Located off the coast of Yunlin and Chiayi counties, Waisanding Sandbar (外傘頂洲), the country's largest offshore sandbar, is in need of protection because of rapid erosion, the head of National Sun Yat-sen University's College of Marine Sciences warned.
Dean Chen Yang-yi (陳陽益) said research carried out by the university has shown that 1,067 hectares of the island disappeared due to erosion over the past 40 years, a trend that continues to this day. He also said that currents and north-easterly winds were gradually pushing the island southwest out to sea at a rate of about 60m to 70m per year, while also pulling the mass of land apart.
Chen says the island was probably formed by sediment accretion at the mouths of the Chuoshui River (濁水溪), Peikang River (北港溪) and Hsiluo River (西螺溪). However, river dredging and engineering projects by the Japanese government beginning in 1911 greatly reduced the amount of silt flowing into the ocean. Without a resupply of sediment on its east side, the island began to erode and migrate further out to sea.
Chen suggested constructing artificial barriers to block ocean waves and planting more vegetation to help hold the island together. He also recommended filling in depleted areas with earth from Putai Port (布袋港), which has a problem with sediment buildup.
Chiayi County Commissioner Chen Ming-wen (
Yunlin County Commissioner Su Chih-fen (蘇治芬) said on Thursday that the island had already moved to a position off the coast of Chiayi County, making it difficult for Yunlin County to administer it. She urged the central government to help coordinate between the two counties to prevent further erosion.
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
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