Taiwan Tati Cultural and Educational Foundation

The US yesterday called on rivals in the disputed South China Sea to back up territorial claims with legal evidence — a challenge to China’s declaration of sovereignty over vast stretches of the region.

“We also call on all parties to clarify their claims in the South China Sea in terms consistent with customary international law,” US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said at Asia’s largest security conference.

“Claims to maritime space in the South China Sea should be derived solely from legitimate claims to land features,” she said.

Last weekend, the Taiwan Rural Front and farmers from all over the country held an overnight protest on Ketagalan Boulevard in front of the Presidential Office in Taipei. It was the second such demonstration, the first having taken place exactly one year ago.

The repeat protest is a cause for celebration and anxiety among farmers’ supporters. What is worth celebrating is that farmers are gradually growing stronger as a force in their own right. They have shown that they can sustain a vigorous movement, keep watch on the government and make their voices heard when it breaks its promises. What makes people anxious, on the other hand, is that the central government’s response to farmers’ demands consists mostly of stopgap measures and pledges made in bad faith. The government seems incapable of coming up with any effective and realistic policies.