In October last year, the Philippines submitted a claim to the United Nation's Permanent Court of Arbitration that the Spratly archipelago is merely a group of rocks and should not include the 200-mile exclusive economic zone (EEZ) of an inhabitable island.

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Itu Aba - also known as Taiping island - is the largest of the Spratly archipelago. Although the island has been governed by Taiwan since 1956, the Philippines, China and Vietnam are also claiming it.

Taiwanese president Ma Ying-jeou invited reporters to show the world that the 110-acre island is inhabitable.

Representatives from CNN, the Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg, and Reuters, among others, made the 2,000 km flight from the south of Taiwan by C-130 transport plane. While there, they toured the island's hospital, post office and traditional temple.

The island has around 200 residents, the majority of which are military personnel. Inhabitants grow crops of fruits and vegetables, and the tap water is reportedly potable. Bloomberg also reported 14 goats living on Taiping.

What the visitors reported seems to echo president Ma's claim that Taiping is "an island with fresh water, capable of sustaining farm production, livestock and human life."

He also went on to say that the Philippines needs to "at least get the facts straight" regarding Itu Aba's status as an island.

China, which has constructed several landing strips in the Spratly islands, has indicated that it may also plan a media trip to the archipelago. Spokeswoman Hua Chunying expressed solidarity with Taiwan, saying that the two countries should "maintain the ancestral property of the Chinese nation."

There is no timetable for the Permanent Court of Arbitration's decision, but a ruling could come soon.