TAIPEI: Taiwanese government to transport construction materials to a $100m new port building on the island of Tai Ping in the South China Sea. ZPMC a Chinese state owned company reported to have been charted for this purpose.
The use of the vessel came about when it became apparent that no shipping company in Taiwan could provide sufficient capacity to move the large caissons needed to erect the main piers of the port, which is due to open late 2015.
Since China claims sovereignty of both Tai Ping and Taiwan the use of a state-run Chinese firm to move the materials is unprecedented.
Experts said that it is not viewed as a step towards closer cooperation between the two states because “China eventually hopes to regain control of both the Spratly islands and Taiwan, the reason why it allowed one of its own companies to move the construction materials”.
