MANILA, Philippines - Taiwan has made known its plan to deploy an advanced air defense missile system in its occupied islet in the hotly contested West Philippine Sea.
As published in the Taiwanese media on Friday, Taiwan Defense Minister Kao Hua-chu said their Coast Guard units deployed on Itu Aba island in the Spratlys now need the Tien Chien I missiles in the area, apparently replacing its 1980s-era Chaparral missiles.
This is Taiwan’s response, the reports said, to its concerns that rival Spratly claimants have been continuously building up their arms in the disputed region.
Taiwanese legislator Lin Yu-fang, who fully supports the plan, said the proposed ground-to-air missile deployment would be legitimate.
Lin cited the ministry’s recent report on the military buildups by Vietnam and other neighboring countries in the area.
Lin said Vietnam has deployed thousands of Marines in the region with the backing of Russian-made SU-27SK and SU-30KM2 fighter jets, in contrast to the Taiwanese Coast Guard deployed at Itu Aba who are only equipped with 20-mm air defense guns.
The Taiwanese legislator also warned that in the event of a flare-up in the region, the Taiwanese Coast Guard could also hardly defend themselves against the Philippines, whose troops are equipped with naval gunboats.
Kao endorsed a proposal passed by the country’s defense committee Wednesday demanding Coast Guard units on Itu Aba and the Pratas islands - claimed by China - be armed with Tien Chien I missiles.
The United States appealed for calm Friday after learning that Taiwan had prepared to deploy missiles in the region over concerns that rival claimants to disputed islands are building up their arms.
“We encourage all claimants to resolve their disputes through peaceful means, in accordance with international law and without resorting to the threat or use of force,” Pentagon spokesman George Little told reporters.
China claims all of the South China Sea, including hundreds of Spratly islands and reefs.
Taiwan, Vietnam, Brunei, China, Malaysia and the Philippines claim all or part of the Spratlys, which could lie on top of large oil reserves, thus making the region a possible flashpoint of conflict.
The Taiwanese Coast Guard currently has a 130-strong garrison on Itu Aba, the biggest island in the Spratly archipelago. It has a modern military runway aside from military bunkers and houses.
The second biggest island, Pag-Asa, the center of the Kalayaan Island municipality, is occupied by Filipino troops with civilian residents as well.
A local senior security official, who asked not to be named, earlier warned that the exclusion of Taiwan in all the efforts of claimant-countries to resolve the territorial dispute peacefully, presents a major security debacle to the solution of the problem.
“Without Taiwan’s participation in all these talks, there is always a danger of a shooting war breaking out. Not us, nor Vietnam, Malaysia or Brunei starting it, but the Chinese and Taiwanese forces,” he said.
On the other hand, Mayor Eugenio Bito-onon, elected mayor of the Kalayaan Island municipality in the Spratlys, said Itu Aba is already outside of the country’s exclusive economic zone (EEZ).
He said Taiwan’s planned deployment of a missile system on the island is not such a big concern for now.
Bito-onon though admitted he was also alarmed by the development, saying he has been monitoring frequent landings of a Taiwanese C-130 Hercules plane on Itu Aba.
“Maybe the Taiwanese government just wants to boost the morale of their troops while at the same time show its resolve to defend its territorial claim,” Bito-onon said.
If the Taiwanese missile deployment pushes through, Bito-onon said local security forces would now be on the lookout for possible incursions of Taiwanese soldiers in the 47 still unoccupied islets near Itu Aba, all within the country’s EEZ.
The Defense department and the leadership of the Armed Forces’ Western Command (Wescom) declined to comment on the issue.
Wescom has security jurisdiction over the country’s territory in the West Philippine Sea.
A combined Philippine-US naval exercise dubbed Phiblex (amphibious landing exercises) is slated to be held later this month at an undisclosed area in the West Philippine Sea.