Authorities yesterday reaffirmed the nation’s sovereignty over islands in the South China Sea, including Itu Aba Island (Taiping Island, 太平島), after Vietnam said a Coast Guard Administration (CGA) humanitarian exercise on Tuesday violated Vietnamese sovereignty.
Three aircraft, eight naval vessels and 336 personnel took part in the drill, which simulated a scenario in which five people jumped overboard from foreign-flagged cargo ship on fire, with all five being rescued and transported to Itu Aba for medical treatment, the administration said.
The exercise turned into a real rescue operation, as a journalist invited to cover the drill experienced gastrointestinal bleeding and was transferred to a hospital in Kaohsiung, Executive Yuan spokesman Hsu Kuo-yung (徐國勇) said.
Photo: Wang Yi-sung, Taipei Times
The drill, part of President Tsai Ing-wen’s (蔡英文) policy to transform Itu Aba into a base for humanitarian aid and logistical support, was the nation’s first humanitarian exercise in the South China Sea since she took office.
However, Vietnam, which also claims sovereignty over several islands in the region, said Taiwan had violated its sovereignty and caused tensions in the area to rise, calling on Taipei to refrain from similar actions.
“The sovereignty of islands in the South China Sea is Taiwan’s, which is an undeniable truth. The government will not change its position, despite the objections of the Vietnamese government,” CGA Director-General Lee Chung-wei (李仲威) said.
The South China Sea is an important waterway, and frequent fishing activity in the region has caused a variety of incidents, Lee said, reaffirming the necessity of the rescue exercise and the agency’s deployment of vessels and personnel to Itu Aba.
The drill was planned independently of China, which carried out a live-fire training exercise in the region last week, Lee said.
While there is no immediate need for Tsai to visit Itu Aba, the possibility of such a visit cannot be ruled out, Lee said, when asked if the president or Premier Lin Chuan (林全) would visit the island to reassert the nation’s sovereignty.
When asked whether marines should be stationed on Itu Aba to improve its defenses, Lee said that the island, which was previously administered by the navy, is defended by personnel trained by the marine corps, and defense installations established by the navy remain unchanged.
The CGA has conducted 70 humanitarian assistance and disaster relief missions in the area, aiding about 100 people, since 2000, when it took over administration of the Pratas Islands (Dongsha Islands, 東沙群島) and the Spratly Islands (Nansha Islands, 南沙群島) in 2000, it said.
Hsu also reiterated that Itu Aba is a habitable island that can naturally sustain a human population, referring to a July ruling by the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague, Netherlands, that said Itu Aba is a “rock.”
China, the biggest claimant in the disputed waters, was uncharacteristically quiet about the drill.
Beijing is largely content to let Taipei push its claim to Itu Aba, because China views Taiwan as a breakaway province, experts said, explaining why Chinese ships have confronted Malaysian, Philippine and Vietnamese vessels in the area, but Taiwanese ships’ journeys to the region have gone unimpeded by China.
Additional reporting by Reuters
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