Taiwan minister visits second disputed islet
- Taiwan Ocean Affairs Council Minister Kuan Bi-ling said Wednesday she also visited Zhongzhou Reef, days after a rare trip to Taiwan-held Itu Aba. - Kuan said she went to the uninhabited reef for a beach cleanup and brushed off Vietnam’s protest, saying the visit would not raise tensions. - Taiwan’s move came as its military tracked two Chinese warships near Penghu in the Taiwan Strait. (reuters.com)
Taiwan’s coast guard minister said on April 29 that she also visited Zhongzhou Reef, a second Taiwan-controlled feature in the disputed South China Sea. (reuters.com) Ocean Affairs Council Minister Kuan Bi-ling wrote on Facebook that, in addition to her April 22 trip to Itu Aba, she went to the nearby uninhabited Zhongzhou Reef for a beach cleanup. (reuters.com) (taipeitimes.com) Kuan said Vietnam had complained about the trip but added that the visit would not cause regional tensions. Vietnam’s foreign ministry had objected after her earlier stop on Itu Aba. (reuters.com) Itu Aba, also called Taiping Island, is the largest naturally occurring feature controlled by Taiwan in the Spratly Islands. China, Vietnam and the Philippines also claim it. (reuters.com) (independent.co.uk) Kuan’s April 22 visit to Itu Aba was the first by a Taiwanese minister in seven years, according to Taiwan’s Central News Agency, and included coast guard drills on boarding a suspicious ship. (reuters.com) (rappler.com) The disclosure landed a day after Taiwan’s defense ministry said two Chinese warships had entered waters southwest of the Penghu Islands in the Taiwan Strait. Taipei said it sent naval and air forces to monitor them. (reuters.com) (focustaiwan.tw) Taiwan identified the ships as a Luyang II-class guided-missile destroyer and a Jiangkai II-class guided-missile frigate. Penghu hosts major Taiwanese navy and air bases and sits close to the Taiwan side of the strait. (focustaiwan.tw) (reuters.com) China claims democratically governed Taiwan as its own territory and sends warships and aircraft around the island almost daily. Taiwan rejects Beijing’s sovereignty claim. (reuters.com) The South China Sea dispute was also aired at the United Nations this week, where China denounced criticism from Japan and the European Union over maritime tensions. (reuters.com) For Taipei, Kuan’s trip put a civilian minister on two far-flung outposts at the same moment Taiwan was publicly tracking Chinese naval movement much closer to home. (reuters.com 1) (reuters.com 2)
