Saudi FM calls Indian, Pakistani counterparts to discuss developments    Al Hilal thrash Gwangju to reach AFC Champions League Elite semi-finals    Saudi Arabia cracks down on fraudulent Hajj campaigns, urges pilgrims to use official channels    Nammos Amala Resort to open soon with Saudi-Greek designs    Saudi Arabia completes 674 Vision 2030 initiatives, achieves 93% of KPIs as ninth-year milestone marked    Literature Commission inaugurates Saudi Pavilion at Muscat Book Fair    Saudi Minister of Culture holds talks with his Costa Rican counterpart in Jeddah    Alkhorayef praises advancements in Al-Kharj food industries sector    MHRSD: 80% of recruitment offices are non-compliant with regulations    At least 50 Palestinians killed in Israeli strikes across Gaza    Teenage girl killed in French school stabbing attack    Trump claims meeting with China after Beijing denies any trade negotiations    GACA chief chairs 16th meeting of the Steering Committee on aviation's strategy    Saudi Theater Commission launches its Work and Learn Project in UK    The season has begun — and one comment shook us all    Jennifer Lopez dazzles in Jeddah with a Formula 1 performance    Saudi Arabia open to expanded 64-team World Cup in 2034, says sports minister    Average life expectancy in Saudi Arabia rises to78.8 years    Film Commission launches 'Cinema' initiative to enhance content    Famed Philippine film star Nora Aunor dies at 71    Pakistani star's Bollywood return excites fans and riles far right    Veteran Bollywood actor Manoj Kumar dies at 87    Bollywood actress vindicated over boyfriend's death after media hounding    Grand Mufti rules against posting prayers and preaching in mosques on social media    Exotic Taif Roses Simulation Performed at Taif Rose Festival    Asian shares mixed Tuesday    Weather Forecast for Tuesday    Saudi Tourism Authority Participates in Arabian Travel Market Exhibition in Dubai    Minister of Industry Announces 50 Investment Opportunities Worth over SAR 96 Billion in Machinery, Equipment Sector    HRH Crown Prince Offers Condolences to Crown Prince of Kuwait on Death of Sheikh Fawaz Salman Abdullah Al-Ali Al-Malek Al-Sabah    HRH Crown Prince Congratulates Santiago Peña on Winning Presidential Election in Paraguay    SDAIA Launches 1st Phase of 'Elevate Program' to Train 1,000 Women on Data, AI    41 Saudi Citizens and 171 Others from Brotherly and Friendly Countries Arrive in Saudi Arabia from Sudan    Saudi Arabia Hosts 1st Meeting of Arab Authorities Controlling Medicines    General Directorate of Narcotics Control Foils Attempt to Smuggle over 5 Million Amphetamine Pills    NAVI Javelins Crowned as Champions of Women's Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (CS:GO) Competitions    Saudi Karate Team Wins Four Medals in World Youth League Championship    Third Edition of FIFA Forward Program Kicks off in Riyadh    Evacuated from Sudan, 187 Nationals from Several Countries Arrive in Jeddah    SPA Documents Thajjud Prayer at Prophet's Mosque in Madinah    SFDA Recommends to Test Blood Sugar at Home Two or Three Hours after Meals    SFDA Offers Various Recommendations for Safe Food Frying    SFDA Provides Five Tips for Using Home Blood Pressure Monitor    SFDA: Instant Soup Contains Large Amounts of Salt    Mawani: New shipping service to connect Jubail Commercial Port to 11 global ports    Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques Delivers Speech to Pilgrims, Citizens, Residents and Muslims around the World    Sheikh Al-Issa in Arafah's Sermon: Allaah Blessed You by Making It Easy for You to Carry out This Obligation. Thus, Ensure Following the Guidance of Your Prophet    Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques addresses citizens and all Muslims on the occasion of the Holy month of Ramadan    







Thank you for reporting!
This image will be automatically disabled when it gets reported by several people.



Beijing untypically quiet on Taiwan drills in South China Sea
Published in The Saudi Gazette on 30 - 11 - 2016

Taiwan held rescue drills on Tuesday off the coast of its sole outpost in the Spratly Islands of the South China Sea, but the biggest claimant in the disputed area kept uncharacteristically quiet.
China and self-governed Taiwan seldom see eye to eye, but in responding to Taipei's latest assertion of sovereignty over Itu Aba, Beijing has avoided the harsh language it often directs at other claimants to the busy waterway.
China, Taiwan, the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia and Brunei claim parts or all of the energy-rich South China Sea, through which trillions of dollars in trade passes annually.
Taiwan and China both suffered setbacks to their claims in July, when an international tribunal ruled that China's historic boundary, the so-called nine-dash line, was invalid, and said Itu Aba was a rock, rather than a self-sustaining island entitled to a 200-km economic zone.
Experts say Beijing is largely content for Taipei to push its claims on Itu Aba, the largest natural feature in the Spratlys, because China views Taiwan as a breakaway province to be taken back by force one day, if necessary.
So, while Chinese ships have confronted Malaysian, Philippine and Vietnamese vessels in the area, Taiwan's regular journeys to and from the lonely outcrop have gone unimpeded.
"Our supply transports have never encountered Chinese interference," Lee Chung-wei, minister of Taiwan's Coast Guard Administration, told reporters visiting Itu Aba for the rescue drills.
In the exercises, coast guard vessels and navy helicopters practiced how to retrieve injured crewmen from a burning ship and transport them to Itu Aba's small port and hospital.
Asked about the drills on Itu Aba, and whether Taiwan had an obligation to respect Chinese sovereignty there, China's foreign ministry underscored its desire for a unified approach.
"The Nansha Islands, including Taiping Island, are inseparable parts of China," spokesman Geng Shuang told a daily briefing in Beijing, using China's terms for the Spratlys and Itu Aba.
"Chinese people on both sides of the Taiwan Strait have an obligation to jointly protect this ancestral property."
Drills such as Tuesday's show Taiwan's determination to become an important player, said Ian Storey, a South China Sea scholar at Singapore's ISEAS Yusof Ishak Institute, adding that Taiwan officials and experts had told him of frustration at being diplomatically marginalized in the South China Sea.
Taiwan treads a fine line between annoying friendly South East Asian neighbors and the United States, its sole political ally and arms supplier, by being a proxy for China's sovereign interests, despite the risk of angering Beijing, he added.
"It is a tricky position that means they are broadly supportive of Beijing," Storey said. "They want to be seen as pushing their own Chinese claims, rather than Beijing's, even though they are essentially the same."
Taiwan officials say President Tsai Ing-wen kicked off plans for the drills in July, a month after Beijing cut official communication channels because Tsai, who leads the independence-leaning Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), refuses to commit to the ‘one China' principle that Taiwan is part of the mainland.
To maintain ties, Tsai must continue arguing that Itu Aba is an island, not a rock, and is not to be used by military forces of other nations, said Wu Shicun, head of the National Institute for South China Sea Studies.
"Doing so would likely mean that they would threaten China's sovereignty in the South China Sea," said Chinese government adviser Wu. "If she steps over these red lines, I believe China will take responsive action." — Reuters


Clic here to read the story from its source.