China has sent four more oil rigs into the South China Sea in a sign that Beijing is stepping up its exploration for oil and gas in the tense region, less than two months after it positioned a platform in waters claimed by Vietnam.
The announcement comes when many countries in Asia are nervous at Beijing’s increasing assertiveness in the potentially energy-rich waters, where sovereignty over countless islands and reefs is in dispute.
Coordinates posted on the Web site of the Chinese Maritime Safety Administration showed the Nanhai No. 2 and No. 5 rigs had been deployed between China’s southern Guangdong Province and the Pratas Islands (Dongsha Islands, 東沙群島), which are occupied by Taiwan. The Nanhai No. 4 rig was towed to waters close to the Chinese coast.
Earlier this week, the maritime body gave coordinates for a fourth rig, the Nanhai No. 9, which was to be positioned just outside Vietnam’s exclusive economic zone by yesterday.
Taiwanese Land Administration Department deputy director Wang Ching-hsiu (王靚琇) said Taipei claimed an exclusive economic zone around the Pratas Islands, but did not comment on the deployments.
China said the rigs were in waters close to Guangdong Province and Hainan Island.
“For these normal activities there is no need for over-reading or to make any particular links,” Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokeswoman Hua Chunying (華春瑩) told a daily briefing in Beijing. “Please don’t worry, there won’t be any problem.”
The rigs are listed as being operated by China Oilfield Services Ltd (COSL), the oil service arm of state-run China National Offshore Oil Company Group, according to COSL’s annual report last year.
Three are deepwater platforms, and one is a jackup rig used in shallow water.
The Global Times, a popular tabloid published by the Chinese Communist Party’s official People’s Daily, quoted Zhuang Guotu (莊國土), director of the Center for Southeast Asian Studies at Xiamen University, as calling the rig deployment a “strategic move.”
“The increase in oil rigs will inevitably jab a sensitive nerve for Vietnam and the Philippines,” Zhuang said.
DAREDEVIL: Honnold said it had always been a dream of his to climb Taipei 101, while a Netflix producer said the skyscraper was ‘a real icon of this country’ US climber Alex Honnold yesterday took on Taiwan’s tallest building, becoming the first person to scale Taipei 101 without a rope, harness or safety net. Hundreds of spectators gathered at the base of the 101-story skyscraper to watch Honnold, 40, embark on his daredevil feat, which was also broadcast live on Netflix. Dressed in a red T-shirt and yellow custom-made climbing shoes, Honnold swiftly moved up the southeast face of the glass and steel building. At one point, he stepped onto a platform midway up to wave down at fans and onlookers who were taking photos. People watching from inside
MAKING WAVES: China’s maritime militia could become a nontraditional threat in war, clogging up shipping lanes to prevent US or Japanese intervention, a report said About 1,900 Chinese ships flying flags of convenience and fishing vessels that participated in China’s military exercises around Taiwan last month and in January last year have been listed for monitoring, Coast Guard Administration (CGA) Deputy Director-General Hsieh Ching-chin (謝慶欽) said yesterday. Following amendments to the Commercial Port Act (商港法) and the Law of Ships (船舶法) last month, the CGA can designate possible berthing areas or deny ports of call for vessels suspected of loitering around areas where undersea cables can be accessed, Oceans Affairs Council Minister Kuan Bi-ling (管碧玲) said. The list of suspected ships, originally 300, had risen to about
A Vietnamese migrant worker yesterday won NT$12 million (US$379,627) on a Lunar New Year scratch card in Kaohsiung as part of Taiwan Lottery Co’s (台灣彩券) “NT$12 Million Grand Fortune” (1200萬大吉利) game. The man was the first top-prize winner of the new game launched on Jan. 6 to mark the Lunar New Year. Three Vietnamese migrant workers visited a Taiwan Lottery shop on Xinyue Street in Kaohsiung’s Gangshan District (崗山), a store representative said. The player bought multiple tickets and, after winning nothing, held the final lottery ticket in one hand and rubbed the store’s statue of the Maitreya Buddha’s belly with the other,
Japan’s strategic alliance with the US would collapse if Tokyo were to turn away from a conflict in Taiwan, Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi said yesterday, but distanced herself from previous comments that suggested a possible military response in such an event. Takaichi expressed her latest views on a nationally broadcast TV program late on Monday, where an opposition party leader criticized her for igniting tensions with China with the earlier remarks. Ties between Japan and China have sunk to the worst level in years after Takaichi said in November that a hypothetical Chinese attack on Taiwan could bring about a Japanese
RSS