President Ma does not rule out visit to Taiping Island

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2015/06/24
By: Elaine Hou

Taipei, June 24 (CNA) President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) said Wednesday that he does not rule out the possibility of visiting Taiping Island, the biggest Taiwan-controlled island in the contested South China Sea, but added that he has no immediate plans to do so.

Taiping in the Spratly Islands is part of the territory of the Republic of China, so there is a legitimate possibility that he could visit, Ma said in response to reporters’ questions during a visit to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA).

“I currently have no plans to visit (Taiping), but I will not rule out the possibility,” Ma said, during a question-and-answer session with the media and foreign affairs officials.

With an area of 0.49 square kilometers, Taiping, also known as Itu Aba, is the largest natural land mass in the Spratlys, which lie about 1,600 kilometers southwest of Taiwan, in the South China Sea.     [FULL  STORY]