Itu Aba is a small strip of land in the South China Sea occupied by Taiwan. Its name in Chinese is Taiping, which means peaceful or tranquil.CreditJohnson Lai/Associated Press
The New York Times
Date: May 20, 2018
By: Steven Lee Myers
ITU ABA, South China Sea — The largest natural feature of the Spratly Islands, the hotly
Itu Aba is a small strip of land in the South China Sea occupied by Taiwan. Its name in Chinese is Taiping, which means peaceful or tranquil.CreditJohnson Lai/Associated Press
disputed archipelago in the South China Sea, is a forested, sun-drenched oval of land, cleaved by a single runway that gives the place the appearance of a raw coffee bean floating in bright blue water.
Called Itu Aba, it is occupied not by China, which has aggressively asserted its territorial claims in the sea, but by its archrival, the self-governing democracy of Taiwan.
The two broadly agree that there is a historical Chinese stake in the South China Sea, but they diverge radically over how to exercise stewardship over it. [FULL STORY]
