Taiwan president Ma Ying-jeou answers a question during a news conference after his trip to the disputed Itu Aba or Taiping island in the South China Sea, in Taipei, Taiwan, January 28, 2016.
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The goal of the trip was to visit Taiwanese personnel stationed there ahead of the Lunar New Year holiday, Chen said.
Emphasizing her party’s commitment to maintaining Taiwan’s independence from China, Tsai won over young voters eager to usher in a political changing of the guard following some 70 years of dominance by the pro-Chinese unification party, the Kuomintang (KMT), chaired by presidential opponent Eric Chu.
China and Taiwan hold identical claims to the South China Sea, aligning with Beijing’s “one China principle” that considers the two part of a single Chinese nation.
Taiwan’s president made a rare stop on a contested South China Sea island that his government controls, the latest in a series of moves by rival claimants to aggravate tensions in the region.
Taiwan’s President Ma Ying-jeou, accompanied by about 30 members of his staff, left Taipei aboard a C-130 cargo airplane plane headed for Taiping Island, also known as Itu Aba.
Vietnam, Malaysia and Brunei Darussalam also have claims to the waters, home to possible rich oil, gas and mineral deposits aside from being a major trading route.
The announcement comes just weeks after Taiwanese coastguards drove off a Vietnamese fishing boat near Taiping Island. Ma’s office said it had asked DPP leader Tsai Ing-wen to send a representative, but the party said it had no plans to do so.
Ma on Thursday flew to Itu Aba, called Taiping Island by China and Ligao Island by the Philippines, amid criticism from the United States and protests from the other claimants as tensions swirled in the region.
The case does not directly involve Taiwan, but it might have indirect implications because Taiwan also claims all of the South China Sea using a similar “nine-dash line” to China’s and has a presence on Itu Aba.
Taiwan has been upgrading facilities on the island, where about 180 people live, a lot of them coastguard personnel. While not setting a timetable, Chinese President Xi Jinping has told visitors he doesn’t wish the issue of independence to be put off for future generations.
During a visit to Beijing on Wednesday, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry encouraged all parties in the South China Sea to clarify their territorial claims, exercise restraint and engage in negotiations on the basis of global law. “Safeguarding national sovereignty and territorial integrity as well as safeguarding the overall interests of the Chinese nation is the common responsibility and obligation of compatriots across the straits”, Ma Xiaoguang, a spokesperson for the Taiwan Affairs Office, told reporters.
What is the South China Sea dispute?
The US, Vietnam and the Philippines have criticized Ma’s trip, which Washington has said could heighten tensions in the region.
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Taiwan carried out military drills Wednesday with naval chiefs assuring residents the island is safe, as concerns grow that tensions will escalate with China after recent presidential elections.
