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Taiping Island runway mainly for humanitarian concerns: president

ROC Central News Agency

2008-02-02 21:31:28

    Taipei, Feb. 2 (CNA) President Chen Shui-bian said Saturday that construction of a runway on the remote Taiping Island in the South China Sea is mainly for humanitarian purposes.

    Chen was quoted as having made the remarks while presiding over the inauguration ceremony for the runway on Taiping Island earlier in the day.

    According to a report released by the Military News Agency, Chen flew in a military aircraft to Taiping Island at around noon to officiate at the airstrip inauguration ceremony and extend his regards and concerns for personnel stationed there ahead of the Lunar New Year festival.

    Chen praised the military officers and enlisted men for their high efficiency in completing the airstrip construction in just 273 days, the report said.

    A total of 581 service personnel were involved in the runway construction project, and the two top leading officers -- Col. Chen Huang-cheng and Capt. Lin Hung-chieh -- have not taken a single day off since last August, the report added.

    The new Taiping runway is transformed from a central road on the island. The road was extended and expanded into a 1,150-meter-long, 30-meter-wide cement path that will be used as the main traffic trunk most of the time and as an airstrip during emergencies so that transport planes can land and take off.

    Chen expressed his admiration for close cooperation among various military units and the Coast Guard Administration in carrying out the tough construction project which covered land preparation, shipment of construction materials and equipment from Taiwan to the remote island, weather forecast, navigation route evaluation, equipment maintenance, geological survey and building wrok.

    MND officials said only C-130 transport planes can make landings and take-offs on the island, which is located some 1,600 kilometers southwest of Taiwan proper. It takes three to four days for a one-way voyage between the island and the southern Taiwan port city of Kaohsiung.

    Taiping is the largest islet of the Nansha or Spratly island group in the South China Sea. With surrounding countries increasing their activities in the region in recent years, the number of shipwrecks and cases involving fishermen getting injured or missing has increased, making it necessary to build an airstrip on the Taiping Island to facilitate emergency response and humanitarian relief, Chen said.

    Last November, Chen went on, scores of Chinese, Philippine and Vietnamese fishing boats were stranded in the Spratlys area. The Philippine military authorities sent a trainer on a sear and rescue mission, but the military plane lost contact. The Philippine authorities then sought the help of Taiwan personnel stationed on Taiping Island. The case highlighted the need to enhance the island's humanitarian relief capacity, Chen noted, adding that the construction of an airstrip on the island is for humanitarian purpose only.

(By Sofia Wu)

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