Taipei Times
Date: Apr 10, 2016
By: Staff writer, with AP and CNA
President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) yesterday visited a small island in the East
China Sea to reassert Taiwan’s sovereignty and its role in the contested region, one of the key issues of his administration that ends next month.
Ma’s visit yesterday to Pengjia Islet (彭佳嶼) — about 56km north of Taiwan proper — was his administration’s second trip to an island in three weeks.
It came four years after Ma last visited Pengjia to propose his East China Sea peace initiative, aimed at addressing territorial disputes between Taiwan, China and Japan over the nearby Diaoyutai Islands (釣魚台), known as the Senkakus in Japan.
Pengjia, considered the northernmost part of Taiwan’s territory, is not contested and is home to about 40 residents, a weather station and coast guard facilities.
Ma yesterday toured the weather station and unveiled a monument to maritime peace. [FULL STORY]