The minister in charge of the coast guard on Tuesday made a rare visit to Taiwan-controlled Itu Aba Island (Taiping Island, —太平島) in the South China Sea for exercises, including practicing the armed boarding of a suspicious ship.
Taiwan has control of Itu Aba in the contested Spratly Islands (Nansha Islands, 南沙群島) in the southern part of the South China Sea.
Ocean Affairs Council Minister Kuan Bi-ling (管碧玲) visited Itu Aba for a "humanitarian relief, medical evacuation and marine pollution removal,” the coast guard said in a statement yesterday.
Photo courtesy of the Coast Guard Administration
The Central News Agency said it was the first time in seven years that a minister had visited Itu Aba, which is also claimed by China, Philippines and Vietnam.
In one part of the drill, coast guard special forces armed with guns practiced boarding a suspicious cargo ship that had refused to respond to hails.
"In order to safeguard the nation's rights and national security, the cargo vessel was escorted back to Taiping Island for further investigation," the coast guard said.
It shared video footage of the 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 tells a crew member.
Itu Aba has a runway long enough to take military resupply flights from Taiwan, and Taiwan opened a new wharf there in 2023 able to accommodate a 4,000 tonne patrol ship.
However, the island is lightly defended compared with nearby Chinese-controlled islands. Chinese forces generally leave Itu Aba alone.
Beijing has carried out extensive land reclamation on the South China Sea islets and outcrops it controls, building major air force and other military facilities, fueling concern in Washington and around the region where Brunei, Malaysia, Philippines and Vietnam also claim parts of the sea.
China says it has every right to build on and defend what it considers its territory.
Taiwan also controls the Pratas Islands (Dongsha Islands, 東沙群島) in the northern part of the South China Sea. China's air force and navy regularly operate nearby.
The South China Sea is a key shipping route through which billions of US dollars in trade passes every year, and an important fishing ground. It is also thought to hold substantial energy reserves.
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