Taiwan's Maritime Challenges

In late March, two Vietnamese warships reportedly entered the waters around Taiping Island (also known as Itu Aba Island) in the South China Sea, which is controlled by Taiwan but is also claimed by Vietnam and China. Taiwanese media did not make the incident public until late April. Because Vietnam is much closer geographically to the strategic island, Taiwan is concerned that the ships' incursions into restricted waters were intended as an act of provocation. The heightened tensions have serious implications for other powers vying for influence in the South China Sea.

Since Beijing views Taiwan as rightfully part of mainland China, it also views practically all of Taiwan's territorial claims as its own and would likely seize an opportunity to step in if a crisis were to erupt in the South China Sea involving Taiwan. The United States, Taiwan's main ally, has little interest in intervening in any conflict between Taiwan and other claimant countries, including Vietnam and the Philippines, because it has increasingly courted them as part of its strategic re-engagement with East Asia. But Washington has even less interest in seeing territorial cooperation between China and Taiwan, however unlikely, that could upset the status quo. Taipei will use the growing tensions in the South China Sea to justify its defensive expansion and to push the United States to complete long-delayed arms sales that Taiwan contends would better enable it to ensure its own maritime defenses, though any arms deal could antagonize Beijing and unsettle U.S.-China relations.