Taiwan deploys more Marines to Dongsha Islands in South China Sea

Taiwan's military has dispatched more of Marine Corps to China-claimed Dongsha Islands in the South China Sea after reports surfaced that Beijing is planning to carry out a simulated invasion in the atolls, according to Taiwan News. Earlier on Monday, Japan's Kyodo News cited PLA National Defense University professor Li Daguang as saying, in Hong Kong's Bauhinia Magazine that the PLA Navy will stage a landing exercise on China's Hainan Island to simulate an invasion of Dongsha Islands.

However, Li rejected this, claiming that he was referring to an article published by Kyodo News earlier. In response to the development, Taiwan's defense ministry has been on alert since reports emerged in May, saying that the PLA is planning a mock invasion with Chinese-state run Global Times asserting that it could become a "real invasion". On July 30, Democratic Progressive Party legislator Wang Ting-yu was quoted as saying by CommonWealth Magazine that the Marine Corps has sent additional companies of troops to protect the Dongsha Islands and the military are "prepared for the worst".

In a stern warning to China, Wang said that if enemy forces captured the Dongsha Islands, the military has prepared a "Border Protection Battle Plan", in which Army airborne special operation forces will collaborate with the Marines to launch a counterattack by sea and air from Taiping Island in Taiwan. In May, the 99th Marine Brigade, also known as "Iron Force," was deployed to Dongsha Islands for the first time in 20 years, Wang told the magazine. He stated that the force has been trained by the US military to defend against landings and airborne assaults with the operating principle of "doing the most with the least".

The terrain on the islands, he described, is flat and difficult to defend and hence, the military has made a worst-case scenario plan. As per the strategy, the Navy would deploy a special task force carrying a battalion of Marines to Taiping Island to begin amphibious landing operations and collaborate with the Air Force. The Navy would also utilise C-130 transport planes to deploy special forces units via airdrop or tactical landing to reinforce Taiping Island, as per Taiwan News.

Wang said that the plan is to use Taiping as a staging area for staging a counterattack on the enemy forces on Dongsha Islands. The Taiwan defence ministry said that armed forces are keeping a close watch on the activities of Chinese military through joint intelligence surveillance to "ensure national sovereignty and territorial security" in view of the current situation in the South China Sea.

For decades, China has claimed authority over self-governing Taiwan, as its renegade province. It has forced countries across the world to follow the one-China policy, meaning that those nations should recognise and maintain diplomatic relations with China and not Taiwan. China does not recognise those sovereign states who have diplomatic relations with Taiwan.

Although Taiwan is not recognised by the United Nations, its government maintains a relationship with the US and does not accept Chinese authority. The US frequently conducts military operations near Taiwan to reassert the US-Taiwan relationship, gestures that anger Beijing. (ANI)

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)