Taiwan commissions two new ships amid tension in South China Sea

In a bid to counter China's growing influence in the South China Sea, Taiwan's coast guard has commissioned two 3,000-ton patrol vessels for duty.

The vessels will be able to dock at a new port being built on Taiping Island, the largest of the disputed Spratly Islands in the South China Sea, before the end of this year. While one of the two ships will be sent to the South China Sea, the other will move to waters north of Taiwan, where it has overlapping claims with Japan, reported aol.com.

Wang Chung-yi, minister of the Coast Guard Administration, although stressed that the country wanted to assume more of a civil role than a military role in the Taiping Island but declared that the island's defense capabilities will not be weak and if provoked, the country will not concede.

Taiwan's coast guard has had direct oversight of the 114-acre island, also known as Itu Aba, since 2000.

The South China Sea and the islands and reefs set amid fertile fishing grounds and potentially oil and gas-rich waters have been the subject of territorial claims between China, Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan and Vietnam. Beijing has consistently resorted to history to claim more than 80 per cent of the sea.

However, unlike the Philippines and Vietnam, Taiwan has largely sought to avoid disputes with China over the disputed waters.

Beijing has been criticized for its rigorous land reclamation activities, including building artificial islands, in the South China Sea.

It sees self-ruled Taiwan as a "renegade province" to be retaken one day and bans actions that would confer sovereignty.