Tiny Island at Center of South China Sea Tussle Seeks Status
- Taiwan says community of 200 shows Itu Aba can support life
- 'Happy to play part upholding our nation's sovereignty here'
Taiwan Reinforces Claim to Spratlys
This article is for subscribers only.
While warships and fishing fleets jockey for dominance of the South China Sea, the 200-odd residents of Itu Aba eke out their days growing vegetables and baking pizza.
With such mundane rituals of daily life, Taiwan sustains a toehold to a strategic struggle that has drawn in the militaries of China and and the U.S. Now, six decades after establishing an outpost on this 510-square-meter (5,500-square-feet) speck of sand, the government in far-off Taipei is seeking to prove it’s an island capable of supporting human life.