Taiwan sends marines to reinforce South China Sea outpost amid reports of major PLA landing drill
- Military source says around 200-strong force has been sent to the Pratas Islands following reports PLA was planning large-scale simulated invasion
- Mainland China has been steadily boosting its presence in the disputed waters, where a number of other countries have claims
A military source, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the navy had sent a company of around 200 marines to reinforce the coastguards stationed on the Pratas Islands, which are known as the Dongsha Islands in Chinese.
“The marines left for the Pratas about a week ago and will remain there on a short-term rather than a long-term basis,” the source said, adding the posting was in line with the military’s off-site training operations.
In May Japan’s Kyodo News reported that the PLA was planning to conduct a large-scale training exercise on Hainan island this month, which would include a simulated takeover of the Taiwanese-controlled islets.
It said the beach landing exercise, to be carried out by the PLA’s Southern Theatre Command, would be on an unprecedented scale and would involve large numbers of marines, landing ships, hovercraft, and helicopters.
The Pratas Islands, consisting of one island, two coral reefs, and two banks, is located about 445km (275 miles) from Taiwan’s southern port city of Kaohsiung and just over 300km from the Chinese mainland.