Lawmakers visit Dongsha Islands to highlight Taiwan sovereignty claims CNA May 11, 2012, 12:16 am TWN A-A+ TAIPEI -- Seven legislators from across the political spectrum flew to Dongsha Islands in the South China Sea yesterday as part of efforts to highlight Taiwan's sovereignty amid growing tensions in the disputed area. The trip came on the heels of a visit in late April by several other lawmakers to Taiping Island, the main island of another Taiwan-controlled archipelago in the region for a similar purpose. The latest trip is being led by opposition Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Chen Tan-sun, a co-convener of the Legislature's Foreign and National Defense Committee. The other members of the group are DPP lawmakers Tsai Huang-liang, Hsueh Ling and Hsiao Bi-khim, as well as their ruling Kuomintang colleagues Chan Kai-chin and Chen Chen-hsiang, and opposition People First Party lawmaker Chang Show-foong. Chang said prior to the group's departure from Taipei International Airport that she is very pleased to join the group on the tour of the Dongsha Islands, also known as the Pratas, which is located some 450 km off Taiwan's southwestern coast. "This is my first trip to Dongsha and I hope to look into the ecological and fishery protection measures in place there," Chang said. For his part, Tsai said both Dongsha and Taiping are Taiwan's inherent territories. "As tensions in the South China Sea have been escalating recently, we want to reassert our country's claim to the region through our visit," Tsai said, adding that the group will also help boost the morale of military and coast guard personnel stationed on the islands. The South China Sea is seen as a flashpoint because Taiwan, China, the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia and Brunei claim all or part of the 3.5-million-square-kilometer area, which includes the Spratly, Paracel and Pratas islands, the Macclesfield Bank and the Scarborough Shoal. A standoff between armed Chinese and Philippine vessels has continued since April 10 near the Scarborough Shoal, known as Huangyen Island in Mandarin Chinese, over conflicting sovereignty claims. Taiwan controls Dongsha, the largest island in the South China Sea, as well as Taiping Island, the largest island in the Spratlys.

Nation stands by upholding sovereignty China commemorated in Beijing on Thursday the 70th anniversary of the recovery of the Xisha and Nansha islands, which experts said highlights China's resolve to safeguard its indisputable sovereignty in the South China Sea and willingness to cooperate with neighboring countries. "Recovering these islands was an important achievement of China's war against aggression, demonstrating that China was firmly safeguarding the post-war international order and affirming the nation as defending its rights and interests in the South China Sea," said PLA Navy Commander Wu Shengli at the commemoration. Based on the Cairo Declaration and Potsdam Declaration, China sent four carriers to secure islands invaded and illegally occupied by Japan in 1946, including the Dongsha Islands, the Xisha Islands and the Nansha Islands in 1946, the Xinhua News Agency reported. Li Jingsen, a 95-year-old veteran who participated in the recovery, recalled the moment and vowed to fight for the motherland against anyone who tries to seize our land again. Wu said that "We firmly oppose any unprofessional or unsafe activities in or above the sea … China resolutely opposes any infringement on its sovereignty and security or any attempt to sabotage the stability of the South China Sea under the guise of freedom of navigation." "The recovery of the Nansha and Xisha islands was a great achievement during the Second World War. And it is in accordance with international law and have become part of the maritime order in the Asia-Pacific region," Wang Xiaopeng, a maritime border expert at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, told the Global Times. In December 1943, the Cairo Declaration stated in explicit terms that "all the territories Japan had stolen from the Chinese" shall be restored to China. In July 1945, the Potsdam Declaration reaffirmed that "the terms of the Cairo Declaration shall be carried out." "The commemoration shows once again China's consistent position on the South China Sea - China has indisputable sovereignty over the islands. It also proves that the South China Sea issue is, in essence, a dispute over islands sovereignty and maritime demarcation," Chen Xiangmiao, a research fellow at the National Institute for the South China Sea, told the Global Times. In July, an international tribunal in The Hague ruled in favor of the Philippines on the South China Sea dispute, denying most of China's maritime claims in the region. China dismissed the arbitration as illegal, null and void. Wu Haitao, China's deputy permanent representative to the United Nations, told the UN General Assembly on Wednesday that China called for efforts to promote the rule of law in the seas and oceans, and to maintain a fair and reasonable maritime order.

CHENGDU, July 18 (Xinhua) -- Officials in Sichuan Province are preparing to open a giant monument to a Chinese naval commander known for his patrols of the South China Sea more than 100 years ago. The structure memorializing Li Zhun in Linshui County will be opened to the public sometime in 2017, said Huang Wei, head of Linshui's culture, press, publication, radio and television bureau. Li Zhun, who was born in Linshui in 1871, became commander-in-chief of the navy in Guangdong in 1905. "We will erect a bronze statue of Li, with the South China Sea the background," said Huang. "A patriotic militarist, Li's greatest contribution was safeguarding the islands in the South China Sea, where he recaptured the Dongsha Islands and issued names to the Xisha Islands," said He Zhenghua, chairman of the Li Zhun and South China Sea Society. According to He, Li found Japanese businessmen illegally mining on the Dongsha Islands in 1908. After his negotiation, China got the islands back. The following year, Li led more than 170 people to inspect the Xisha Islands, giving names to 15 of them. The names are still in use. On Yongxing Island, now the administrative base of the Chinese island city Sansha, Li raised the national flag, erected a monument and fired cannons. He Zhenghua told Xinhua that Li also drew the first official map of the South China Sea after measuring its islands. In 1910, Li finished a book on the Guangdong navy. "It was the first time that China had included islands in the South China Sea in its territory for national defense," He said. "It also proved that the islands belonged to China, and the central government retained administrative power over the South China Sea." The Linshui County memorial is far from the only initiative being planned to honor Li Zhun. In Li's hometown, Qishan Village of Linshui, a hilltop square is going to be named after him. The hill is covered with plum trees. In Chinese, the word plum is pronounced "li." "Local people grew the trees in memory of the commander," said Yuan Yingli, a local official. A play featuring Li has also been staged recently in Guang'an City, which administrates Linshui. Local cultural authorities are soliciting scripts to make a film on the admiral.