Want China Times
Date: 2015-09-24
By: CNA and Staff Reporter
Tsai Ing-wen, the leader and presidential candidate of Taiwan’s main opposition
Diaoyu, the largest of the Diaoyutai islands. (File photo/Xinhua)
Democratic Progressive Party, reaffirmed her position Wednesday regarding the status of the disputed Diaoyutai islands in the East China Sea, saying that “they belong to Taiwan.”
The islands are also claimed by China as the Diaoyu and by Japan as the Senkaku. Administered by Japan, they are at the center of a major dispute between China and Japan in which Taiwan’s claim is largely overlooked.
Tsai will lead a delegation to visit Japan Oct. 6-10, and the local media raised the question of the islands while she was attending a Hakka cultural and tourism event in Taoyuan.
Former president Lee Teng-hui claimed in late July while visiting Japan that the islands belong to Japan. Lee’s remarks sparked controversy back in Taiwan and were severely criticized by some political leaders, chiefly from the ruling Kuomintang camp, including President Ma Ying-jeou. [FULL STORY]
