Taiwan will launch oil exploration efforts in waters off Itu Aba Island (Taiping Island, 太平島) next year, in a move that is likely to raise tensions with other claimants to a series of islets in the South China Sea.
During a meeting at the legislature in Taipei yesterday, Bureau of Energy officials confirmed that the Ministry of Economic Affairs’ Bureau of Mines, in cooperation with CPC Corp, Taiwan (CPC, 台灣中油), would send ships to waters near Itu Aba to conduct exploration for potential oil resources next year.
Bureau of Energy Director-General Jerry Ou (歐嘉瑞) told the Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee that a monthly budget of NT$17 million (US$583,670) would be allocated to fund the efforts.
Photo: CNA
Ou said that as Taiwan is almost entirely dependent on imports for its oil supply, it was imperative for the nation to diversify its energy sources.
Though unproven, the South China Sea is believed to contain important oil and gas resources. Taiwan, China, Vietnam, the Philippines, Malaysia and Brunei all lay claim to parts of the area.
Administered by Taiwan, Itu Aba is the largest islet in the disputed Spratly Islands (Nansha Islands, 南沙群島). It lies about 1,400km from Greater Kaohsiung.
In 2008, Taiwan finished constrcution of a 1,150m airstrip on the island. Earlier this year, the Coast Guard Administration — which is mandated with defending sovereignty over the island — augmented its equipment on Itu Aba with a supply of T63 120mm mortar systems and L/60 40mm anti-aircraft guns, sparking protests among other claimants, including Vietnam and the Philippines.
Asking for a progress report, Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Lin Yu-fang (林郁方), a strong supporter of Taiwan playing a more muscular role in the area, was assured that the plan had advanced past the “paperwork phase” and would be initiated as early as next month.
It has yet to be confirmed whether the exploration boats will be accompanied by coast guard vessels.
KMT Legislator Chen Cheng-hsiang (陳鎮湘) said the government should actively mine the waters near the Spratlys and the Pratas Islands (Dongsha Islands, 東沙群島) and establish a forward base in the area to oversee energy, fishing and environmental protection.
He also said a multilateral center should be established to lower the risks of sovereignty disputes with other countries.
On March 22, two coast guard speedboats were dispatched to intercept a pair of Vietnamese patrol vessels that had entered waters near Taiping, prompting the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to file a protest with Hanoi.
Two other ships entered waters near the island on March 26. The coast guard subsequently denied reports that shots had been fired during the incident.
EIGHT-YEAR WINDOW: Avril Haines said that Beijing is closely watching the Russian invasion of Ukraine, although Moscow’s actions have not sped up Beijing’s timeline The threat posed by China to Taiwan until 2030 is “critical,” US Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines said on Tuesday while testifying on worldwide threats at a hearing of the US Senate Committee on Armed Services. “I think it’s fair to say that it’s critical, or acute,” Haines said when asked by US Senator Josh Hawley if she viewed the threat facing Taiwan to be acute from now until 2030. “It’s our view that they [China] are working hard to effectively put themselves into a position in which their military is capable of taking Taiwan over our intervention,” she said, without
NO CONSENSUS YET: Local governments and the CECC have agreed to change the ‘3+4’ self-isolation policy, but are still mulling what to replace it with The Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) and local governments have agreed to ease restrictions on close contacts of COVID-19 cases, although the details are still being discussed, the center said yesterday. The discussions follow Premier Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌) on Saturday approving a proposal to shorten the “3+4” policy — three days of home isolation followed by four days of self-disease prevention — for close contacts who have received booster doses. “We did not reach a consensus on how to revise the current restrictions, but we all agreed that the administrative burden must be reduced and the intensity of restrictions must be eased,
OPPOSING CHINESE ‘HOSTILITY’: The bill orders the state secretary to create a plan to regain observer status for Taiwan, saying Taipei is a model contributor to world health US President Joe Biden on Friday signed a bill into law to help Taiwan regain observer status at the World Health Assembly (WHA), demonstrating Washington’s support for Taiwan’s international participation. Friday was the deadline for Biden to sign the bill (S.812), which directs “the Secretary of State to develop a strategy to regain observer status for Taiwan in the World Health Organization (WHO), and for other purposes.” The 75th WHA, the decisionmaking body of the WHO, is scheduled to meet in Geneva, Switzerland, from Sunday next week to May 28. The bill, introduced by US Senator Bob Menendez, chairman of the US Senate
‘DAMOCLES SWORD’: An Italian missionary said the arrest of cardinal Zen is a blow for the church in Hong Kong, China and the world, signaling great danger ahead China yesterday defended the arrest of a 90-year-old Catholic cardinal under Hong Kong’s National Security Law, a move that triggered international outrage and deepened concerns over Beijing’s crackdown on freedoms in the territory. Retired cardinal Joseph Zen (陳日君), one of the most senior Catholic clerics in Asia, was among a group of veteran democracy advocates arrested on Wednesday for “colluding with foreign forces.” Pop singer Denise Ho (何韻詩), veteran barrister Margaret Ng (吳靄儀) and cultural studies academic Hui Po-keung (許寶強) were also arrested, the latter as he attempted to fly to Europe to take up an academic post. Cyd Ho (何秀蘭), a democracy
RSS