Italy believes "the status quo" must prevail over the democratically governed island - which China claims as its own territory - defence minister Antonio Tajani said late on Wednesday.
"Italy's position is clear: defence of the status quo, that is to say the current situation," Tajani told reporters outside the prime minister's office in Rome, Palazzo Chigi, as he arrived for a cabinet meeting.
China has built "enormous" military bases on three islands surrounding Taiwan's main holding in the South China Sea, the islet of Itu Aba (which it refers to as Taiping), foreign minister Joseph Wu said on Wednesday.
Taiwan does not want a further escalation of tensions in the key waterway and must look at how to use peaceful means to resolve the intensifying dispute, said Wu.
There no doubt that Itu Aba/Taiping belongs to Taiwan and the government will defend its sovereignty, Wu underlined.
