Taiping Island hospital receives official address / 葉俊榮率團赴太平島 掛"南沙2號"門牌　　　　　　　　　　

On August 16, the Minister of the Interior Yeh Chun-jung and the Minister of Coast Guard Administration Lee Chung-wei visited Taiping Island. They aim to mount an official address plate on the island's hospital and set up a climate and environmental monitoring station on the island. On August 16, the Minister of the Interior Yeh Chun-jung and the Minister of Coast Guard Administration Lee Chung-wei, visited Taiping Island. Along with Kaohsiung City government officials and environmental experts, they mounted an official address plate on the Nansha Hospital, showing that it falls under the jurisdiction of Kaohsiung City. They also said that a climate and environmental monitoring station will be set up on the island. ==YEH CHUN-JUNG, the Minister of Interior== Residents on Taiping Island will have a new household registration, which is Nansha No.2. We hope to set up a station to study climate change based on marine ecology. Experts on the Law of the Sea and climate change thus paid a visit to Taiping Island with us. The Ministry of the Interior hopes their action reflects that there are people living on the island, reiterating that Taiping Island is an island, not an atoll. Concerning the visit, the U.S. Department of State called for all South China Sea claimant countries to avoid any movement that will heighten tensions. The Office of the President stated that the Minister of the Interior went there as part of his role. ==ALEX HUANG spokesmen of the Office of the President== The Minister of the Interior, the Minister of Coast Guard Administration, and Kaohsiung City government officials went to the Taiping Island for work on civilian operations. There is no doubt that the Republic of China has a rightful claim over Taiping Island. Therefore, these actions will not heighten tensions. As to whether the trip is a preparation for President Tsai Ing-wen's future visit to Taiping Island, the Office of the President said that President Tsai has no plans for a visit. However, the possibility is not ruled out. TRANSLATED BY：ARIEL HSIEH 內政部長葉俊榮以及海巡署長李仲威，一早和多位高雄市政府官員與環境專家學者前往太平島，葉俊榮行前受訪表示，此行將為太平島上的南沙醫院掛上門牌高雄市旗津區南沙2號，並將設立氣候與環境觀測站。 ==內政部長 葉俊榮== 要為太平島編定新的戶籍 南沙2號 我們也希望透過 對於生態海洋的瞭解 研究怎麼樣能夠對太平島 進行氣候變遷的 一個研究的觀測站 今天(8/16)也結合了海洋法的專家 氣候變遷研究的科學家 共同前往太平島 做這樣的一個訪視 內政部想透過這些動作，反映太平島有人正常生活居住的現況，以重申太平島是島嶼，不是島礁的事實。不過美國國務院卻在例行記者會上呼籲所有南海聲索國，避免任何提升緊張的行動，對此總統府回應表示，內政部長前往太平島是業務視察，沒有造成緊張的問題。 ==總統府發言人 黃重諺== 內政部長帶海巡署 還有高雄市政府他們 共同到太平島去進行 民政訪視業務 太平島毫無疑問 它的主權就是中華民國 所以這不涉及任何的(升高緊張態勢) 至於內政部長與海巡署長前往太平島，是否是為了將來總統蔡英文前往太平島預先視察，總統府發言人黃重諺對此表示，目前總統沒有這樣的規劃，但未來不排除可能前往太平島。 記者 張志雄 林志堅 綜合報導