Government and Politics
The island, along with the rest of the Spratlys, is disputed by four countries on historical, geographic or technical grounds, as well as due to fishing rights, shipping lanes, and the potential of petroleum and natural gas beneath the South China Sea.
Although it has been found that the South China Sea basin is abundant in oil and natural gas, the waters surrounding Taiping Island have yet to be formally surveyed or extracted. KMT legislator Lin Yu-fang has stated that the Chinese Petroleum Corporation has not excluded the option of prospecting territorial waters in the near future, with the military providing naval escort assistance upon directive from the National Security Council of the Republic of China.
Although there are no long term inhabitants on the island, Taiping Island is administered under the Municipality of Kaohsiung City, Qijin District, by the Republic of China. Postal service is provided by Chunghwa Post under the assigned area code "819". The Republic of China military postal service uses the designation "68局" for postage services for the island.
Land pricing is managed by the Kaohsiung local government, although there have been no cases of actual transactions being made. In 2007, the announced land value adjustments placed the value of land on Taiping Island at NT$400 per square metre.
Prior to 2012, the island's coast guard defense forces held 106mm recoilless guns and 81mm mortars. These are to be replaced by eight sets of 40mm autocannons and a number of 120mm mortars by the end of August 2012.
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