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Coast Guard looks to build support for defending tiny atolls

ROC Central News Agency

2011/09/03 13:41:54

By Nancy Liu, CNA Staff Reporter

After functioned as one of Taiwan's most important military outposts since the 1950s, the Dongsha Islands are now being transformed for a more amiable purpose -- eco-tourism.

In a trial run, the government initiated a summer camp last month that invited 46 university students to go on a 16-hour voyage across the South China Sea for a glimpse of the islands' unique biodiversity.

Before this unprecedented nature excursion, only a handful of academics and mostly military officials have set foot on the atolls.

Located 450 kilometers southwest of Kaohsiung, the Dongsha Islands, also known as the Pratas Islands, have been claimed and occupied by Taiwan since 1946.

But the islands have never been open to the public for national security reasons.

The island group includes Dongsha Island, which is 2.8 km long and 865 m wide, the Dongsha Atoll, and two underwater banks. The atoll, which includes the coral underneath the sea, is round in shape with a diameter of 25 km.

"Dongsha is important to Taiwan in terms of military strategy and operational tactics," said Chiang Huang-chih, a professor specializing in international maritime law at National Taiwan University's College of Law.

Every ship that sails south from Taiwan will run into the island, and thus it is necessary for the government to ensure a clear sea channel and prevent blockades in times of war or emergency, said Chiang.

Despite the islands' military importance, Taiwan has chosen to tone down its armed presence in recent years and promote peaceful development along with Southeast Asian countries over disputed South China Sea territories.

For instance, its military presence at Dongsha was replaced by the Coast Guard in 2000.

Although occasionally, the Coast Guard deters fishermen from other countries from entering its territorial waters, they also work hand in hand with officials from the Marine National Park to conserve the islands' biodiversity.

According to Chen Hui-ju, a park official, Dongsha's location in the tropics has blessed it with 200 species of plants, birds, and insects, plus 300 coral reefs.

Park officials and the Coast Guard not only make sure the species are protected from pollution, but also initiated projects to conserve the coral, restore indigenous species, and rebuild hatching grounds for green sea turtles, she said.

Some initial results have been encouraging.

The coverage of live coral on the outskirts of Dongsha Atoll, which was almost destroyed by warm waters of an El Nino pattern in 1998, has reached more than 80 percent, according to information from the park administration office.

On Aug. 23, a green sea turtle weighing more than 100 kg trudged onshore and laid her eggs, marking the first recorded instance of this in years.

With more recovery efforts under way, a senior park official said they are focusing now on transforming Dongsha into a green island, which includes using solar power for electricity.

"I read about Dongsha in the textbooks but have never seen it with my own eyes. It's such a mysterious place," said Chao Lo-yu, a student from Taipei College of Maritime Technology who went on the four-day government-sponsored tour.

"However, the scenery here is beyond my imagination. I am totally overwhelmed," she said. "The massive amount of sea grass along the shores and countless stars in the sky are things I had not expected from this remote military island."

Chao and three other students, who are studying tourism and hospitality, want the government to turn Dongsha into a tourist destination for both locals and foreign visitors.

"More people should be told of the beauty of nature and transformation here," she said. She added that for those who have not experienced Dongsha, they can check out an online photoblog she plans to post on her Facebook account when she returns to Taiwan.

But Chen Kuo-yung, an official at the Marine National Park, said it will still take some time before the island can open to the public. Conservation and evaluation needs to happen first.

"We would have to evaluate the damage made by human intrusion, and the island's sustainable tourist capacity," said Chen.

Chen said a five-year biodiversity restoration project will conclude next year. In it, scientists will make recommendations on what to do next with the islands.

So for now, the summer camp remains the only channel for everyday Taiwanese to get a glimpse of their territory in the South China Sea. This year, only 40 university students will breathe Dongsha's salty air.

Cheng Chang-hsiung, the deputy minister of the Coast Guard Administration (CGA), who organized the island's sneak peek, said the camp represents the government's strategy of combining hard power and soft power, which he dubs "smart power."

The government still needs to have a hard power presence in the form of the Coast Guard, but with feel-good projects like biodiversity conservation, authorities hope to convince the public to value its Dongsha territory.

With that, he urged this first batch of students to help with public relations by posting about Dongsha on their personal websites, and share their experiences with family and friends.