The government is on alert as tensions between China and Vietnam are again on the rise due to Beijing’s unilateral decision to resume the installation of oil rigs in the South China Sea, officials said yesterday.
Taiwanese businesses with investments in Vietnam are afraid of a repeat of the anti-China riots in May last year, officials said.
Riots broke out when China moved the Haiyang Shiyou 981 near the Paracel Islands (Xisha Islands, 西沙群島) in May last year, which the Vietnamese government protested as a violation of Vietnamese territorial claims, while China said the move was legal as the islands were under its military control.
Many Taiwanese businesses in Vietnam suffered break-ins and robberies, as well as arson due to anti-Chinese sentiment.
Taiwan also claims sovereignty of the Paracel Islands in the dispute over maritime boundaries and territories in the South China Sea.
According to a report on Huanqiu.com yesterday, which is owned by the Chinese Communist Party newspaper the People’s Daily, the Chinese Maritime Safety Administration announced on Thursday that from now until Aug. 20 it would be deploying oil rigs in the South China Sea.
The announcement was accompanied by a demand for unrelated ships to maintain a distance of 2km from the oil rigs.
The Haiyang Shiyou 981 is to be deployed to 17o 3.75 minutes north latitude and 109o 59.05 minutes east longitude, according to the administration’s Web site on Thursday.
Taiwanese officials said the location is southeast of the Chinese city of Sanya in Hainan Province and east of the Vietnamese city of Hue, adding that it was slightly northwest of the location that caused last year’s riots.
The officials said they expect the announcement to cause a strong reaction in Vietnam, and due to concerns for citizens abroad as well as the potential impacts to Taiwanese claims in the region, the government has ordered all foreign ministry officials to be on standby in the event of protests.
Taipei and New Taipei City government officials are aiming to have the first phase of the Wanhua-Jungho-Shulin Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) line completed and opened by 2027, following the arrival of the first train set yesterday. The 22km-long Light Green Line would connect four densely populated districts in Taipei and New Taipei City: Wanhua (萬華), Jhonghe (中和), Tucheng (土城) and Shulin (樹林). The first phase of the project would connect Wanhua and Jhonghe districts, with Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall and Chukuang (莒光) being the terminal stations. The two municipalities jointly hosted a ceremony for the first train to be used
The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) yesterday said it is fully aware of the situation following reports that the son of ousted Chinese politician Bo Xilai (薄熙來) has arrived in Taiwan and is to marry a Taiwanese. Local media reported that Bo Guagua (薄瓜瓜), son of the former member of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, is to marry the granddaughter of Luodong Poh-Ai Hospital founder Hsu Wen-cheng (許文政). The pair met when studying abroad and arranged to get married this year, with the wedding breakfast to be held at The One holiday resort in Hsinchu
Tropical Storm Usagi strengthened to a typhoon this morning and remains on track to brush past southeastern Taiwan between Friday and Sunday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The storm, which as of 8am was still 1,100km southeast of southern Taiwan, is currently expected to enter the Bashi Channel and then turn north, moving into waters southeast of Taiwan, the CWA said. Because of its rapid speed — 28kph as of 8am — a sea warning for the storm could be issued tonight, rather than tomorrow, as previously forecast, the CWA said. In terms of its impact, Usagi is to bring scattered or
An orange gas cloud that leaked from a waste management plant yesterday morning in Taoyuan’s Guanyin District (觀音) was likely caused by acidic waste, authorities said, adding that it posed no immediate harm. The leak occurred at a plant in the district’s Environmental Science and Technology Park at about 7am, the Taoyuan Fire Department said. Firefighters discovered a cloud of unidentified orange gas leaking from a waste tank when they arrived on the site, it said, adding that they put on Level A chemical protection before entering the building. After finding there was no continuous leak, the department worked with the city’s Department
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