Military officials yesterday confirmed that Republic of China Navy warships have docked at a recently completed pier on Itu Aba Island (Taiping Island, 太平島) in the South China Sea, and said the pier would also be able to accommodate the 10,000-tonne Panshih fast combat support ship.
The Naval Command Headquarters Office said public acknowledgment can help to enhance Taiwan’s sovereignty claim over Itu Aba and its surrounding marine territories, as it indicates the capability to maintain access to its sea lanes, and the area is under the control and protection of the navy.
The Naval Meteorological and Oceanographic Office on Monday published a warning for commercial maritime shipping of a submerged reef in the area in its Notice to Mariners, which naval authorities issue regularly to advise ships of important matters affecting navigational safety, new hydrographic information, changes in sea channels and aids to navigation.
Photo: CNA, provided by Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Lin Yu-fang
The notice gave the longitude and latitude of the submerged reef, with the information that it has a radius of 4m and charted depth of 3.8m, adding that “mariners are advised to navigate with caution in this area.”
Reports of the warship’s docking came to light when a group of university students returned to Taiwan on Friday after a field trip to the Spratly Islands (Nansha Islands, 南沙群島) organized by the Ministry of National Defense.
They boarded a Kang Ding-class frigate — a modified and renovated French-built La Fayette-class frigate — to sail from Zuoying Naval Base in Kaohsiung to Itu Aba, and docked at the island’s new pier, which was completed at the end of last year.
Naval officials confirmed that other warships have also docked at the pier, including the 5,000-tonne Chung Ho-class tank landing ship LST-232, to supply the remote outpost island, which is also claimed by Vietnam, the Philippines and China.
Reports said that the pier, with its 210m berth, can accommodate the Panshih, the nation’s fast combat support ship.
Development work on the island began in 2014 with a NT$3.3 billion (US$101.15 million) budget to build two new piers and a lighthouse, and extend the island’s airstrip to 1,195m to accommodate C-130 military transport aircraft.
The contract was awarded to the Taiwan Area National Expressway Engineering Bureau, with the work including improvements to the island’s electrical lighting; a storm sewer line; oil tanks and oil transmission pipelines; new paving for the airstrip; and expansion of the hangar area to accommodate two C-130 planes.
On Friday, a week before the end of his term, President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) organized trips for local and international media, as well as a delegation of former Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) officials, to visit the disputed island.
Ma said that was to assert the nation’s sovereignty over Itu Aba, and the surrounding atolls and islets in the region, while opposition parties and other nations have said the actions escalated tensions in the South China Sea, and other critics have said it represented an attempt by Ma to claim the area on behalf of China.
CHIPMAKING INVESTMENT: J.W. Kuo told legislators that Department of Investment Review approval would be needed were Washington to seek a TSMC board seat Minister of Economic Affairs J.W. Kuo (郭智輝) yesterday said he received information about a possible US government investment in Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) and an assessment of the possible effect on the firm requires further discussion. If the US were to invest in TSMC, the plan would need to be reviewed by the Department of Investment Review, Kuo told reporters ahead of a hearing of the legislature’s Economics Committee. Kuo’s remarks came after US Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick on Tuesday said that the US government is looking into the federal government taking equity stakes in computer chip manufacturers that
POWER PLANT POLL: The TPP said the number of ‘yes’ votes showed that the energy policy should be corrected, and the KMT said the result was a win for the people’s voice The government does not rule out advanced nuclear energy generation if it meets the government’s three prerequisites, President William Lai (賴清德) said last night after the number of votes in favor of restarting a nuclear power plant outnumbered the “no” votes in a referendum yesterday. The referendum failed to pass, despite getting more “yes” votes, as the Referendum Act (公民投票法) states that the vote would only pass if the votes in favor account for more than one-fourth of the total number of eligible voters and outnumber the opposing votes. Yesterday’s referendum question was: “Do you agree that the Ma-anshan Nuclear Power Plant
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) lawmakers have declared they survived recall votes to remove them from office today, although official results are still pending as the vote counting continues. Although final tallies from the Central Election Commission (CEC) are still pending, preliminary results indicate that the recall campaigns against all seven KMT lawmakers have fallen short. As of 6:10 pm, Taichung Legislators Yen Kuan-heng (顏寬恒) and Yang Chiung-ying (楊瓊瓔), Hsinchu County Legislator Lin Szu-ming (林思銘), Nantou County Legislator Ma Wen-chun (馬文君) and New Taipei City Legislator Lo Ming-tsai (羅明才) had all announced they
Nvidia Corp CEO Jensen Huang (黃仁勳) yesterday visited Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), as the chipmaker prepares for volume production of Nvidia’s next-generation artificial intelligence (AI) chips. It was Huang’s third trip to Taiwan this year, indicating that Nvidia’s supply chain is deeply connected to Taiwan. Its partners also include packager Siliconware Precision Industries Co (矽品精密) and server makers Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密) and Quanta Computer Inc (廣達). “My main purpose is to visit TSMC,” Huang said yesterday. “As you know, we have next-generation architecture called Rubin. Rubin is very advanced. We have now taped out six brand new
RSS