According to AFP, the law-makers left an airbase in the south of Taiwan at around 7:00 am on September 4 (local time) on board a C-130 transport plane and was expected to arrive in the island, which belongs to Vietnam’s Truong Sa (Spratly) Archipelago, three-and-a-half hours later.

Hsieh Chin-chin, a coastguard spokesman, said the MPs observed a live-fire drill conducted by the coastguards.

Two of the legislators are from the ruling Kuomintang Party, and the third from the opposition Democratic Progressive Party.

On September 1, the Taiwanese administration said head of its National Security Council Hu Wei-jen and several high-ranking officials flew to Ba Binh island.

This move not only violates Vietnam’s sovereignty but also increases tension in the region.