The Voice of the Republic of China
Subjected to a great deal of questioning over its sovereignty while posing solutions to the South China Sea dispute, Tulica Bhattacharya reporting from United Nations Security Council (UNSC) interviews the Republic of China (Taiwan) to know more about its stance and proposed solutions.
Reporter: The Delegate of Taiwan spoke in Committee about the South China Sea Peace Initiative in the form of a Joint Development Programme. Could the Delegate elucidate on how it plans on implementing the same?
Delegate of Taiwan: The Delegate introduced the plan for a South China Sea Peace Initiative which would lead to the formation of a Joint Commission. This commission would be under the jurisdiction of this initiative. The claimant states would be the members of the commission. The mandate would aim to encourage the development of the region. It would an ecologically friendly mandate also ensuring that the freedom of navigation would be given its requisite importance. Any hindrance to this right would be upheld.
Reporter: The Delegate constantly emphasised on the freedom of navigation. Considering the recent update wherein the committee presumed that the vessel's freedom of navigation was violated, what steps does the delegate propose to reduce the extents of misunderstandings?
Delegate of Taiwan: During such untoward situations all information should be subjected to scrutiny as well as all possibilities be taken into the account without immediately questioning the sources. These incidents can be avoided by regular patrolling and through extensive dialogue between the smaller claimant states
Reporter: If regular patrolling is of prime importance, why did the delegate jump to instant conclusions before the credibility of the source was established?
Delegate of Taiwan: These were not instant conclusions but, a trend that has been displayed by the communist China in the region.
Reporter: On the note of making Taipei the capital of peaceful coexistence in the South China Sea, does the delegate feel that establishing a capital on regions with disputed sovereignty would create further problems?
Delegate of Taiwan: No, the delegate does not think that it would create a problem since the issue at hand is not about the determination of sovereignty of Taiwan but to resolve disputes in the South China Sea. Given that the Joint Commission was proposed by Taiwan, logistically, it makes sense to have the headquarters in Taipei.
Reporter: The Delegate stated "Taiwan will continue to explore and exploit the Taipei Island and protect its fishermen by abiding to the 200 nautical miles territory, as mentioned in the UNCLOS (United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea." Considering that Taiwan has not ratified the UNCLOS, do these claims build upon baseless arguments? If Taiwan abides by one set of UN laws, should it not abide by the absence of its sovereignty as well?
Delegate of Taiwan: We have to consider the scientific opportunity that the sea presents and hence the commission should have a say in how the research in these various fields should be conducted. The body will be a provisional one and the negotiations should be continued with pooling in of the legal resources.
When dealt with Taiwan’s stance on its abiding to a set of rules, the Delegate believes that adherence to UNCLOS is not reserved for those who have ratified it. The UN's recognition is being blocked by the PRC and determining the sovereignty is the fundamental right of any governing body.
