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On Saturday May 18th, 2024, a group of local lawmakers will visit Taiping Island 太平島, a tiny strip of coral and sand in the Spratly Islands more than 1,500 km away from the southern tip of Taiwan. As anyone who reads the news knows, numerous islands, reefs, shoals, and even barely visible rocks scattered across the vast South China Sea are considered flashpoints for World War III, as China, Taiwan, Vietnam, the Philippines, Indonesia, Malaysia and even tiny Brunei each claim some degree of sovereignty. So, which claimant really owns the Paracels? Who do the Spratly Islands really belong to? In this week's island hopping adventure, we simplify some complicated history; plus, John gets worked into a mild frenzy over guano fertilizer while Eryk gets a tad too territorial.
Cover: An ROC military plane lands on Taiping Island 太平島 in 2016. Photo by Jeff Peng/Google Maps.
CURRENT EVENTS: KMT urges President Lai to address Taiping in 2024 inaugural speech
Below: Map showing overlapping claims to spots in the South China Sea. Image from Central News Agency article: Coast Guard confirms completion of Taiping Island wharf upgrades (01/29/2024)
Books mentioned in this episode:
The South China Sea: The Struggle for Power in Asia by Bill Hayton
Japan's Ocean Borderlands: Nature and Sovereignty by Paul Kreitman
Below: Members of the Republic of China Navy are pictured on Taiping Island (also known as Itu Aba Island) in December, 1946. Via Wikimedia Commons.
Below: Held by Taiwan.
Facts and photos about Taiping Island (Itu Aba) via ASIA MARITIME TRANSPARENCY INITIATIVE.
Below: Held by China.
Facts and photos about Gaven Reef via ASIA MARITIME TRANSPARENCY INITIATIVE.
Below: An 1884 advertisement for guano, or bird droppings.
Below: Chinese laborers stand on a partially extracted guano deposit in the Peruvian Chincha Islands in 1865.
Below: Where guano comes from. Via Wikimedia Commons.
Below: Another map via Wikimedia Commons.
Below: The Spratly Islands are spread across the vast area in the red circle. To the left (west) is Vietnam, to the right (east), the Philippine Province of Palawan.
Below: Wikimedia Commons shows the complicated claims of six nations over parts of the Spratly Islands.
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Check our very first episode, the story of a very white man who showed up in London in 1703... and claimed to be from Formosa. Or try a foodie episode from Season 3. Or, for those who want some harder-core history, hear the tale of the Lockheed U-2 pilot Wang Hsi-chueh 王錫爵, who became famous for defecting to the PRC by hijacking China Airlines Flight 334 on May 3, 1986.
