Beijing's reaction to reports that Taiwan president Chen Shuibian may be visiting the Spratlys, known in Chinese as the Nansha Islands, has been restrained. Asked to articulate China's position at a press briefing in Beijing last week, foreign ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu gave a stock response:
"China possesses indisputable sovereignty over the Nansha Islands and its adjacent waters. We have the resolve and capability to safeguard our sovereignty and territorial integrity. We will continue to be devoted to peace and stability of the South China Sea."
Conspicuously missing was any specific criticism of the independence-leaning Chen for taking what Taiwan media referred to as a trip designed to proclaim sovereignty over the disputed islands.
Taiwan's United Daily reported on January 20 that Chen's visit would take place in the run-up to the March 22 presidential election. Chen's spokesman refused to confirm the report, stating ambiguously that "the president visits various troop units before the Lunar New Year each year."
Taiwan has maintained troops on Taiping Islet (Itu Aba Island), the largest island in the Spratlys, for decades. Over the years they constructed, among other facilities, a radar station and a power plant on this atoll that measures a mere 1.4 kilometer in length and 400 meters in width. Construction of an airstrip began in 2006. And last Monday a Taiwan Air Force C-130 transport plane made a first-ever landing on the islet and returned to Taiwan the same day.
Last Thursday, as Vietnam voiced strong objections to the C-130 landing, Chinese media, which had been following the development closely, cited press reports as saying that Chen would take a C-130 to Taiping Islet in advance of the February 7 Chinese Lunar New Year. Chinese media reports on the possible visit were matter-of-fact and devoid of any personal attack on Chen.
By a curious coincidence, on the same day as Vietnam's protest the website of the Beijing-backed Ta Kung Pao in Hong Kong carried an article titled "Why are resources in the South China Sea being plundered in a reckless manner?"
First appearing in "Ordnance Knowledge," a bimonthly journal of the China Ordnance Society, the article accuses Vietnam, Malaysia, and the Philippines of stepping up military activities in the area despite the fact that they are signatories to the 2002 Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea. It states further that these countries, along with Brunei and Indonesia, have reaped enormous economic benefits from oil and natural gas prospecting in the region at the expense of China. Other resources being "plundered" include the ocean's marine life.
Only in the last paragraph of the article is Taiwan mentioned:
In terms of urgency, the Nansha issue ranks below the Taiwan problem. However, depending on the strategic needs of our nation, the order of priority is not immutable.
Meanwhile, China's netizens have been quite vocal in criticizing Vietnam's protest against the landing of the C-130. Interestingly, however, they have largely expressed support for Chen's reported--albeit still unconfirmed--Spratly visit, viewing it as an expression of Chinese control over the disputed islands. Some applauded Chen for "finally doing something right." Others asked why Beijing "has been mum" on this turn of events.
