Taiwan Escalates Tensions Over Maritime Claims
Video Transcript:
Tensions between Taiwan and the Philippines escalated on May 13 when Taipei issued a 72-hour ultimatum demanding a formal apology for the killing last Thursday of a Taiwanese fisherman by the Philippine coast guard in disputed waters in the South China Sea. The ultimatum comes just one day after the Taiwanese coast guard and navy dispatched four ships to the disputed area and carried the threat of increased military action if the Philippines did not respond in time.
Taiwan’s aggressive stance against the Philippines reflects the small island nation’s subtle efforts to reinforce its independent territorial claims without undermining cross-strait ties with the mainland. Compared with neighboring countries like China, Vietnam and the Philippines, Taiwan plays a more marginal -- but in some ways more complex -- role in territorial disputes in the South China Sea. The island’s official claims are outlandishly ambitious, overlapping almost exactly with those of mainland China. But its ability to enforce those claims independently is heavily constrained by the simultaneous need to maintain stable cross-strait political relations with -- and in turn, positive economic ties to -- Beijing.
The Taiwanese government must constantly balance its relationship with mainland China against domestic political pressure not to be seen as weak -- or worse, as subservient to China. The latter fear is especially intense for a country whose domestic political scene is still largely defined by debate over the future of Taiwan’s relations with the mainland. For Taiwanese leaders, strong ties to China are economically necessary and all but inevitable. But that doesn’t change the fact that in Beijing’s eyes, Taiwan is little more than a wayward province. Politicians on either end of the Taiwanese political spectrum -- including Taiwan’s current president, Ma Ying-jeou -- are intensely aware of their basic disadvantage relative to China.
The Taiwanese government’s decision to rapidly ramp up its demands on the Philippines can be understood in this context. Aggression against Manila accomplishes two goals at once. On the one hand, it provides indirect support to mainland China’s claims in the South China Sea by affirming the shared maritime boundaries of China and Taiwan against those of other Southeast Asian countries. In this sense, it provides a subtle boost to cross-strait ties. At the same time, flexing Taiwan’s military and diplomatic muscles against the Philippines gives Taiwanese President Ma Ying-Jeou an avenue for reaffirming Taiwan’s presence as a strong, independent military force capable of unilaterally enforcing its rights to operate in important disputed fishing areas.
Not all of Taiwan’s moves in the South and East China Seas coincide so smoothly with the interests of mainland China. In recent months, Taiwan has sought alternate means to bolster its standing in regional territorial disputes, including signing an agreement to jointly manage fishing zones in waters around the Diaoyu/Senkaku islands, which China disputes with Japan. But as the ongoing dispute with the Philippines shows, any move that runs against the grain of Chinese interests is likely to be followed by one that reinforces (indirectly) those same interests.
