhongsha Islands), and the Pratas (Dongsha) Islands in the South China Sea, and their waters.     [FULL  STORY]