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Why China and Taiwan agree on the South China Sea
Fierce political rivals find common ground on historical accounts that say the sea's scattered islands are Chinese territory
By BERTIL LINTNER TAIPEI, JUNE 17, 2018 11:02 AM (UTC+8)
If there’s anything China and Taiwan can agree on, it’s that the contested scattered islands in the South China Sea are Chinese territory. But while China flexes its muscles to assert authority over the islands, making the maritime region into a geo-strategic hotspot, Taiwan has no such ambitions.
When the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague ruled in July 2016 in favor of the Philippines against China’s claims, the Office of Taiwan’s president rejected the verdict in terms similar to Beijing.
The court found that China has no “historical right” based on its so-called nine-dash line map that encompasses nearly 90% of the South China Sea, including most of the maritime region’s islands.
China responded by saying it would not abide by the ruling, which it hasn’t judging by its recent moves to militarize the various features it claims in the area.
Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), like the People’s Republic of China (PRC) on the mainland, lays claim to the same islands, which are also in whole or part claimed by the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia and Brunei.
Taiwan actually controls the largest natural land mass in the contested Spratly Islands, the 0.5 square kilometer Taiping Island, also known as Itu Aba, as well as the nearby unoccupied Zhongzhou Reef.
Among the facilities on Itu Aba are a 1,200-meter airstrip which caters to C-130 transport planes and smaller aircraft from Taiwan’s air force.
There is also a hospital, meteorological station, a shelter for fishermen, satellite telecommunications facilities, radar surveillance equipment, and a temple dedicated to Guanyin, the Goddess of Mercy in Mahayana Buddhism.
Chinese fishermen are known in ancient times to have visited the island — the only actual island in the Spratlys, as many would argue the others are little more than rocks, shoals and reefs. The island’s various histories vary as much as today’s claims.
Some have argued that France recognized the Spratlys as well as the Paracel Islands to the north as sovereign Chinese territory after the 1884-1885 Sino-French war. That is disputed by some historians, who argue that the maritime boundary applied only to Tonkin, today’s northern Vietnam.
In 1932, France did claim both island groups and the following year included them in French Indochina, which led to protests from a then weak China and a powerful Japan. But France did little to develop the islands beyond building a couple of weather stations.
In 1938, during World War II, Japan took the islands from France and established a garrison as well as a submarine base on Itu Aba. Administratively, the island fell under Taiwan, then a Japanese territory.
After the end of World War II, Taiwan was reunited with China and the islands in the South China Sea became part of southern Guangdong province. Chinese warships were dispatched to Itu Aba in 1946, and since then it has been controlled by the Republic of China.
http://www.atimes.com/article/why-china-and-taiwan-agree-on-the-south-china-sea/
Fierce political rivals find common ground on historical accounts that say the sea's scattered islands are Chinese territory
By BERTIL LINTNER TAIPEI, JUNE 17, 2018 11:02 AM (UTC+8)
If there’s anything China and Taiwan can agree on, it’s that the contested scattered islands in the South China Sea are Chinese territory. But while China flexes its muscles to assert authority over the islands, making the maritime region into a geo-strategic hotspot, Taiwan has no such ambitions.
When the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague ruled in July 2016 in favor of the Philippines against China’s claims, the Office of Taiwan’s president rejected the verdict in terms similar to Beijing.
The court found that China has no “historical right” based on its so-called nine-dash line map that encompasses nearly 90% of the South China Sea, including most of the maritime region’s islands.
China responded by saying it would not abide by the ruling, which it hasn’t judging by its recent moves to militarize the various features it claims in the area.
Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), like the People’s Republic of China (PRC) on the mainland, lays claim to the same islands, which are also in whole or part claimed by the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia and Brunei.
Taiwan actually controls the largest natural land mass in the contested Spratly Islands, the 0.5 square kilometer Taiping Island, also known as Itu Aba, as well as the nearby unoccupied Zhongzhou Reef.
Among the facilities on Itu Aba are a 1,200-meter airstrip which caters to C-130 transport planes and smaller aircraft from Taiwan’s air force.
There is also a hospital, meteorological station, a shelter for fishermen, satellite telecommunications facilities, radar surveillance equipment, and a temple dedicated to Guanyin, the Goddess of Mercy in Mahayana Buddhism.
Chinese fishermen are known in ancient times to have visited the island — the only actual island in the Spratlys, as many would argue the others are little more than rocks, shoals and reefs. The island’s various histories vary as much as today’s claims.
Some have argued that France recognized the Spratlys as well as the Paracel Islands to the north as sovereign Chinese territory after the 1884-1885 Sino-French war. That is disputed by some historians, who argue that the maritime boundary applied only to Tonkin, today’s northern Vietnam.
In 1932, France did claim both island groups and the following year included them in French Indochina, which led to protests from a then weak China and a powerful Japan. But France did little to develop the islands beyond building a couple of weather stations.
In 1938, during World War II, Japan took the islands from France and established a garrison as well as a submarine base on Itu Aba. Administratively, the island fell under Taiwan, then a Japanese territory.
After the end of World War II, Taiwan was reunited with China and the islands in the South China Sea became part of southern Guangdong province. Chinese warships were dispatched to Itu Aba in 1946, and since then it has been controlled by the Republic of China.
http://www.atimes.com/article/why-china-and-taiwan-agree-on-the-south-china-sea/
