Equation
Lieutenant General
Great for desalination of sea water as well when needed.
PLAN SCS Bases/Islands/Vessels (Not a Strategy Page)
- Thread starter lilzz
- Start date
Official inaugurates new wharf, lighthouse, reasserting Taiwan’s territorial claims in South China Sea
By JEREMY PAGE
Dec. 13, 2015 9:57 a.m. ET
BEIJING—Taiwan’s interior minister has paid a rare visit to a disputed island in the South China Sea and inaugurated a new wharf and lighthouse there, reasserting his government’s territorial claims in a region where China’s land reclamation has ignited international tensions.
Chen Wei-zen and other senior officials flew to Taiping Island on Saturday to preside over a ceremony marking the completion of a two-year project to upgrade infrastructure, according to a statement from Taiwan’s interior ministry.
Taiping Island, which houses a military airfield, is the largest natural island in the Spratlys chain and the only one controlled by Taiwan, whose claims in the area overlap with those of China, Vietnam, Malaysia, the Philippines and Brunei.
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But Mr. Chen, the interior minister, also thanked coast-guard personnel and construction workers for helping to defend the island, according to the statement.
And he reaffirmed Taiwan’s position that Taiping should be considered a natural island, rather than a rock, because it had sufficient ground water and other resources to sustain human life, according to the statement.
Under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, a natural island capable of sustaining human habitation is entitled to an exclusive economic zone—which allows regulation of matters such as mineral and fishing rights—stretching up to 200 nautical miles from its shores.
Defense experts say Taiwan has been building a new wharf on Taiping Island—also known as Itu Aba—to allow larger ships to dock there, while upgrading its airstrip to allow frequent flights by larger cargo planes.
The island’s 1,195-meter (3,944-foot) airstrip is big enough to accommodate Taiwan’s F-16 fighters, C-130 Hercules cargo planes and P-3 maritime patrol aircraft, according to the Center for Strategic and International Studies, or CSIS, in Washington.
Taiwan took control of Taiping Island in 1946, established a permanent base in 1956 and sent 100 coast-guard personnel to replace its marines there in 2000, according to the CSIS Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative, which monitors territorial disputes in the area.
I wonder if the Philippines will mention these facts about Taiping island when they claim it doesn't generate an EEZ. I have heard the Philippines argue that because the soldiers there require aid from Taiwan, it shouldn't count as generating economic activity by itself. Which leads to a whole host of abuse, as we can find countries which are net importers of food as "requiring aid from abroad" to survive and hence can't generate an EEZ (assuming they have a coastline to generate an EEZ).
Sports facility. This is amazing. What are they doing there, building a resort?
joshuatree
Captain
No doubt future deployments will be longer so better facilities to keep fit and detracted from boredom. More interesting are the greenish plots on Chigua. Hydroponics? Division of labor? One site focuses on producing fresh produce while another focuses on something else while all serve the primary mission of presence and monitoring?
I hope authorities on these islands will actively ''encourage'' shooting sports to all adults living and working on these islands. There's plenty of space for outdoor ranges and bring in instructors to teach island residents the proper way of competitive sports shooting. All weapons and ammo used, free of charge of course!