Beijing is to start construction this year on a South China Sea islet within the Philippines’ claimed exclusive economic zone as it seeks to project its power in the disputed waters, Hong Kong media reported yesterday.
China would establish an outpost on Scarborough Shoal (Huangyan Island, 黃岩島), 230km off the Philippine coast, the South China Morning Post newspaper cited an unnamed source close to the People’s Liberation Army as saying.
Beijing claims nearly all the strategically vital sea, despite competing claims from several Southeast Asian nations, and in recent months has developed contested reefs into artificial islands, some topped with airstrips.
Manila claims the Scarborough Shoal, but says China took effective control of it in 2012, stationing patrol vessels in the area and shooing away Philippine fishermen, after a two-month stand-off with the Philippine Navy.
The newspaper cited the source as saying construction at the outpost would allow Beijing to “further perfect” its air coverage across the South China Sea, suggesting it plans to build an airstrip.
Speaking at a news conference, Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokeswoman Hua Chunying (華春瑩) said she was not aware of the report, but the area was China’s “inherent territory.”
Beijing will “adopt the necessary measures to resolutely protect China’s sovereignty and legitimate rights and interests,” she said.
The report comes ahead of an international tribunal ruling, expected within months, on a case brought by the Philippines over the South China Sea.
It also follows an announcement by the US and the Philippines that they would launch joint naval patrols in the area.
The construction plans were likely to be accelerated in light of the upcoming ruling from the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague, the newspaper cited the source as saying.
“China should regain the initiative to do so, because Washington is trying to contain Beijing by establishing a permanent military presence in the region,” the source said.
Hua said the recent patrol flights in the area by the Philippines and the US were “deserving of suspicion,” urging “some countries” active in the region to exercise restraint and “make cooperative efforts with China.”
Beijing admits building military-capable airstrips and deploying unspecified weapons on some of the islands, but insists US patrols have ramped up tensions.
Taiwan, the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia and Brunei have claims to parts of the sea, which is home to some of the world’s most important shipping lanes.
GET TO SAFETY: Authorities were scrambling to evacuate nearly 700 people in Hualien County to prepare for overflow from a natural dam formed by a previous typhoon Typhoon Podul yesterday intensified and accelerated as it neared Taiwan, with the impact expected to be felt overnight, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said, while the Directorate-General of Personnel Administration announced that schools and government offices in most areas of southern and eastern Taiwan would be closed today. The affected regions are Tainan, Kaohsiung and Chiayi City, and Yunlin, Chiayi, Pingtung, Hualien and Taitung counties, as well as the outlying Penghu County. As of 10pm last night, the storm was about 370km east-southeast of Taitung County, moving west-northwest at 27kph, CWA data showed. With a radius of 120km, Podul is carrying maximum sustained
Tropical Storm Podul strengthened into a typhoon at 8pm yesterday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said, with a sea warning to be issued late last night or early this morning. As of 8pm, the typhoon was 1,020km east of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost tip, moving west at 23kph. The storm carried maximum sustained winds of 119kph and gusts reaching 155kph, the CWA said. Based on the tropical storm’s trajectory, a land warning could be issued any time from midday today, it added. CWA forecaster Chang Chun-yao (張竣堯) said Podul is a fast-moving storm that is forecast to bring its heaviest rainfall and strongest
TRAJECTORY: The severe tropical storm is predicted to be closest to Taiwan on Wednesday and Thursday, and would influence the nation to varying degrees, a forecaster said The Central Weather Administration (CWA) yesterday said it would likely issue a sea warning for Tropical Storm Podul tomorrow morning and a land warning that evening at the earliest. CWA forecaster Lin Ting-yi (林定宜) said the severe tropical storm is predicted to be closest to Taiwan on Wednesday and Thursday. As of 2pm yesterday, the storm was moving west at 21kph and packing sustained winds of 108kph and gusts of up to 136.8kph, the CWA said. Lin said that the tropical storm was about 1,710km east of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost tip, with two possible trajectories over the next one
President William Lai (賴清德) yesterday criticized the nuclear energy referendum scheduled for Saturday next week, saying that holding the plebiscite before the government can conduct safety evaluations is a denial of the public’s right to make informed decisions. Lai, who is also the chairman of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), made the comments at the party’s Central Standing Committee meeting at its headquarters in Taipei. ‘NO’ “I will go to the ballot box on Saturday next week to cast a ‘no’ vote, as we all should do,” he said as he called on the public to reject the proposition to reactivate the decommissioned
RSS