Taipei, April 15 (CNA) The Republic of China's government on Friday took several experts on international law to Taiping Island in the disputed South China Sea, in hopes of buttressing its case that it is an island under international law.
Those invited include: Hasjim Djalal, former Indonesian ambassador to the United Nations; Antonios Tzanakopoulos, an associate professor of public international law at Oxford University; Surya P. Subedi, a professor of international law at University of Leeds; and Iain Scobbie, chair of international law at the University of Manchester.
On the tour were also Gerhard Hafner, a professor of international law and international relations at the University of Vienna; Ilias Plakokefalos, an assistant professor at the University of Utrecht; and Maria Gavouneli, an assistant professor of international law at the University of Athens.
The scholars were invited by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) to take part in the one-day trip to the island, also known as Itu Aba.
They came to Taiwan to attend the International Conference on the South China Sea Dispute and International Law in Taipei, which was held by Soochow University's School of Law on Thursday.
Local scholars accompanying them on the trip to Taiping were Cheng Chia-jui (程家瑞), an adjunct professor of law at Soochow University; Li Nien-tsu (李念祖), chairman of Chinese (Taiwan) Society of International Law; and Song Yann-Huei (宋燕輝), a research fellow at Academia Sinica's Institute of European and American Studies.
The scholars were shown a water well, a farm, a hospital, solar power generators, a wharf and a temple dedicated to the goddess Guan Yin. They drank water from the well and had lunch made from vegetables grown and chicken raised on the island, said the MOFA.
The 0.51-square-kilometer island, located some 1,600 kilometers southwest of Kaohsiung, is the largest naturally formed island in the Spratly Islands group.
The trip followed a recent first-ever visit organized for Taiwanese and foreign media in mid March.
The ROC government hopes to use the trips to prove to the world that Taiping Island is an island. It is concerned that another claimant to the islands and waters in the South China Sea, the Philippines, has made claims in its case in the Permanent Court of Arbitration in the Hague that the island is a rock.
Under international law, owners of islands are entitled to an exclusive economic zone of 200 nautical miles of territorial waters around the island, whereas those who control mere rocks are entitled to only 12 nautical miles.
The Republic of China has controlled Taiping Island since 1946.
President Ma Ying-jeou has repeatedly emphasized his South China Sea Peace Initiative, which calls for all parties concerned to shelf their territorial claims and jointly explore the resources in the area, as well as take action to reduce tensions, abide by international law, ensure freedom of navigation and overflight, and seek a peaceful resolution to disputes.
Besides Taiwan, China, the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia and Brunei also claim all or part of the South China Sea, which are thought to be rich in oil and natural gas reserves.
(By Tang Pei-chun and Kuo Chung-han)
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