By J. Michael Cole
Strategically located in the middle of the Spratly island chain in the hotly contested South China Sea, Taiping Island is precious real estate.
Besides being the largest feature in the Spratlys, the Taiwan-controlled island is home to one of the only two airstrips in the area that is long enough to accommodate large aircraft such as the Hercules C-130.
Located a mere 800km from the Scarborough Shoal, less than 600km from Vietnam’s coast and 500km from the Philippines island of Palawan, Taiping can be instrumental for projecting power and securing sea lanes in an area that is home to overlapping sovereignty claims between China, Vietnam, Brunei, the Philippines, Malaysia, and Taiwan. As a bonus, Taiping has abundant fisheries and is the only island in the Spratlys to feature an indigenous supply of fresh water.
Taiwan is now reportedly assessing the possibility of adding 300-500m to the 1,150m runway, which it completed in 2008 amid protests by regional countries (Thitu Island, which is controlled by the Philippines, is the only other island in the Spratlys that has an airstrip long enough for large aircraft to operate from). This follows an announcement in February that Taiwan would build a 7-meter-high tactical air navigation (TACAN) facility on the island to facilitate instrument landing (until it is completed in September, pilots have to make visual contact to land their aircraft, even in bad weather).
The move would turn a valuable piece of real estate into an even more attractive one, while creating both opportunities and possible risks for Taiwan.
Read the full story at The Diplomat