The Civil Aviation Administration (CAA) has given a lukewarm response to calls to develop tourism on Taiping Island in the South China Sea. The CAA said Sunday that the idea offers very little economic benefit.
Taiping Island is the largest natural island in the disputed Spratly chain in the South China Sea. It is held by Taiwan and defended by armed coast guard personnel. It has no civilian population. The island has been in the news this week following the ruling by the Hague tribunal in the case brought by the Philippines against China.
Part of the ruling said that the land features of the Spratlys should be considered rocks rather than islands. This has caused consternation in Taiwan, and the government has rushed to reject the court’s verdict and suggest ways to bolster the country’s claims in the contested maritime region.
Some politicians have suggested developing eco-tourism on Taiping to prove that it can support economic life on its own. This is one of the key criteria in defining an island that can generate an exclusive economic zone.
The CAA called the idea impractical as the island’s airstrip could only accommodate smaller civilian aircraft which do not have the range to fly from Taiwan to the island in any case. Taiping is located some 1,600 km to the south of Kaohsiung in southern Taiwan.