The Ministry of National Defense (MND) is considering making the Taiping Island (
According to the proposal, if Itu Abu became an attraction visited by international tourists, the chances of it being attacked would decrease. Taiwan would be able to take advantage of this "natural protection," instead of devoting extra manpower or budget to defend the island.
"The atolls of the Spratly Islands are all easy to take but difficult to defend," a staff member from the ministry's spokesman office said. "The ministry is currently working on several solutions to defend the Itu Abu more effectively, but at this time there has been no decision yet."
Taiwan currently occupies Itu Abu, but the islet has also attracted the notice of neighboring countries, including China, Vietnam, the Philippines and Malaysia.
According to the latest edition of the Taiwan Year Book, there are 192 atolls in the region. Forty-eight of them are occupied by six countries, including Taiwan, China, Vietnam, the Philippines, Malaysia and Brunei. Taiwan claims one of them, China eight, Vietnam 27, the Philippines nine, Malaysia three and Brunei one.
Vietnam has dispatched more than 2,000 soldiers to defend its claims, while China's army has assigned more than 600 soldiers to its atolls and the Philippines has 100 military personnel defending its islets.
The official, who wished to remain anonymous, said that Minister of National Defense Lee Jye (
According to the official, participants in the meetings -- all of whom were ministry staffers -- came up with several proposals to solve the problem peacefully, including making Itu Abu a tourist attraction and welcoming foreign tourists, resuming military defense of the island or simply withdrawing all defenses and giving the island up.
The official also said the idea of turning Itu Abu into a tourist attraction had been affirmed as a smart move by local military analysts, as the chances of a foreign country attacking a location full of foreign visitors would be significantly lower.
The official said that Itu Abu is difficult to defend because it is about 1,592km from Taiwan, and currently no air force aircraft are capable of flying directly to the island to help defend it if a military conflict were to take place. In the past, the military used to assign a platoon of marines to defend Itu Abu but these were withdrawn in 1999, and the Coast Guard Administration took over the job.
In addition, shipping supplies to the island by boat takes at least two days from Taiwan. Once near the islet, passengers and supplies must be transferred to smaller boats to land on the island, since there is no suitable harbor or airport on Itu Abu.
Taiwan would benefit from more integrated military strategies and deployments if the US and its allies treat the East China Sea, the Taiwan Strait and the South China Sea as a “single theater of operations,” a Taiwanese military expert said yesterday. Shen Ming-shih (沈明室), a researcher at the Institute for National Defense and Security Research, said he made the assessment after two Japanese military experts warned of emerging threats from China based on a drill conducted this month by the Chinese People’s Liberation Army’s (PLA) Eastern Theater Command. Japan Institute for National Fundamentals researcher Maki Nakagawa said the drill differed from the
‘WORSE THAN COMMUNISTS’: President William Lai has cracked down on his political enemies and has attempted to exterminate all opposition forces, the chairman said The legislature would motion for a presidential recall after May 20, Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) said yesterday at a protest themed “against green communists and dictatorship” in Taipei. Taiwan is supposed to be a peaceful homeland where people are united, but President William Lai (賴清德) has been polarizing and tearing apart society since his inauguration, Chu said. Lai must show his commitment to his job, otherwise a referendum could be initiated to recall him, he said. Democracy means the rule of the people, not the rule of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), but Lai has failed to fulfill his
A rally held by opposition parties yesterday demonstrates that Taiwan is a democratic country, President William Lai (賴清德) said yesterday, adding that if opposition parties really want to fight dictatorship, they should fight it on Tiananmen Square in Beijing. The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) held a protest with the theme “against green communists and dictatorship,” and was joined by the Taiwan People’s Party. Lai said the opposition parties are against what they called the “green communists,” but do not fight against the “Chinese communists,” adding that if they really want to fight dictatorship, they should go to the right place and face
A fugitive in a suspected cosmetic surgery fraud case today returned to Taiwan from Canada, after being wanted for six years. Internet celebrity Su Chen-tuan (蘇陳端), known as Lady Nai Nai (貴婦奈奈), and her former boyfriend, plastic surgeon Paul Huang (黃博健), allegedly defrauded clients and friends of about NT$1 billion (US$30.66 million). Su was put on a wanted list in 2019 when she lived in Toronto, Canada, after failing to respond to subpoenas and arrest warrants from the Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office. Su arrived at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport at 5am today on an EVA Air flight accompanied by a
RSS