Navy Captain Feng Yun-sheng (鳳運昇) affirmed that Itu Aba Island (Taiping Island, 太平島) is an island, not just a rock, when he welcomed three naval ships to the South China Sea island late last month, a Military News Agency report said.
Feng, the commander of Nansha Command, invited crew of the “Fleet of Friendship” led by Rear Admiral Wang Kuo-chiang (王國強) to drink fresh water drawn from the island’s Well No. 5.
The Panshi, which is the nation’s largest naval vessel, the Tian-Dan and the Wu Chang were on their way back to Taiwan after a visit to Palau, the Solomon Islands and the Marshall Islands as part of the navy’s 48-day training cruise in the Pacific Ocean for midshipmen.
Photo: Lo Tien-pin, Taipei Times
Feng said that the fresh water was evidence that Itu Aba is an island, according to the report published on Wednesday last week.
Feng’s assertion about the island was considered noteworthy, because the case the Philippines filed against China at the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague, Netherlands, in 2013, centered on Manila’s contention that Itu Aba and other islands claimed by China in the South China Sea are only rocks with no fresh water or arable soil and are unfit for human habitation, so therefore no sovereignty claim could be made within their 12 nautical-mile (22km) territorial waters.
The court in 2016 ruled in the Philippines’ favor, saying that Itu Aba, which Taiwan also claims, is a rock and therefore not entitled to an exclusive economic zone.
Itu Aba, which is 1,600km south of Taiwan, is the largest natural island in the Spratly Islands (Nansha Islands, 南沙群島) chain. The Republic of China has controlled it since 1946.
The government insists that Itu Aba can sustain human habitation and is therefore not a rock.
The military has an airstrip, dairy farm and a hospital on it.
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