China will base a 5,000-tonne civilian patrol ship on one of the main islands it controls in the disputed South China Sea and begin regular patrols, an official newspaper said yesterday, a move likely to add fuel to territorial disputes with neighbors.
The China Ocean News, published by the State Oceanic Administration, said the ship would be based on Woody Island (永興島, Yongxing Island ) — which China calls Sansha City — in the Paracel Islands (西沙群島, Xisha Islands).
China will “gradually establish a regular patrol system on Sansha City to jointly protect the country’s maritime interests,” the report added.
It will continue to build infrastructure on the island, as well as a “joint platform for sharing maritime security data,” it said.
China is in an increasingly angry dispute with its neighbors over claims to parts of the potentially oil and gas-rich South China Sea.
China lays claim to almost the whole of the sea, which is criss-crossed by crucial shipping lanes.
It upset the Philippines and the US this month when rules went into force demanding fishing boats seek permission to enter waters under the jurisdiction of China’s southern province of Hainan, an area the provincial government says covers much of the South China Sea.
Chinese patrols in the South China Sea are generally conducted by civilian vessels, though China’s navy routinely carries out drills there, including late last year by the country’s first aircraft carrier.
The newspaper did not say when the patrols would begin, though said one of their focuses would be on search and rescue operations, and the “speedy, orderly and effective emergency response to sudden incidents at sea.”
Separately, the Beijing Times newspaper said that China would build the world’s largest maritime surveillance vessel, a 10,000-tonne ship that it said would be larger than an equivalent Japanese ship, currently the world’s largest surveillance vessel.
China formally approved the establishment of a military garrison on Woody Island two years ago.
China took full control of the Paracels — a cluster of close to 40 islets, outcrops and reefs — in 1974 after a naval showdown with the then-South Vietnam, and there have been incidents ever since. Taiwan also claims the Paracels.
Vietnam has accused China of harassing and even opening fire on fishing boats near the Paracels, charges Beijing has either denied or defended as a legitimate means of protecting its sovereignty.
Taiwan, Vietnam, Brunei, Malaysia and the Philippines also claim parts of the South China Sea, including the Spratly Islands (南沙群島, Nansha Islands).
MORE VISITORS: The Tourism Administration said that it is seeing positive prospects in its efforts to expand the tourism market in North America and Europe Taiwan has been ranked as the cheapest place in the world to travel to this year, based on a list recommended by NerdWallet. The San Francisco-based personal finance company said that Taiwan topped the list of 16 nations it chose for budget travelers because US tourists do not need visas and travelers can easily have a good meal for less than US$10. A bus ride in Taipei costs just under US$0.50, while subway rides start at US$0.60, the firm said, adding that public transportation in Taiwan is easy to navigate. The firm also called Taiwan a “food lover’s paradise,” citing inexpensive breakfast stalls
TRADE: A mandatory declaration of origin for manufactured goods bound for the US is to take effect on May 7 to block China from exploiting Taiwan’s trade channels All products manufactured in Taiwan and exported to the US must include a signed declaration of origin starting on May 7, the Bureau of Foreign Trade announced yesterday. US President Donald Trump on April 2 imposed a 32 percent tariff on imports from Taiwan, but one week later announced a 90-day pause on its implementation. However, a universal 10 percent tariff was immediately applied to most imports from around the world. On April 12, the Trump administration further exempted computers, smartphones and semiconductors from the new tariffs. In response, President William Lai’s (賴清德) administration has introduced a series of countermeasures to support affected
CROSS-STRAIT: The vast majority of Taiwanese support maintaining the ‘status quo,’ while concern is rising about Beijing’s influence operations More than eight out of 10 Taiwanese reject Beijing’s “one country, two systems” framework for cross-strait relations, according to a survey released by the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) on Thursday. The MAC’s latest quarterly survey found that 84.4 percent of respondents opposed Beijing’s “one country, two systems” formula for handling cross-strait relations — a figure consistent with past polling. Over the past three years, opposition to the framework has remained high, ranging from a low of 83.6 percent in April 2023 to a peak of 89.6 percent in April last year. In the most recent poll, 82.5 percent also rejected China’s
PLUGGING HOLES: The amendments would bring the legislation in line with systems found in other countries such as Japan and the US, Legislator Chen Kuan-ting said Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Chen Kuan-ting (陳冠廷) has proposed amending national security legislation amid a spate of espionage cases. Potential gaps in security vetting procedures for personnel with access to sensitive information prompted him to propose the amendments, which would introduce changes to Article 14 of the Classified National Security Information Protection Act (國家機密保護法), Chen said yesterday. The proposal, which aims to enhance interagency vetting procedures and reduce the risk of classified information leaks, would establish a comprehensive security clearance system in Taiwan, he said. The amendment would require character and loyalty checks for civil servants and intelligence personnel prior to
RSS