TAIPEI, May 5 -- A delegation of former Taiwan senior officials on Thursday visited Taiping Island, the largest of the Nansha Islands in the South China Sea.

The 20-member group visited a wharf, a lighthouse, a photovoltaic facility, a post office, a hospital, a farm and a well. They tasted the natural fresh water and food made from local ingredients, said a press release provided by Taiwan's coast guard authority.

The farm and fresh water well show Taiping's natural resources are sufficient to sustain human habitation, it added. The hospital staff briefed the visitors on past rescue missions and their advanced facilities.

On Jan. 28, Taiwan leader Ma Ying-jeou paid a visit to the island.

Islands in the South China Sea were first discovered, named and used by the Chinese in the Western Han Dynasty (202 BC-8 AD). They were incorporated into the maritime defense system no later than 1721, in the Kangxi period of the Qing Dynasty (1616-1912), with patrols and other management measures, Ma said during the visit.

The Chinese government published maps of the South China Sea islands in 1935 and 1947, reaffirming its sovereignty over the islands and their surrounding waters, he said.

In terms of history, geography, or international law, the sovereignty over the Nansha, Xisha, Zhongsha and Dongsha islands and their surrounding waters is indisputable, he stressed.