Taiwan is considering stationing armed vessels permanently on a disputed South China Sea island, officials said, a move bound to renew friction in a region claimed almost wholly by China, with Vietnam already dismissing such a plan as “illegal.”
The potentially energy-rich Spratly Islands, also known as the Nansha Islands (南沙群島), are one of the main flashpoints in the South China Sea, with claims also made by Vietnam, Malaysia, the Philippines and Brunei, and are closely watched by the US after China placed a giant oil rig in nearby waters also claimed by Vietnam.
Itu Aba Island, also known as Tai Ping Island (太平島), is the only island in the Spratlys large enough to accommodate a port — currently under construction. Taiwan had previously said the port, expected to be completed late next year, would allow 3,000-tonne naval frigates and coastguard cutters to dock there.
Officials at the nation’s coast guard, which administers Itu Aba, and at the Ministry of National Defense, which stations troops there, said the port could become the permanent home of armed vessels.
“We are discussing this possibility,” Taiwanese Navy Chief of Staff Admiral Chen Yung-kang (陳永康) said, acknowledging that “it is a very sensitive issue.”
Taiwanese coast guard head of communications Shih Yi-che (施義哲) said: “The purpose of this action would be to promulgate the Republic of China’s sovereignty and power in defending our territory around Tai Ping Island.”
Rivals China and Taiwan share claims to virtually the entire South China Sea, a legacy of the Chinese Civil War when the Communists split from the Nationalists and took control of China in 1949. The Nationalists settled in Taiwan and as the Republic of China still claim to be the legitimate rulers of “Greater China.”
China, which claims Taiwan as a renegade province and has not ruled out the use of force to bring it under its control, issued a sanguine response to Taiwan’s plan.
“Taiwan and the mainland are both part of one China. Relevant activities by Chinese people in the Spratly Islands and its nearby seas, including on Tai Ping, are beyond reproach,” the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement sent to Reuters.
Experts believe China prefers Itu Aba to remain under Taiwan’s control rather than fall into the hands of other rivals, given its ultimate goal of reunification.
However, Taiwan ships on permanent call in the Spratlys would represent a new headache for Chinese Communist Party (CCP) rulers in Beijing as they grapple with weeks-long pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong and face separatist calls in the far-western regions of Tibet and Xinjiang Province.
Itu Aba is Taiwan’s only holding in the disputed region, but it boasts the larger of two landing strips in the archipelago and is the only island with its own fresh water supply, making a long-term presence possible.
“It reinforces the trend of increased paramilitary activity across the South China Sea,” Ian Storey, a South China Sea expert at Singapore’s Institute of South East Asian Studies, said of Taiwan’s plan.
“I would fully expect we’ll see Vietnam make some kind of pro-forma protest, followed by the Philippines,” he added.
The ships would mainly be used for rescue and maintenance, though they would be equipped with weapons systems, Shih and an official at the Ministry of National Defense said.
It was not immediately clear how many ships would be stationed there or when a final decision would be made.
Taiwan has not taken sides with China in the South China Sea, despite their historical ties, given the political mistrust between them — and because of its need to maintain good relations with its biggest ally and arms supplier, the US, a vocal critic of Beijing’s policies in the disputed waters.
A senior commander in the Philippine navy said that Taiwan’s plan would lead to increased military activity in the Spratlys and that it could raise the possibility of “incidents,” while a spokesman for the Vietnamese Ministry of Foreign Affairs called any such move “illegal and groundless.”
Malaysia has five permanent stations in the Spratlys and there is always at least one navy ship at a station, a navy spokesman said.
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