Official inaugurates new wharf, lighthouse, reasserting Taiwan’s territorial claims in South China Sea
The Wall Street Journal
Date: Dec. 13, 2015
By: Jeremy Page
BEIJING—Taiwan’s interior minister has paid a rare visit to a disputed island in
A handout picture from the Taiwanese Interior Ministry shows Taiwanese officials, naval officers and Coast Guard officers posing for pictures in front of the Taiwanese flag on the island of Taiping in the South China Sea, 12 December 2015.
the South China Sea and inaugurated a new wharf and lighthouse there, reasserting his government’s territorial claims in a region where China’s land reclamation has ignited international tensions.
Chen Wei-zen and other senior officials flew to Taiping Island on Saturday to preside over a ceremony marking the completion of a two-year project to upgrade infrastructure, according to a statement from Taiwan’s interior ministry.
Taiping Island, which houses a military airfield, is the largest natural island in the Spratlys chain and the only one controlled by Taiwan, whose claims in the area overlap with those of China, Vietnam, Malaysia, the Philippines and Brunei. [FULL STORY]
