At the noon hour on April 9, President Ma Ying-jeou flew by helicopter to Pengjia Islet, where he unveiled a monument inscribed with an eight-character Chinese phrase meaning "peace in the South China Sea and our national territory secure forever." While there, the president delivered a speech in which he explained the geographic and historical relationship between the Diaoyutai Islands and Taiwan's "three northern islets" (Pengjia Islet, Mianhua Islet, and Huaping Islet), and reiterated the government's firm resolve to pursue regional peace and create "Peace in the Three Seas."
After arriving, President Ma first visited a Coast Guard patrol station, where he was briefed on the state of operations on the islet. Later, he walked to the weather station and the lighthouse to get a better understanding of the facilities. President Ma also presented bonuses to personnel from the Coast Guard Administration's Maritime Patrol Directorate General (MPDG) and units stationed on the island, as tokens of appreciation for their efforts to defend the ROC's territorial waters.
President Ma then walked to a small square in front of a monument to the East China Sea Peace Initiative. He then unveiled the monument in the company of Secretary-General Kao Hua-chu (高華柱) of the National Security Council, Minister of the Interior Chen Wei-zen (陳威仁), Minister of Foreign Affairs David Y. L. Lin (林永樂), Minister of Agriculture Chih-Ching Chen (陳志清), Minister Wang Chung-yi (王崇儀) of the Coast Guard Administration, Professor Yann-huei Song (宋燕輝) (representing the academic community), and Chairman Chen Chun-sheng (陳春生) of the Suao Fishermen's Association.
In remarks, President Ma stated that the monument to the East China Sea Peace Initiative was being erected to commemorate the third anniversary of the signing of the Taiwan-Japan Fisheries Agreement, which put an end to a 40-year fisheries dispute. In the process, he said, Taiwan has achieved its goal of "ceding nothing in terms of sovereignty, yet making great strides in terms of fishing rights." Whereas there had been an average of over ten fisheries disputes per year between Taiwan and Japan before the signing of the agreement, the number has now dropped to zero, and catches by Taiwanese fishermen have risen sharply. The international community has also been strongly supportive of the agreement.
Commenting on his reasons for visiting Pengjia Islet, the president stated that the islet's name frequently appears on TV during the weather report, and the public is aware that it is one of Taiwan's three northern islands. The islet lies closer to the Diaoyutai Islands—which are ROC territory—than any other island appurtenant to Taiwan. Furthermore, Taiwan's three northern islands—Pengjia Islet, Mianhua Islet, and Huaping Islet—are all, just like the Diaoyutai Islands, geologically young, conical islets formed from material that volcanic eruptions ejected upward through Tertiary rock strata. They are extensions of the coastal mountains of northern Taiwan such as the Guanyin and Datun Mountains, which dip beneath the sea and reappear as the aforementioned offshore islets. Pengjia Islet is therefore also very similar to the Diaoyutai Islands in terms of hydrological processes, fauna, and flora. Various animal species (e.g. albatross, mackerel, and dolphinfish) and plant species (e.g. Chinese wormwood) are or have been common to both Taiwan and the islets. Chinese wormwood is particularly valuable as a rare Chinese herbal medicine, and is said to have been used during the late Qing Dynasty (1644-1911) to treat the high blood pressure of the Empress Dowager Cixi (慈禧). Pengjia Islet covers a land area of 1.1 square kilometers, and is thus one-quarter the size of the combined area of the various Diaoyutai Islands, so one could basically call it a "little Diaoyutai," said the president.
President Ma then stated that beginning in the 15th century, every time a new ruler ascended the throne in the Ryukyu Kingdom, the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644) and later the Qing court sent imperial envoys to enthrone the new rulers of their tributary state. The envoys or their deputies kept detailed travel records collectively known as the Records of the Imperial Mission to Ryukyu. Their travel records all describe a sea voyage that took the envoy past Huaping Islet, Mianhua Islet, and Chiwei Islet before crossing the Okinawa Trough to the Ryukyus. "This is very important historical evidence," said the president. It shows, he added, that Taiwan's three northern islets and the Diaoyutai Islands have a very close historical and geographical relationship.
President Ma remarked that his last visit to Pengjia Islet was on September 7, 2012. August 5 of that year was the 60th anniversary of the signing of the Treaty of Peace between the Republic of China and Japan, and on that same day he proposed his East China Sea Peace Initiative, urging all concerned parties to reduce tensions and engage in dialogue to resolve disputes in the East China Sea via peaceful means. And on the occasion of his last visit to Pengjia Islet, he put forward the East China Sea Peace Initiative Implementation Guidelines, which called for a gradual move from three parallel tracks of bilateral dialogue (between Taiwan and Japan, Taiwan and mainland China, and Japan and the mainland) to one track of trilateral negotiations, so as to realize peace and cooperation in the East China Sea and examine the feasibility of jointly exploring and developing resources there.
The president pointed out that on September 11, 2012 the Japanese government sparked a controversy over sovereignty by announcing its intention to nationalize the Diaoyutai Islands. The Suao Fishermen's Association in Yilan County then staged an activity on September 24 to protest and stand up for their rights. The protesters sailed to the waters near the Diaoyutai Islands to assert Taiwan's sovereignty and protect their fishing rights. Taking part in the event were 58 fishing boats and 292 fishermen, while the government dispatched 12 vessels from ROC Coast Guard to provide protection the whole way. The Japan Coast Guard, meanwhile, sent 34 vessels to engage in obstruction, attempting to turn the fishing boats back by firing water cannon at them. The ROC Coast Guard immediately adjusted its deployments in a vigorous response, including water cannon fire of its own, in a four-hour standoff that kept the flotilla moving forward. This affair clearly articulated the demands of our fishermen and the determination of our government to protect our fishing rights. The event attracted close international media scrutiny, and successfully showed the world Taiwan's firm resolve to uphold its sovereignty over the Diaoyutais and defend its fishing grounds in the surrounding waters. The New York Times, CNN, the BBC, the London-based Financial Times, Agence France-Presse, and other international news organizations all reported on the event, thus enabling the international community—which hadn't been paying any attention to the ROC's position—to begin to understand that the ROC also claims sovereignty over the Diaoyutai Islands.
President Ma remarked that then Japanese Minister of Foreign Affairs Koichiro Gemba made a goodwill gesture to the ROC in October of 2012 by calling for all sides to avoid escalating antagonism and stating that he could discern the basic thinking and spirit behind the East China Sea Peace Initiative and its Implementation Guidelines. In November of that same year, Taiwan and Japan held the first preparatory meeting in Tokyo for a 17th round of fishing negotiations, thus restarting negotiations after a four-year hiatus. In December of 2012, the Liberal Democratic Party won a general election and selected as prime minister Mr. Shinzo Abe, who attaches great importance to Taiwan-Japan relations and was quite well disposed to restarting fisheries talks. Over the 17 years since the first round took place in 1996, a total of 16 rounds of fisheries talks had been held without any agreement being reached. But on April 10, 2013—eight months after the ROC put forward the East China Sea Peace Initiative—the two sides signed the Taiwan-Japan Fisheries Agreement, effectively resolving a 40-year fisheries dispute between the two nations.
Under the terms of the agreement, said the president, Taiwan's fishing boats are allowed to operate in some 74,000 square kilometers of fishing grounds in the maritime area subject to the agreement—an area twice the size of Taiwan—without any interference from Japan. The pact enables ROC fishermen to operate in an additional 1,400 square nautical miles (4,530 square kilometers), and creates a fishing area larger than that set out under the Provisional Law Enforcement Lines. A total of 17 fisheries disputes between Taiwan and Japan occurred in the year before the agreement was signed, but there has not been a single one since then. Taiwan has thus clearly achieved its goal of "ceding nothing in terms of sovereignty, yet making great strides in terms of fishing rights," he stated.
President Ma noted that the signing of the Taiwan-Japan Fisheries Agreement has been universally welcomed and supported both at home and abroad. Taiwanese fishermen have spoken highly of what the agreement has done for them, domestic news organizations and academics who specialize in international politics and the law of the sea have published articles supporting it, and Prime Minister Shinzo Abe of Japan has stated that Taiwan is an important partner of Japan and that the signing of the fisheries agreement is very positive for both sides. The international community has also been supportive. US Secretary of State John Kerry has publicly declared that the Taiwan-Japan Fisheries Agreement is a model for promoting regional stability. In addition, members of the US Congress, the European Parliament, and the Australian government have all praised the East China Sea Peace Initiative as an effective means of achieving regional peace. Such facts amply demonstrate that the East China Sea Peace Initiative's call for peaceful resolution of disputes is quite feasible. US-based People to People International also recognized President Ma's contribution to regional peace by awarding him the Eisenhower Medallion on September 19, 2014. "This is the result of our joint efforts," he said.
Commenting on sovereignty disputes in the South China Sea, the president mentioned that when he put forward the South China Sea Peace Initiative in May of 2015, he was taking the core concept of the East China Sea Peace Initiative—that "although sovereignty over national territory cannot be compromised, natural resources can be shared"—and extending it to the South China Sea. The Initiative calls upon all parties concerned to reduce tensions, increase dialogue, abide by international law, uphold the freedom of navigation and overflight, maintain peace and stability in the South China Sea, and settle disputes peacefully, because "peace is what we value above all else." After the Philippine coast guard fatally shot a Taiwanese fisherman on May 9, 2013, the ROC government adopted a "rational attitude, resolute stance, and tough measures" policy and got the Philippine government to apologize, pay compensation, conduct an investigation, and punish the perpetrators. Afterward, Taiwan and the Philippines entered into talks modeled upon those that led to the Taiwan-Japan Fisheries Agreement, meeting three times for negotiations aimed at establishing a maritime law enforcement mechanism in line with the standards of international maritime law. This eventually led to the establishment of three principles: avoiding the use of violence or unnecessary force in maritime law enforcement actions; provision of one-hour advance notice before conducting law enforcement actions against each other's fishing vessels; and release within three days of any detained fishing vessels and arrested crew members. Then, on November 5, 2015, Taiwan and the Philippines signed the Agreement Concerning the Facilitation of Cooperation on Law Enforcement in Fisheries Matters to ensure that fishery disputes between the two countries in their overlapping exclusive economic zones would not be as acrimonious as they had been over the past few decades, and to provide real protections for the lives and property of Taiwan's fishermen.
Turning to the subject of his visit earlier this year to Taiping Island (also known as Itu Aba), President Ma stated that he went to the island on January 28 to thank the personnel stationed there for their hard work and sacrifices, to unveil to the international community the South China Sea Peace Initiative Roadmap, which is based on the principles of cooperation, sharing, and pragmatism, and to declare the ROC's resolve to make Taiping Island an "island of peace and cooperation." Since the ROC's minister of the interior led a group of senior government officials on a visit to Taiping Island last year, international news organizations have paid close attention to the island, publishing 421 news reports on it so far. This shows, he said, that the ROC government's positions are finally receiving the international attention and discussion that they deserve.
In closing, the president stressed that the ROC has taken the positions and approaches that worked in the Taiwan Strait and is gradually applying them in the East and South China Seas, where major progress has also been achieved. Over the past few years, the government has moved steadily forward in an effort to achieve its vision of "Peace in the Three Seas," and the president expressed hope that the unveiling of the monument on Pengjia Islet—which calls for "peace in the East China Sea and our national territory secure forever"—would clearly demonstratte the ROC government's firm resolve to assert its territorial sovereignty and seek peace. "Taking one step at a time," said the president, "we want to create a peaceful environment for the people of Taiwan."
Following his remarks, the president fielded questions from reporters regarding such matters as the timing of his visit to the islet, conditions in the South China Sea, and what he plans to do after leaving office.