The government formally opened a new solar power system on Taiping Island (太平島) in the South China Sea yesterday to cement its sovereignty over the disputed territory and help turn the Spratly Islands (南沙群島) into a “low-carbon area.”
“It wasn’t easy to finish the solar power system in two months and build Taiping into a low-carbon island, as it lies 860 nautical miles [1,592.7km] southwest of Taiwan [proper],” Chang Te-hao (張德浩), director of the Coast Guard Administration’s South Coast Guard Bureau, said at an inauguration ceremony on Taiping.
The 120 kilowatt-peak (kWp) solar power system, built near the island’s cultural park next to an airstrip, will generate an estimated 175,920 kilowatt hours of electricity per year, while saving NT$735,346 (US$24,260) in fuel costs, Chang said. The solar power system will replace 16.8 percent of the electricity currently produced by diesel generators, Chang said, and it will also eliminate 119 tonnes of carbon emissions per year.
The island still relies mainly on diesel generators, but fuel costs and carriage are expensive. Chang said turning Taiping into “Taiwan’s southernmost low-carbon island” shows the government’s determination to protect the ecosystem of the Spratly archipelago.
“The efforts also mark Taiwan’s role in the global village and its commitment to reducing carbon emissions,” Chang said. “Such a move, I believe, will receive recognition from other countries and it also demonstrates our sovereignty of the Spratly archipelago.”
Days before launching the system, Lee Ching-chi (李景琪), the new head of the coast guard’s Nansha Command on Taiping, said the new solar power plant was “worthy of celebration and a model other countries should follow.”
“We will use it as an example to encourage other countries to follow our footsteps [in conserving energy and protecting the environment],” Lee said.
To further reduce carbon emissions, the coast guard has also installed LED street lights, as well as energy-saving refrigerators, light bulbs, air conditioners and solar water heaters on the island, saving electricity fees of NT$3.99 million a year. The Bureau of Energy invested NT$21.99 million in the solar power system project, according to coast guard officials.
Coast guard officials said the solar power plant’s scale could be expanded in the future based on an increased need for electricity on the island.
Making Taiping a “low-carbon island” was an idea promoted by President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) at a South China Sea policy meeting in November last year.
The initiative hopes to cement Taiwan’s sovereignty in the area by focusing on scientific research and environmental protection.
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) on Wednesday said that a new chip manufacturing technology called “A16” is to enter production in the second half of 2026, setting up a showdown with longtime rival Intel over who can make the fastest chips. TSMC, the world’s biggest contract manufacturer of advanced computing chips and a key supplier to Nvidia and Apple, announced the news at a conference in Santa Clara, California, where TSMC executives said that makers of artificial intelligence (AI) chips will likely be the first adopters of the technology rather than a smartphone maker. Analysts said that the technologies announced on
NO RECIPROCITY: Taipei has called for cross-strait group travel to resume fully, but Beijing is only allowing people from its Fujian Province to travel to Matsu, the MAC said The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) yesterday criticized an announcement by the Chinese Ministry of Culture and Tourism that it would lift a travel ban to Taiwan only for residents of China’s Fujian Province, saying that the policy does not meet the principles of reciprocity and openness. Chinese Deputy Minister of Culture and Tourism Rao Quan (饒權) yesterday morning told a delegation of Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) lawmakers in a meeting in Beijing that the ministry would first allow Fujian residents to visit Lienchiang County (Matsu), adding that they would be able to travel to Taiwan proper directly once express ferry
CALL FOR DIALOGUE: The president-elect urged Beijing to engage with Taiwan’s ‘democratically elected and legitimate government’ to promote peace President-elect William Lai (賴清德) yesterday named the new heads of security and cross-strait affairs to take office after his inauguration on May 20, including National Security Council (NSC) Secretary-General Wellington Koo (顧立雄) to be the new defense minister and former Taichung mayor Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) as minister of foreign affairs. While Koo is to head the Ministry of National Defense and presidential aide Lin is to take over as minister of foreign affairs, Tsai Ming-yen (蔡明彥) would be retained as the nation’s intelligence chief, continuing to serve as director-general of the National Security Bureau, Lai told a news conference in Taipei. Koo,
MANAGING DIFFERENCES: In a meeting days after the US president signed a massive foreign aid bill, Antony Blinken raised concerns with the Chinese president about Taiwan US Secretary of State Antony Blinken yesterday met with Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) and senior Chinese officials, stressing the importance of “responsibly managing” the differences between the US and China as the two sides butt heads over a number of contentious bilateral, regional and global issues, including Taiwan and the South China Sea. Talks between the two sides have increased over the past few months, even as differences have grown. Blinken said he raised concerns with Xi about Taiwan and the South China Sea, along with China’s support for Russia and its invasion of Ukraine, as well as other issues