The Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs yesterday reasserted Beijing’s right to develop its South China Sea island outposts following a US think tank report that China has built new radar facilities in the disputed Spratly Islands (Nansha Islands, 南沙群島).
Citing commercial satellite imagery, the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) said the radars on the Spratly Islands could be key to helping China establish effective control over the strategically vital area’s sea and airspace.
China has been building islands on top of reefs and atolls it controls, then adding air strips, harbors and other infrastructure that would help consolidate its control.
Taiwan, Vietnam, Brunei, Malaysia and the Philippines also have maritime claims that overlap with Beijing’s and the US has said it is concerned about China’s militarization of the area. Beijing rejects the accusations, saying it is merely installing defensive measures on islands, primarily for civilian purposes.
Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying (華春瑩) said she had no specific information about the CSIS report, but said China had undisputed sovereignty over the area.
“It’s within China’s sovereignty to carry out constructions on its own territories,” Hua told reporters at a regularly scheduled news conference in Beijing. “By deploying some necessary defensive facilities on the relevant islands and reefs it defends in the South China Sea, China is exercising the right of self-preservation that every country enjoys according to international law, which is beyond reproach.”
Hua reiterated charges that international media are paying too little attention to China’s construction of lighthouses, weather stations, fishermen’s shelters and other civilian infrastructure that Beijing portrays as public goods and services for the benefit of the international community.
She said China’s pursuit of peaceful development and good neighborly relations should not be called into question.
“China wants to make joint efforts with each side to keep the South China Sea peaceful and stable,” Hua said.
The CSIS report said the new radars would significantly bolster China’s ability to keep an eye on ship and aircraft traffic in the southern portion of the South China Sea, complementing its monitoring of the sea’s northern areas from existing facilities.
“Improved radar coverage is an important piece of the puzzle — along with improved air defenses and greater reach for Chinese aircraft — toward China’s goals of establishing effective control over the sea and airspace,” the report said.
The report comes a week after it was revealed that Beijing had deployed surface-to-air missiles in the Paracel Islands (Xisha Islands, 西沙群島), northwest of the Spratlys. The US said the presence of missiles provided increasing evidence of militarization of the area by China. China subsequently accused the US of militarizing the region, saying patrols by US Navy vessels and military aircraft had escalated tensions and raised concerns about stability in the area.
The South China Sea and ongoing tensions on the Korean Peninsula were expected to dominate yesterday’s talks between US Secretary of State John Kerry and Chinese Minister of Foreign Affairs Wang Yi (王毅).
People can preregister to receive their NT$10,000 (US$325) cash distributed from the central government on Nov. 5 after President William Lai (賴清德) yesterday signed the Special Budget for Strengthening Economic, Social and National Security Resilience, the Executive Yuan told a news conference last night. The special budget, passed by the Legislative Yuan on Friday last week with a cash handout budget of NT$236 billion, was officially submitted to the Executive Yuan and the Presidential Office yesterday afternoon. People can register through the official Web site at https://10000.gov.tw to have the funds deposited into their bank accounts, withdraw the funds at automated teller
PEACE AND STABILITY: Maintaining the cross-strait ‘status quo’ has long been the government’s position, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said Taiwan is committed to maintaining the cross-strait “status quo” and seeks no escalation of tensions, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) said yesterday, rebutting a Time magazine opinion piece that described President William Lai (賴清德) as a “reckless leader.” The article, titled “The US Must Beware of Taiwan’s Reckless Leader,” was written by Lyle Goldstein, director of the Asia Program at the Washington-based Defense Priorities think tank. Goldstein wrote that Taiwan is “the world’s most dangerous flashpoint” amid ongoing conflicts in the Middle East and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. He said that the situation in the Taiwan Strait has become less stable
CONCESSION: A Shin Kong official said that the firm was ‘willing to contribute’ to the nation, as the move would enable Nvidia Crop to build its headquarters in Taiwan Shin Kong Life Insurance Co (新光人壽) yesterday said it would relinquish land-use rights, or known as surface rights, for two plots in Taipei’s Beitou District (北投), paving the way for Nvidia Corp to expand its office footprint in Taiwan. The insurer said it made the decision “in the interest of the nation’s greater good” and would not seek compensation from taxpayers for potential future losses, calling the move a gesture to resolve a months-long impasse among the insurer, the Taipei City Government and the US chip giant. “The decision was made on the condition that the Taipei City Government reimburses the related
FRESH LOOK: A committee would gather expert and public input on the themes and visual motifs that would appear on the notes, the central bank governor said The central bank has launched a comprehensive redesign of New Taiwan dollar banknotes to enhance anti-counterfeiting measures, improve accessibility and align the bills with global sustainability standards, Governor Yang Chin-long (楊金龍) told a meeting of the legislature’s Finance Committee yesterday. The overhaul would affect all five denominations — NT$100, NT$200, NT$500, NT$1,000 and NT$2,000 notes — but not coins, Yang said. It would be the first major update to the banknotes in 24 years, as the current series, introduced in 2001, has remained in circulation amid rapid advances in printing technology and security standards. “Updating the notes is essential to safeguard the integrity
RSS