With the two Asian superpowers, Japan and China, on the verge of taking military action against each other over a cluster of uninhabited islands, Taiwan’s former vice president, Annette Lu Hsiu-lien, has offered a somewhat simple solution—enter into a treaty. She points out that while both countries are fighting over who has the better claim over the Senkaku / Diaoyu Islands, it is in fact Taiwan who has the best claim of them all.
She says that not only are the islands, Diaoyutais to the Taiwanese, geographically closer to Taiwan’s territory, they are also made of igneous rocks, whose “chemical and geographic characteristics are the same as Taiwan’s Mt. Datun….” Lu proposes a demilitarization of the islands and for all three claimants—Japan, China and Taiwan—to enter into a compromise through the cooperation of the United Nations. Indeed, Taiwan also showed that it is enforcing its claim on the Japan-controlled islands when President Ma Ying-jeou sent a military escort with fishing ships into the area. According to Lu, territorial sovereignty over the islands should not be allowed, in order to preserve the status quo and stability therein. Instead, the area should be developed as an international marine conservation zone; the development being purely made for peaceful purposes.
While Lu is not currently a member of the Taiwanese government, she remains to be very influential to the country’s citizens. Furthermore, this Harvard graduate is known for her active campaign against adding a third nuclear power plant in Taiwan.
[via World Tribune]