An advertisement highly critical of the Hague’s ruling on China’s South China Sea claims appeared in Express today, but the source of the ad is not what one would expect.
Since the Permanent Court of Arbitration in the Hague ruled against China’s expanding territorial claims in the South China Sea, the People’s Republic of China (PRC) has been relentlessly critical of the ruling and international law.
The advertisement published in the Express reads, “We firmly OPPOSE the South China Sea Arbitration DECISION! We will not recognize nor accept it!”
The phrasing perfectly matches rhetoric from the Chinese government. Beijing quickly announced its refusal to recognize the ruling, which Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi called a “political farce under the pretext of law.”
The Express ad ran along the same lines, stating that “the court ruling is really a political farce, because it contravenes international law and UNCLOS.”
While China is making a name for itself by backing ultranationalists abroad, this piece of propaganda was actually created by proud Taiwan supporters.
The primary sponsor for the advertisement in Express was Washington Asian Pacific WWII Atrocities Memorial Inc. (WAPAM), a civilian non-profit organization. The ad criticized the arbitration tribunal for calling Ita Aba Island, also known as Taiping Island, an uninhabitable rock rather than an island capable of supporting infrastructure and human life.
In an interview with Jeff Chen, a representative for WAPAM, he explained that he and other energetic activists privately ponied up donations for the ad because they see the arbitration decision as an insult and want to “get justice for the Taiwanese people.”
He introduced that Taiping Island is “quite habitable and has been since 1947.” Chen added, “There are hundreds of people there, soldiers, coast guard members, scientists, and meteorologists. There is also fresh water, as well as gardens and farms. There is even a runway.”
The ad in Express states clearly, “Taiping Island is an ISLAND, not a reef!”
Chen pointed out that the recent ruling limits Taiwan’s access to the area and gives other claimant states control of larger exclusive economic zones, which could prove devastating to Taiwan’s fishing industry in the area. Chen called the arbitration decision an “insult,” one which “seriously injures fisherman from Taiwan who live and work in the area around Taiping Island.”
Taiwan is a player that is often overlooked in the discussion on the South China Sea, especially given the notoriously assertive and overshadowing actions of the larger PRC. Following the ruling by the Permanent Court of Arbitration, the Presidential Office of the Taiwan government said, “The ruling, especially the part involving Taiping Island, has seriously hurt our rights over the islands in the South China Sea, and we can never accept it.”
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