Ocean Affairs Council (OAC) Minister Kuan Bi-ling (管碧玲) visited a second Taiwan-controlled islet deep in the South China Sea, she said today, adding that complaints by Vietnam about her trip would not cause any regional tensions.
Taiwan and China claim sovereignty over most of the South China Sea and Taiwan has control of Itu Aba (Taiping Island, 太平島) in the contested Spratly Islands (Nansha Islands, 南沙群島) in the southern part of the sea.
Writing on Facebook, Kuan, whose council runs the coast guard, said that in addition to visiting Itu Aba, she had also gone to the nearby and uninhabited Jhongjhou Reef (中洲礁) to carry out a beach cleanup.
Photo from Kuan's Facebook
"There, I personally witnessed marine debris that had drifted in from surrounding countries and gained a deeper appreciation for the day-to-day life of our coast guard personnel stationed in the Nansha islands," she added.
Kuan posted two pictures of herself and her team on Jhongjhou; one staffer carried a large Taiwan flag.
Speaking to reporters at the legislature later this morning about her South China Sea visit, Kuan said that "in the defense of sovereignty of course there is absolutely no backing down."
Kuan was in the Spratly Islands to carry out what the coast guard said were environmental and humanitarian drills.
Jhongjhou and Itu Aba are also claimed by China and Vietnam.
Kuan said Vietnam had complained about her trip, the first time in seven years a Taiwanese minister has visited Taiwan's holdings in the Spratly Islands, but that its protest "has not been notably more forceful than usual."
"Our exercise has not caused, nor will it cause, any regional tension," she said in her Facebook post.
Vietnam's foreign ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Itu Aba has a runway long enough to take military resupply flights from Taiwan and Taiwan opened a new wharf there in 2023 that is able to accommodate a 4,000-tonne patrol ship.
However, the island is lightly defended compared to nearby Chinese-controlled islands.
Chinese forces generally leave Itu Aba and Jhongjhou alone.
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