A Coast Guard Administration (CGA) official yesterday reiterated that no US or Chinese vessels entered Taiwan’s territorial waters around Itu Aba Island (Taiping Island, 太平島) in the disputed South China Sea on Nov. 3, despite counterclaims made by a Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) legislator.
Jia Chih-kuo (賈治國), deputy head of the CGA’s patrol, made the statement during a news conference held by KMT Legislator Charles Chen (陳以信), when the lawmaker accused the CGA of lying about intrusions by US and Chinese warships earlier this month.
Chen presented photographs he received from an anonymous source allegedly taken at the Taiwan-controlled island on Nov. 3, which he said proved that vessels from the US and China were detected about 3 nautical miles (5.56km) from Taiping.
Photo: Luo Tien-pin, Taipei Times
However, there were no indications exactly when and where the photographs were taken or how far the foreign vessels were from Taiping Island.
The KMT lawmaker also said that the Democratic Progressive Party government was doing nothing to expel foreign vessels even though they had been detected within 12 nautical miles, or inside the territorial waters, of the island.
In response, Jia said that coast guards posted on Taiping Island did detect a Chinese warship and a US vessel near the island on Nov. 3 and closely monitored their movements.
However, the two foreign vessels were detected about 21 nautical miles northeast of Taiping Island. Neither vessel came within 12 nautical miles, nor did they enter the territorial waters of the island on Nov. 3, he said.
“The closest the Chinese vessel came was 13.4 nautical miles from Taiping Island,” Jia said.
In a statement, the US Seventh Fleet said that the USS Dewey, an Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer, completed a freedom of navigation operation near the Spratly Islands (Nansha Islands, 南沙群島) on Nov. 3.
Meanwhile, the Chinese-language United Daily News reported that an unidentified Chinese warship sailed near Taiping on the same day.
During a legislative session on Monday last week, National Security Bureau Director-General Tsai Ming-yen (蔡明彥) did not give a direct answer when asked about the matter.
Tsai said that if a foreign vessel sailed within 12 nautical miles of Taiping, the CGA would report the incident to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, which would take appropriate measures.
Tsai did not explain what measures the ministry would take in response to such an intrusion, but it is believed that an official protest would be lodged with the government of a foreign vessel found entering the nation’s territorial waters.
Later that night, Ocean Affairs Council Minister Kuan Bi-ling (管碧玲) wrote on Facebook that no foreign vessels trespassed into Taiping’s territorial waters on Nov. 3.
Meanwhile, asked about how the CGA would bolster its patrols around the island, amid rising tensions in the region, Jia said that the CGA sends 3,000-tonne vessels on routine patrols around Taiping four times a month.
The CGA would soon deploy patrol vessels of about 100 tonnes to Taiping once a wharf expansion project is completed, he said, although he did not say when the project is expected to be completed.
Currently, only vessels of about 20 tonnes are able to dock at the island.
Taiping, the largest of the naturally occurring Spratly Islands in the South China Sea, lies 1,600km southwest of Kaohsiung and is administered as part of the city’s Cijin District (旗津).
The island is occupied by about 200 CGA personnel trained by the Republic of China Marine Corps, and drills are held regularly. The island is also claimed by Vietnam, China and the Philippines.
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