Taiwan’s president, Ma Ying-jeou, asserted his country’s claim on Taiping, or Itu Aba, in the South China Sea or West Philippine Sea, by taking a day trip to the mostly barren rock formation on January 28, 2016. United States and Philippine officials were quick to issue disapproving statements regarding Ma’s first visit to Itu Aba in his eight years as president.
Taiwan’s opposition Democratic Progressive Party (D.P.P.) turned down Ma’s invitation for D.P.P. officials to accompany him to Itu Aba.
According to Reuters, American Institute in Taiwan‘s spokeswoman Sonia Urbom had reservations about Ma’s trip. A.I.T., the de facto U.S. embassy in Taipei in the absence of formal diplomatic ties, found expression in Urbom’s peace advocacy prior to last-term Ma’s Itu Aba “swan song.”

Read more at http://www.inquisitr.com/2761270/taiwans-itu-aba-claim-in-south-china-sea-pains-u-s-philippines-and-opposing-taiwanese/#1uiJVWKKtcXIGBsp.99