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Lawrence Chung

Taiwan’s newly expanded pier on a disputed South China Sea islet will allow it to berth vessels as large as 4,000-tonne military frigates.
However, the NT$1.74 billion (US$55.7 million) project is posing a dilemma for Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen as tensions run high in the region.
The Taiwan-controlled islet of Taiping is the largest natural feature of the Spratly Islands, a South China Sea archipelago wholly claimed also by Beijing, the Philippines and Vietnam.
Tsai is now facing calls from her Democratic Progressive Party to lead the inauguration of the renovated pier next month – in a symbolic reassertion of Taiwan’s claims over Taiping, also known as Itu Aba.
Does Taiwan-held Taiping Island need a longer runway?
Taiwan’s Coast Guard Administration (CGA) said the completed project cleared inspection checks on January 20.
“With the newly renovated pier, we plan to dispatch a 100-tonne petrol vessel to Taiping later this year for regular stationing,” an official said on Monday.
Military frigates and other vessels of up to 4,000 tonnes would be able to dock at the outer pier following the dredging and deepening of navigation channels, the official added.
The project, launched by Tsai in 2020, also includes a new typhoon-proof facility for the inner pier. Taiwan has controlled Taiping since 1956, and has a garrison as well as rockets stationed on the islet.
The renovation of the pier – built in 2015 – would help to boost Taiwanese coastguard patrol missions around Taiping, while strengthening humanitarian rescue efforts and scientific research, the CGA said.
It said the military could now also use larger ships to send ammunition and other supplies to Taiping, to bolster the combat readiness of coastguard and troops.
The CGA will hold an inauguration ceremony for the renovated facilities, the official confirmed, but asked if Tsai would be invited to attend the event, he said: “Everything is still under planning.”
On Monday, lawmakers from Tsai’s independence-leaning DPP urged her to attend the ceremony to reassert Taiwan’s claims. Tsai has never visited Taiping.
“Every past president has visited Taiping and it is appropriate for President Tsai to do the same,” DPP legislator Hsu Chih-chieh said, referring to former leaders Chen Shui-bian of the DPP and Ma Ying-jeou of the main opposition Kuomintang (KMT).
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DPP lawmaker Lai Jui-lung said a visit to Taiping would help Tsai fulfil her duties as leader of Taiwan, as it controls the islet.
Former KMT lawmaker Charles Chen I-hsin also joined the calls. “As a leader, President Tsai should visit Taiping to assert our sovereignty,” he said. “Otherwise, it could mean she or her government doesn’t care about our claim on Taiping.”
The Presidential Office, however, said it would make Tsai’s itinerary public if “there is such an arrangement”.
A visit by Tsai risks stoking tensions in the South China Sea, given the rival claims to Taiping – which lies about 1,500km (932 miles) from southern Taiwan and 853km from the Philippines.
The renovation project, which reportedly includes an extension of Taiping’s airstrip by more than a third, has drawn protests from the Philippines and Vietnam.
Speculation that the Tsai government ordered the renovation to help US warships dock at Taiping has also riled Beijing, which sees Taiwan as a part of China, to be reunited by force if necessary.
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The United States, like most countries, does not recognise Taiwan as an independent state, but is opposed to any attempt to take the self-governed island by force and is committed to supplying it with weapons.
Beijing has also accused the US of abusing international law by sending warships to the disputed South China Sea for military manoeuvres – passages Washington claims are in line with freedom of navigation rights in international waters.
Tensions flared last month after a Philippine boat and a mainland Chinese ship collided near the contested Second Thomas Shoal in the Spratlys, a flashpoint between the two countries.


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South China Sea: why Taiwan’s bigger pier on disputed Taiping islet may have put President Tsai in a spot

Taiwan has controlled Taiping since 1956 and has a garrison and rockets stationed there. Photo: AFP

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A Chinese coastguard ship passes by a Philippine fishing boat at the disputed Scarborough Shoal. Photo: Joely Saligan/AP

A Chinese coastguard vessel manoeuvres beside the Philippine coastguard ship BRP Cabra as they approach Second Thomas Shoal, locally known as Ayungin Shoal, during a resupply mission on the disputed South China Sea. Photo: AP

Filipino fishermen Joely Saligan points to a video, his crew took showing Chinese coastguard beside their boat. Photo: AP

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Illustration: Lau Ka-kuen

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China and the Philippines are rival claimants to the Second Thomas Shoal in the South China Sea. Photo: AP

News

China

Politics

Renovated pier on Taiping, part of the Spratly Islands claimed also by Beijing, the Philippines and Vietnam, will be able to dock 4,000-tonne frigates
Calls for President Tsai Ing-wen to lead its opening in assertion of Taiwan’s claims have sparked fears of worsening regional tensions


President Tsai Ing-wen is facing calls to lead the opening of renovated pier in assertion of Taiwan’s claims over disputed islet, contested by Beijing, the Philippines and Vietnam.


South China Sea: why Taiwan’s bigger pier on disputed Taiping islet may have put President Tsai in a spot

Renovated pier on Taiping, part of the Spratly Islands claimed also by Beijing, the Philippines and Vietnam, will be able to dock 4,000-tonne frigates Calls for President Tsai Ing-wen to lead its opening in assertion of Taiwan’s claims have sparked fears of worsening regional tensions

Renovated pier on Taiping, part of the Spratly Islands claimed also by Beijing, the Philippines and Vietnam, will be able to dock 4,000-tonne frigates

Calls for President Tsai Ing-wen to lead its opening in assertion of Taiwan’s claims have sparked fears of worsening regional tensions