VOA慢速英語：臺灣漁船登島

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.

本周三，五艘漁船從臺灣南部出發(fā)至南中國南海領(lǐng)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國際法庭的裁決。國際法庭裁決將島降為礁。

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.

漁船從屏東縣起航開始十天的航行。15人駕駛漁船。他們的目的是接近太平島。

Taiping is controlled by Taiwan.

太平島是由臺灣控制的。

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.

羅強飛是本次漁船組織者的發(fā)言人。他說：漁民們將會證明太平島屬于臺灣。

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.

羅強飛說：臺灣的海岸防衛(wèi)站將會觀察保護漁船但不會跟他們一起登島。太平島是臺灣東南部大約2000公里處。

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

一旦漁船登島，他們將是安全的。因為海岸防衛(wèi)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.

臺灣、中國和其他五國爭奪中國南海的島嶼，巖石和珊瑚礁群。其他國家包括，文萊，印度尼西亞，馬來西亞，菲律賓和越南。中國聲明大部門南海領(lǐng)域?qū)儆谥袊?/p>

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，海牙仲裁院裁決表示不接受中國的歷史所屬聲明。

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.

盡管如此，法庭也裁決許多小島包括太平島在內(nèi)的形式，并沒有資格叫做島嶼。這意味著他們無權(quán)享有周圍海域的經(jīng)濟地帶。

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

太平島1400米長，400米寬。

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.

中國和臺灣都否認(rèn)此項根據(jù)聯(lián)合國海洋公約出具的裁決。臺灣，中國和其他國家正討論緩解在此水域的領(lǐng)域主張問題。

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

臺灣已經(jīng)在太平島建立機場，碼頭，太陽能項目和人道主義救援中心。

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.

中國南海以其自然資源著名，包括漁業(yè)，石油，天然氣。它也是國際貿(mào)易的重要航線。

I’m Mario Ritter.

馬里奧報道。