China has shown “great restraint” in the South China Sea by not seizing islands occupied by other countries even though it could have, a senior Chinese diplomat said yesterday ahead of two regional summits where the disputed waterway is likely to be a hot topic.
Beijing has overlapping claims with Taiwan, Vietnam, the Philippines, Malaysia and Brunei in the South China Sea, through which US$5 trillion in ship-borne trade passes every year.
Reclamation work and the building of three airfields and other facilities on some of China’s artificial islands in the Spratly Islands (Nansha Islands, 南沙群島) have alarmed the region and raised concern in Washington that China is extending its military reach deep into maritime Southeast Asia.
China is the real victim as it had had “dozens” of its islands and reefs in the Spratlys illegally occupied by three of the claimants, Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Liu Zhenmin (劉振民) told a news conference in Beijing, without naming countries.
“The Chinese government has the right and the ability to recover the islands and reefs illegally occupied by neighboring countries,” Liu said. “But we haven’t done this. We have maintained great restraint with the aim to preserve peace and stability in the South China Sea.”
Tensions over the South China Sea are likely to dominate the East Asia Summit in Kuala Lumpur later this week. While not on the formal agenda of the APEC summit today and tomorrow in Manila, the South China Sea is expected to be discussed on the sidelines.
US President Barack Obama, who arrived in Manila yesterday, will attend both meetings. Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) is in Manila for APEC while Premier Li Keqiang (李克強) will represent Beijing in Malaysia.
Liu said China did not want the South China Sea to be the focus of the East Asia Summit, but he said it would be hard to avoid and that some countries would raise it.
China’s island building in the Spratlys was not about militarization, Liu said, adding for example that too much attention had been placed on the length of China’s airstrips.
“Actually, the larger they are, the more civilian benefits they will bring,” Liu said, pointing to the disappearance of Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 last year as evidence of the poor state of search and rescue capabilities in the South China Sea.
Liu also repeated Beijing’s standard line that while China’s building work was for defense, its main focus was civilian. China was building facilities such as lighthouses, while protecting the environment.
He said the focus of the East Asia Summit should be development.
“Hyping the South China Sea issue is not conducive to cooperation,” Liu said.
Beijing has been particularly angered by the Philippines’ case against China at an arbitration tribunal over their rival claims.
‘NO SECURITY RISK’: The Railway Bureau reassured the public that the technicians’ activities were limited to technical guidance and did not involve sensitive systems The Railway Bureau yesterday said it had invited eight Chinese technicians to assist with an airport MRT construction project. The bureau issued the confirmation after an Internet user said Chinese nationals had entered the construction zone of Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport’s Terminal 3 project. They asked why “individuals from an enemy state” were allowed access to such a major national infrastructure project, which raised serious concerns over Taiwan’s industrial safety, sensitive systems and information security. The bureau’s Northern Region Engineering Branch Office said subcontractor Taiwan Handle Industrial Co (台灣手把工業) of the Taoyuan airport MRT’s “Contract No. CU05 Project A14 Station Civil, MEP &
A US uncrewed surface vessel (USV) encountered multiple Chinese warships during an autonomous transit of the Taiwan Strait, US defense company Seasats said in a statement on Wednesday. Seasats announced that a Lightfish USV had completed the first autonomous transit of the Taiwan Strait. Over five days, the USV traversed the entire length of the Strait while constantly monitoring surface vessel traffic, the company said. The Lightfish encountered multiple Chinese warships, one of which was a Chinese People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) Type 056 corvette, it said. The Chinese vessels were operating “well within Taiwan’s exclusive economic zone without transmitting their identity via the
Taiwan is still in the process of assessing the possibility of recruiting workers from Eswatini, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said yesterday, adding that its goal is to help Eswatini upgrade its vocational training centers. If there are plans to recruit workers from Eswatini, safeguarding national security, protecting public health and ensuring the employment rights of Taiwanese would be prerequisites, Department of West Asian and African Affairs Director-General Yen Chia-liang (顏嘉良) told a news conference. Key considerations would also include filling labor shortages in specific industries, and fostering bilateral professional and technical exchanges, he said. Yen was asked about the progress of labor
‘BOOMING’: ’ The number of partners we have here is incredible. You can see from their stock prices. They’re doing so well, they’re so happy,’ Jensen Huang said Nvidia Corp’s spending in Taiwan has ballooned to about US$150 billion a year, 10 times the US$10 billion to US$15 billion the company spent five years ago, Nvidia chief executive officer Jensen Huang (黃仁勳) said yesterday, suggesting Taiwan’s strategic importance in the global artificial intelligence (AI) supply chain. “Taiwan is the epicenter of the AI revolution. This is where the chips come, packaging comes. This is where the systems are made. This is where AI supercomputers were created,” Huang said at a meeting for the company’s employees in Beitou-Shilin Technology Park (北投士林科技園區) in Taipei, the planned site of Nvidia’s Taipei headquarters. “Taiwan
RSS