Ocean Affairs Council (OAC) Minister Kuan Bi-ling (管碧玲) on Tuesday visited Itu Aba Island (Taiping Island, 太平島) to observe a maritime rescue drill, marking the first visit by a council head in seven years to the Taiwan-controlled island in the disputed South China Sea.
The rescue drill was carried out in waters around Itu Aba, the largest naturally occurring island in the Spratly Islands (Nansha Islands, 南沙群島), by representatives from the Coast Guard Administration (CGA), as well as the transportation, defense, foreign and health ministries, with Kuan observing, the council said in a statement.
The drill — conducted as part of the government’s efforts to transform the island into a base for humanitarian aid and supplies in the South China Sea — began with a simulation of CGA patrol vessels intercepting a suspicious cargo ship near the island and escorting it to a dock for inspection.
Photo courtesy of the Coast Guard Administration
It also simulated the fiery collision of a Vietnamese-registered fishing vessel and a cargo ship, with crew members injured and some falling overboard, the CGA said.
In that exercise, the coast guard dispatched a rescue team and uncrewed aerial vehicles, while the Ministry of National Defense deployed a C-130 transport aircraft to evacuate the injured crew members to Taiwan proper for medical treatment.
The collision also caused a simulated oil spill, which was contained with the use of booms, the council said.
Photo courtesy of the Coast Guard Administration
It shared video footage of special forces, clad in black and heavily armed, entering the control room of the ship.
“You have entered the waters under the jurisdiction of our country. Please cooperate with the investigation,” one of the team told a crew member.
Itu Aba has a runway long enough for military resupply flights from Taiwan proper, and a new wharf was opened in 2023 to accommodate a 4,000-tonne patrol ship.
The last time an OCA head visited Itu Aba was in May 2019, when then-minister Lee Chung-wei (李仲威) made the trip to observe a similar rescue drill.
The island lies about 1,600km southwest of Kaohsiung and is administered as part of the city’s Cijin District (旗津).
It is staffed by about 200 coast guard personnel trained by the Marine Corps, and drills are held there regularly.
The island is also claimed by Vietnam, China and the Philippines.
It is one of two territories controlled by Taiwan in the South China Sea, the other being the Pratas Islands (Dongsha Islands, 東沙群島), which lie about 450km southwest of Kaohsiung.
Additional reporting by Reuters
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