Control Yuan member Lee Ping-nan (李炳南) and government officials involved in national security on Wednesday flew to Taiping Island (太平島), the largest island in the Spratly Islands (南沙群島).
Speaking by telephone, Lee, who initiated the trip, declined to identify the officials who accompanied him, but said the excursion by C-130 transport plane was part of an investigation into the government’s efforts to safeguard sovereignty in the South China Sea that he is working on with Control Yuan members Ger Yeong-kuang (葛永光) and Chou Yang-shan (周陽山).
The trio planned to forward suggestions on how the government should reaffirm the nation’s sovereignty over the Spratlys, the Paracel Islands (西沙群島), Macclesfield Bank (中沙群島) and the Pratas Islands (東沙群島), as well as their surrounding waters, seabeds and subsoil, Lee said.
“I would suggest that the government restore its military deployment on Taiping Island, where 120 Coast Guard Administration officers are stationed in addition to 30 air force and marine officers in charge of the weather radar station,” Lee said.
Amid rising tensions between China, the Philippines and Vietnam over their respective claims in the region, which is also claimed all or in part by Taiwan, Malaysia, Brunei and Indonesia, lawmakers have suggested the government dispatch military forces. It has not done so, but has had the marines train coast guard personnel stationed on the island.
Half of the 120 coast guards on Taiping have completed training that makes them “equivalent to the marines in terms of combat skills,” Lee said, adding that the rest of the coast guard detachment would undergo the same training.
Lee said he would also suggest the government improve the runway, harbor facilities and infrastructure on Taiping to allow for smooth logistics support for the coast guards and for the possibility of opening the island to tourists.
In related news, following a seven-day research trip by a group of maritime law students and academics to Taiping last month, a group of 23 college students set off on Wednesday on a four-day excursion to the Pratas to learn about the islands’ ecosystem.
At a regularly scheduled Ministry of Foreign Affairs press conference yesterday, Baushuan Ger (葛葆宣), deputy secretary-general of the Department of East Asian and Pacific Affairs, said that the ministry has not received any complaints from rival claimants about the research trips, which were organized by the Ministry of Education, the Coast Guard Administration, the Ministry of National Defense and Dongsha Atoll Marine National Park Headquarters.
The foreign ministry fully supported the trips because they could enhance the country’s claim to sovereignty over the region, Ger said.
SECURITY: As China is ‘reshaping’ Hong Kong’s population, Taiwan must raise the eligibility threshold for applications from Hong Kongers, Chiu Chui-cheng said When Hong Kong and Macau citizens apply for residency in Taiwan, it would be under a new category that includes a “national security observation period,” Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) Minister Chiu Chui-cheng (邱垂正) said yesterday. President William Lai (賴清德) on March 13 announced 17 strategies to counter China’s aggression toward Taiwan, including incorporating national security considerations into the review process for residency applications from Hong Kong and Macau citizens. The situation in Hong Kong is constantly changing, Chiu said to media yesterday on the sidelines of the Taipei Technology Run hosted by the Taipei Neihu Technology Park Development Association. With
CARROT AND STICK: While unrelenting in its military threats, China attracted nearly 40,000 Taiwanese to over 400 business events last year Nearly 40,000 Taiwanese last year joined industry events in China, such as conferences and trade fairs, supported by the Chinese government, a study showed yesterday, as Beijing ramps up a charm offensive toward Taipei alongside military pressure. China has long taken a carrot-and-stick approach to Taiwan, threatening it with the prospect of military action while reaching out to those it believes are amenable to Beijing’s point of view. Taiwanese security officials are wary of what they see as Beijing’s influence campaigns to sway public opinion after Taipei and Beijing gradually resumed travel links halted by the COVID-19 pandemic, but the scale of
A US Marine Corps regiment equipped with Naval Strike Missiles (NSM) is set to participate in the upcoming Balikatan 25 exercise in the Luzon Strait, marking the system’s first-ever deployment in the Philippines. US and Philippine officials have separately confirmed that the Navy Marine Expeditionary Ship Interdiction System (NMESIS) — the mobile launch platform for the Naval Strike Missile — would take part in the joint exercise. The missiles are being deployed to “a strategic first island chain chokepoint” in the waters between Taiwan proper and the Philippines, US-based Naval News reported. “The Luzon Strait and Bashi Channel represent a critical access
Pope Francis is be laid to rest on Saturday after lying in state for three days in St Peter’s Basilica, where the faithful are expected to flock to pay their respects to history’s first Latin American pontiff. The cardinals met yesterday in the Vatican’s synod hall to chart the next steps before a conclave begins to choose Francis’ successor, as condolences poured in from around the world. According to current norms, the conclave must begin between May 5 and 10. The cardinals set the funeral for Saturday at 10am in St Peter’s Square, to be celebrated by the dean of the College