Taiwan is one of seven nations laying claims of one kind or another to islands in the South China Sea. “Islands” is hardly the correct term they are in reality sand-banks, atolls, shallows and coral reefs, but they have many natural resources and lay astride major shipping lanes. China has claimed that they all lie within its territorial waters.
These islets are in two groups, the Paracels (Xisha Islands, 西沙群島) to the north and the Spratlys (Nansha Islands, 南沙群島) to the south. Taiwan’s interest is largely in the Paracels, as is that of the Philippines, with Brunei, Vietnam and Malaysia
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LNG plans already take measures to mind reefs
By Liou Je-wei 劉哲瑋
The government’s energy transition plan includes the nation’s third liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal at the Guantang Industrial Park (觀塘工業區) off Datan Borough (大潭) in Taoyuan’s Guanyin District (觀音).
Because it is close to algal reefs, some environmental protection groups are promoting a referendum on the plan in an attempt to block construction of the terminal and protect the reefs.
To avoid a trainwreck, the Ministry of Economic Affairs on Monday announced that the terminal would be built a further 455m offshore at 1.2km. Doing so would eliminate the need for dredging in the reef area and minimize the impact of the construction on the environment.