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| Taiping Island (Wiki Info - Image: Wiki Commons) |
By J. Michael Cole
Taiwan has announced it will invest 3.37 billion New Taiwan Dollars (US$106.5 million) over three years to build a wharf on Taiping Island in the disputed Spratly Archipelago to increase its naval presence in the area, a move that is likely to irritate other claimants to the region.
According to Lin Yu-fang, a legislator from the Kuomintang (KMT) who sits on the Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee, 1 billion NTD (US$33.6 million) is to be set aside for the project during FY 2014. The budget is expected to be passed by the Legislative Yuan when it reconvenes later this month. Work on the wharf is to be carried out by the National Expressway Engineering Bureau under the Ministry of Transportation and Communications.
Located some 1,600 km from Kaohsiung in southern Taiwan, Taiping (also known as Itu Aba), is the largest of the Spratly Islands and the only one with fresh water in the area. It features a 1,150 m Taiwanese runway, which was completed in 2008 under the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) administration, and a small wharf that can accommodate vessels with a displacement of no more than 6 tons. The new wharf will be able to accommodate heavier vessels from the Coast Guard Administration (CGA), which is currently in charge of protecting Taiwan’s claims to the island, as well as Navy ships if necessary.
Read the full story at The Diplomat