Taiwan offers South China Sea peace plan to avert ‘major conflict’
TAIPEI: Taiwan proposed a peace initiative on Tuesday to resolve territorial disputes in the South China Sea that its says will reduce tensions that have put Beijing at odds with its neighbours and the United States.
The South China Sea Peace Initiative announced by President Ma Ying-jeou called on claimants to temporarily shelve their disagreements to enable negotiations on sharing resources.
Taiwan has so far played a marginal role in disputes between China and its neighbours in the South China Sea, through which $5 trillion in ship-borne trade passes every year.
China, the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia, Taiwan and Brunei all have overlapping claims in the South China Sea. China said on Monday it had lodged a complaint with the United States over a U.S. spy plane that flew over parts of the disputed sea.
Taiwan normally maintains a low-key approach to such issues but has coast guard and military facilities in the area, including an airstrip and soon-to-be-completed port on Taiping Island, also known as Itu Abu, the largest natural land mass in the disputed Spratlys archipelago.
