南沙主權糾紛對台海兩岸關係的意義與影響

ROC-PRC Relations and the South China Sea Dispute

中華民國與中共各自宣稱擁有南沙群島主權，但是中華民國對中共在南沙伸張主權的行為，長久以來採取默示的行為，在某種程度上，侵害了中華民國對南沙群島的主權主張，讓中華民國強調兩岸分治的事實主張產生了矛盾，更加劇中共「一個中國」非事實主張的氣勢。東協部分國家雖亦為南沙主權糾紛的當事國，卻因為支持中共「一個中國」的論調，排斥中華民國參與解決南沙主權糾紛的意願，使得中華民國未能在一國際問題上表達立場。更有甚者，中共不放棄以武力解決兩岸統一問題的立場，讓中華民國領有的南沙太平島，亦不能自外於中共的武力威脅及軍事攻擊之外，進而為和平解決兩岸分治現況與南沙主權糾紛的期望，投下負面的陰影。中華民國目前採取的南沙糾紛處理政策，亦沒有換取中共的善意回應。為了和平解決南沙主權糾紛，中華民國應重新檢討現有的南沙政策，強調中華民國與中共二者分別治理部分領土的現實，為和平解決兩岸問題帶來新的思考方向。

Most discussions of the South China Sea dispute focus on the PRC's attitudes towards ASEAN member countries. Few, however, discuss the security implications regarding ROC-PRC relations. As these two sides are vital actors in the South China Sea territorial dispute, a Taiwan Strait crisis could dramatically influence East Asian regional security.Strategically, Taiwan can not defend the only island that she occupies in the Spratly Islands, Itu-Aba Island, without diminishing the defense capabilities around the Taiwan area. From the diplomatic side, although the ROC participates in the Workshop on Managing Potential Conflicts in the South China Sea, she is excluded from any bilateral or multilateral dialogues regarding the Spralty Islands dispute. The economic value of the Spratly islands to the ROC, are moreover, also very limited.Lacking the military projection power to defend effectively her sovereignty over the Spratly Islands and further constrained by ASEAN's 'One China' policy, the Republic of China faces the erosion of her sovereignty if Taipei still takes a passive attitude toward the PRC's military activities in the Spratly Islands. ROC rejects the propaganda that Taiwan is part of the PRC but her silence towards Beijing's Spralty Islands policy gives international societies the impression that Beijing is the only representative of China' to discuss this territorial problem with the other countries. This tendency will put Taiwan's international position in danger and destroy the ROC's pretext that the ROC and PRC are two equal political identities prior to the future unification of whole China.