The Ministry of National Defense said yesterday that it is planning to station military forces on Taiping Island (
"We recognize the strategic significance of the Spratly Islands and we are planning to return our marines [to Taiping Island]," minister Lee Jye (李傑) told a legislative national defense committee meeting yesterday.
The ministry withdrew its marines from the Pratas and Spratly islands in 1999 citing logistical difficulties, leaving the coastguard to patrol those territories.
Airstrip
Construction of an airstrip on Taiping Island began late last year. Although the ministry initially said that it was being built for humanitarian purposes, such as emergency rescue efforts by the coastguard of sick or injured sailors or fishermen, it later admitted that it also had strategic value.
That admission, together with the more recent decision to place marines on the island suggests that the ministry is taking a more active approach to protecting the nation's territorial waters in the South China Sea.
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Lin Yu-fang (林郁方) said in the legislative meeting that China had various ways of placing pressure on Taiwan, one of which could be to launch a surprise attack on either Taiping Island or Wuchiu Island (烏坵) in Kinmen County.
In admitting the strategic considerations behind the government's plan to build an airstrip on Taiping Island, former deputy minister of national defense Michael Tsai (
Against this backdrop, it would be very helpful if Taiwan could expand its strategic depth and improve its early warning capability by building a base in the South China Sea, which is an international thoroughfare for airplanes and ships, Tsai said.
Military experts have said that if Taiwanese military aircraft were able to take off and land on outlying islands in the South China Sea, the nation's defensive capabilities would be vastly improved.
Submarines
Observers have also noted that Chinese exploration vessels frequently appear in waters south of Taiwan, speculating that they do so in order to conduct hydrographic research for their submarine fleets.
They warned that the waters around the Spratly Islands and Pratas Islands are strategically significant because the submarines of Beijing's South China Sea fleet must pass the islands to enter the waters southwest of Taiwan, or to enter the Pacific Ocean through the Bashi Strait.
The Spratly Islands, which consist of more than 100 small islands or reefs surrounded by rich fishing grounds and oil deposits, are claimed either entirely or partially by Taiwan, China, Vietnam, Malaysia and the Philippines.
While Taiwan occupies Taiping Island, China, Malaysia, the Philippines and Vietnam have also stationed small numbers of military forces on some of the other islands.
The first global hotel Keys Selection by the Michelin Guide includes four hotels in Taiwan, Michelin announced yesterday. All four received the “Michelin One Key,” indicating guests are to experience a “very special stay” at any of the locations as the establishments are “a true gem with personality. Service always goes the extra mile, and the hotel provides much more than others in its price range.” Of the four hotels, three are located in Taipei and one in Taichung. In Taipei, the One Key accolades were awarded to the Capella Taipei, Kimpton Da An Taipei and Mandarin Oriental Taipei. Capella Taipei was described by
EVA Airways today confirmed the death of a flight attendant on Saturday upon their return to Taiwan and said an internal investigation has been launched, as criticism mounted over a social media post accusing the airline of failing to offer sufficient employee protections. According to the post, the flight attendant complained of feeling sick on board a flight, but was unable to take sick leave or access medical care. The crew member allegedly did not receive assistance from the chief purser, who failed to heed their requests for medical attention or call an ambulance once the flight landed, the post said. As sick
The Taichung District Court yesterday confirmed its final ruling that the marriage between teenage heir Lai (賴) and a man surnamed Hsia (夏) was legally invalid, preventing Hsia from inheriting Lai’s NT$500 million (US$16.37 million) estate. The court confirmed that Hsia chose not to appeal the civil judgement after the court handed down its ruling in June, making the decision final. In the June ruling, the court said that Lai, 18, and Hsia, 26, showed “no mutual admiration before the marriage” and that their interactions were “distant and unfamiliar.” The judge concluded that the couple lacked the “true intention of
INDUSTRY: Beijing’s latest export measures go beyond targeting the US and would likely affect any country that uses Chinese rare earths or related tech, an academic said Taiwanese industries could face significant disruption from China’s newly tightened export controls on rare earth elements, as much of Taiwan’s supply indirectly depends on Chinese materials processed in Japan, a local expert said yesterday. Kristy Hsu (徐遵慈), director of the Taiwan ASEAN Studies Center at the Chung-Hua Institution for Economic Research, said that China’s latest export measures go far beyond targeting the US and would likely affect any country that uses Chinese rare earths or related technologies. With Japan and Southeast Asian countries among those expected to be hit, Taiwan could feel the impact through its reliance on Japanese-made semi-finished products and
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