South China Sea signaling

Military moves around the South China Sea tightened this week as Taiwan sent a minister to Taiping Island and China readied its new Type 076 warship for drills. (taipeitimes.com) (thestar.com.my) Taiwan’s Ocean Affairs Council Minister Kuan Bi-ling visited Taiping on Tuesday, April 21, to watch a maritime rescue exercise, the first trip by a council head in seven years. The drill included intercepting a suspicious cargo ship, rescuing crew from a simulated collision, and evacuating injured people by C-130 aircraft. (focustaiwan.tw) (taipeitimes.com) Taiping, also called Itu Aba, is the largest naturally formed feature in the Spratly chain and sits about 1,600 kilometers southwest of Kaohsiung. Taiwan says it is turning the island into a humanitarian aid and supply base, and the outpost is staffed by about 200 coast guard personnel trained by the Marine Corps. (focustaiwan.tw) (taipeitimes.com) China, meanwhile, said the People’s Liberation Army would send the Sichuan, its new Type 076 amphibious assault ship, to the South China Sea for training tied to strike operations, counter-landing missions and air defense. Chinese reports said the ship is fitted with an electromagnetic catapult for launching fixed-wing drones and other aircraft. (thestar.com.my) (global.chinadaily.com.cn) The Chinese deployment overlaps with Balikatan exercises that opened on April 20 in the Philippines with more than 17,000 troops from seven countries. Japan is taking part as an active participant this year, alongside US and Philippine forces. (pna.gov.ph) (nippon.com) A Japanese Maritime Self-Defense Force destroyer, the Ikazuchi, also passed through the Taiwan Strait on April 17 on its way south. Japanese media said it was heading to the South China Sea for joint exercises with the United States and the Philippines. (taipeitimes.com) China’s foreign ministry called that transit “a deliberate provocation,” while Japan’s Self-Defense Forces declined to comment publicly on Beijing’s protest. Japanese media said Tokyo framed the passage as part of its support for freedom of navigation under international law. (taipeitimes.com) The South China Sea dispute reaches beyond naval drills because Taiping is also claimed by China, the Philippines and Vietnam. A 2016 arbitration ruling under the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea rejected China’s nine-dash-line claims and found that none of the Spratly features, including Itu Aba, generated a full 200-nautical-mile exclusive economic zone. (docs.pca-cpa.org) (amti.csis.org) This week’s sequence left three separate signals in the same waters: Taiwan put a civilian minister on a contested outpost, China pushed a new drone-capable warship toward sea trials and drills, and Japan sent a destroyer through the strait toward allied exercises. (taipeitimes.com) (thestar.com.my) (taipeitimes.com)