VOA慢速英语：台湾渔船登岛

Taiwan Fishing Boats Start Trip to Defend Contested Island

Five fishing boats sailed Wednesday from southern Taiwan heading for an area in the South China Sea.

本周三，五艘渔船从台湾南部出发至南中国南海领域。

The trip is meant to dispute a ruling by an international court that calls a land formation in the Spratly island chain a rock rather than an island.

此次航行的宗旨在于推翻国际法庭的裁决。国际法庭裁决将岛降为礁。

The boats left from Pingtung County for a 10-day trip. Fifteen people are operating the boats. Their goal is to reach the land formation known as Taiping or Itu Aba.

渔船从屏东县起航开始十天的航行。15人驾驶渔船。他们的目的是接近太平岛。

Taiping is controlled by Taiwan.

太平岛是由台湾控制的。

Luo Chiang-fei is a spokesman for the fishing boat operators. He said the fishermen will show that Taiping is an island and that it belongs to Taiwan.

罗强飞是本次渔船组织者的发言人。他说：渔民们将会证明太平岛属于台湾。

The spokesman said Taiwan’s coast guard will observe the fishing boats but will not follow them to the land formation. Taiping is about 2000 kilometers southeast of Taiwan.

罗强飞说：台湾的海岸防卫站将会观察保护渔船但不会跟他们一起登岛。太平岛是台湾东南部大约2000公里处。

Once the boats reach it, they will be safe because of the coast guard presence there.

一旦渔船登岛，他们将是安全的。因为海岸防卫站在那里。

Taiwan is involved in a dispute with China and five other countries over islands, rocks and reefs in the South China Sea. Other nations include Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines and Vietnam. China claims most of the South China Sea as its territory.

台湾、中国和其他五国争夺中国南海的岛屿，岩石和珊瑚礁群。其他国家包括，文莱，印度尼西亚，马来西亚，菲律宾和越南。中国声明大部门南海领域属于中国。

On July 12, the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague made a decision on China’s claims to the waterway. That ruling rejected the historical basis for China’s claim to almost all of the South China Sea.

七月十二日，海牙仲裁院裁决表示不接受中国的历史所属声明。

However, the court also said many small land formations, including Taiping, do not qualify as islands. This means that they also do not qualify for wide economic zones in surrounding waters.

尽管如此，法庭也裁决许多小岛包括太平岛在内的形式，并没有资格叫做岛屿。这意味着他们无权享有周围海域的经济地带。

Taiping is 1,400 meters long and 400 meters wide.

太平岛1400米长，400米宽。

Both China and Taiwan denounced the ruling, which is based on the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea. Taiwan and China and other countries now may look to discussions to ease tensions over territorial claims in the waterway.

中国和台湾都否认此项根据联合国海洋公约出具的裁决。台湾，中国和其他国家正讨论缓解在此水域的领域主张问题。

Taiwan has built up Taiping with an airstrip, pier, a solar energy project and a humanitarian rescue center.

台湾已经在太平岛建立机场，码头，太阳能项目和人道主义救援中心。

The South China Sea is valued for its natural resources including fishing areas, oil, and natural gas. It also has important shipping lanes for international trade.

中国南海以其自然资源著名，包括渔业，石油，天然气。它也是国际贸易的重要航线。

I’m Mario Ritter.

马里奥报道。