Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Lin Yu-fang (林郁方) wants the government to send marines back to the South China Sea to strengthen Taiwan’s position in the regional dispute over claims to the area.
Taiwan should redeploy its marine corps in the South China Sea, which was replaced by the Coast Guard Administration (CGA) in 2000, to increase its bargaining power, Lin said.
Taiwan, China, Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei and the Philippines claim all or part of the 3.5 million square kilometer area, which contains the Spratly Islands (南沙群島), the Paracel Islands (西沙群島), the Pratas Islands (東沙群島), the Macclesfield Bank (中沙群島) and the Scarborough Shoal (斯卡伯群島).
Taiwan controls Dongsha (東沙), the largest island in the entire South China Sea, and Taiping Island (太平島), the largest island in the Spratlys. The nation withdrew its marine forces in 2000 in an attempt to reduce tensions in the region.
However, the hot-button issue resurfaced last week after a meeting between Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung and Chinese Central Military Commission Vice Chairman Guo Boxiong (郭伯雄), which resulted in an agreement to “work closely to develop basic measures” on issues related to the area, according to Vietnamese media and Xinhua news agency.
Meanwhile, the government of the Philippines made an official complaint to the UN Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf regarding China’s claim to the area.
China has said the area is part of its “core interests,” while US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said in July last year that the US “has a national interest in freedom of navigation and open access” to the region.
“With the involved parties stepping up their rhetoric and dialogue, the issue could flare up sometime in the future,” Lin said. “Taiwan should increase its military presence in the region to gain more leverage.”
China, with its naval capability, could adopt a tougher stance, he said.
Meanwhile, the ASEAN nations have in recent years “dragged the United States and the European Union into the dispute to improve their bargaining power,” he said.
The legislator said he had opposed the troop withdrawal in 2000 because he thought the move hurt Taiwan’s position in international negotiations.
Taiwan should “send the troops back as soon as possible because it will be necessary sooner or later,” he said.
Lin said the nation should also consider deploying anti-ship missiles in the region.
Minister of Foreign Affairs Timothy Yang (楊進添) responded by reiterating the Republic of China’s claim to sovereignty over the entire South China Sea and said he hoped the issue could be resolved through peaceful dialogue.
However, Yang said that he would support “any measure that would increase Taiwan’s capability to protect its territory.”
Lin’s call is not the first time lawmakers or officials have proposed sending troops back to the South China Sea. In 2006, then-minister of national defense Lee Jye (李傑) told the legislature that he would consider such a move because China could use military force to invade Dongsha and Taiping.
The military and the coast guard share the task of safeguarding Taiwan’s territory, but military deployment “is a sophisticated issue that requires a lot of effort,” Vice Minister of National Defense Lin Yu-pao (林於豹) said yesterday in response to Lin’s suggestion.
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