A second day of live-fire drills conducted by the Coast Guard Administration on one of the disputed Spratly Islands (Nansha Islands, 南沙群島) drew condemnation from Vietnam, which also claims the South China Sea chain as its territory.
The drills are conducted annually on the Taiwan-administered Itu Aba Island (Taiping Island, 太平島), said Shih Yi-che (施義哲), the administration’s head of communications.
In 2008, Taiwan built a 1,150m-long airstrip on the islet, which is known as Ba Binh in Vietnam and is also claimed by China. Aside from these three competing claims, all or parts of the Spratlys are also contested by Malaysia, Brunei and the Philippines.
The Vietnamese Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Monday said the drills violate Vietnam’s sovereignty, threaten maritime security and add to tensions in the area.
Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokeswoman Anna Kao (高安) did not immediately return two calls to her office, while Shih said he was not aware of the complaint.
Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Chiu Chih-wei (邱志偉) said by telephone yesterday that Taiwan must strengthen its military presence on Taiping, given China’s land reclamation in the Spratlys.
Beijing has been carrying out land reclamation projects in both the Spratlys and Paracels (Xisha Islands, 西沙群島) — which Taiwan claims — as it seeks to extend the reach of its military in one of the world’s busiest waterways.
A legislative committee last week commissioned a study on the possibility of stationing warships on Taiping, while the government has earmarked NT$3.3 billion (US$110.24 million) to build a new wharf there.
China has been more aggressively asserting its territorial claims to more than 90 percent of the waterway, disregarding the multiple claims of sovereignty.
It completed an upgraded airstrip in the Paracel Islands last month, prompting a similar complaint from Vietnam.
Hanoi was also angered earlier this year when Beijing moved an oil rig into waters off its coast, prompting weeks of skirmishes between vessels from both sides and leading to deadly anti-China riots in Vietnam in May. China removed the rig in July.
Taiwanese firms were also affected by the riots, apparently because rioters mistakenly thought they were Chinese-owned.
Taiwan is the fourth-largest foreign investor in Vietnam. Last year, Vietnam had a US$7.2 billion trade deficit with Taiwan, according to Hanoi government data.
Taiwanese investment in the country reached US$723.4 million in the year through last month.
Additional reporting by staff writer
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) is expected to start construction of its 1.4-nanometer chip manufacturing facilities at the Central Taiwan Science Park (CTSP, 中部科學園區) as early as October, the Chinese-language Liberty Times (the Taipei Times’ sister newspaper) reported yesterday, citing the park administration. TSMC acquired land for the second phase of the park’s expansion in Taichung in June. Large cement, construction and facility engineering companies in central Taiwan have reportedly been receiving bids for TSMC-related projects, the report said. Supply-chain firms estimated that the business opportunities for engineering, equipment and materials supply, and back-end packaging and testing could reach as high as
CHAMPIONS: President Lai congratulated the players’ outstanding performance, cheering them for marking a new milestone in the nation’s baseball history Taiwan on Sunday won their first Little League Baseball World Series (LLBWS) title in 29 years, as Taipei’s Dong Yuan Elementary School defeated a team from Las Vegas 7-0 in the championship game in South Williamsport, Pennsylvania. It was Taiwan’s first championship in the annual tournament since 1996, ending a nearly three-decade drought. “It has been a very long time ... and we finally made it,” Taiwan manager Lai Min-nan (賴敏男) said after the game. Lai said he last managed a Dong Yuan team in at the South Williamsport in 2015, when they were eliminated after four games. “There is
Democratic nations should refrain from attending China’s upcoming large-scale military parade, which Beijing could use to sow discord among democracies, Mainland Affairs Council Deputy Minister Shen You-chung (沈有忠) said. China is scheduled to stage the parade on Wednesday next week to mark the 80th anniversary of Japan’s surrender in World War II. The event is expected to mobilize tens of thousands of participants and prominently showcase China’s military hardware. Speaking at a symposium in Taichung on Thursday, Shen said that Chinese Minister of Foreign Affairs Wang Yi (王毅) recently met with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi during a visit to New Delhi.
FINANCES: The KMT plan to halt pension cuts could bankrupt the pension fund years earlier, undermining intergenerational fairness, a Ministry of Civil Service report said The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) caucus’ proposal to amend the law to halt pension cuts for civil servants, teachers and military personnel could accelerate the depletion of the Public Service Pension Fund by four to five years, a Ministry of Civil Service report said. Legislative Speaker Han Kuo-yu (韓國瑜) on Aug. 14 said that the Act Governing Civil Servants’ Retirement, Discharge and Pensions (公務人員退休資遣撫卹法) should be amended, adding that changes could begin as soon as after Saturday’s recall and referendum. In a written report to the Legislative Yuan, the ministry said that the fund already faces a severe imbalance between revenue
RSS