Taiwan has asked mainland China for help in transporting materials to the US$100-million port it is constructing on an island in the disputed Spratlys, Taiwanese officials confirmed.

According to a statement released by the officials, Taiwan could not find anyone locally to do the job. Also, a coast guard official said the materials transported by Shanghai Zhenhua Heavy Industry were escorted by a boat patrol from Taiwan while two other vessels monitored the shipper while the cargo was being unloaded.

Like Us on Facebook

The director of construction division of Taiwan's National Expressway Engineering Bureau, Liao Jaw-chang, said the Chinese vessel was used from January 24 to January 28, 2015. He noted that Taiwan has never used such ship from mainland China except for this instance.

The acceptance of Zhenhua Heavy Industry to do the job shows that China is not at all bothered about Taiwan putting up a building in the said island. However, the island is still being disputed not only by China and Taiwan but also by the Philippines and Vietnam.

According to critics, China not being bothered by the moves of Taiwan shows that it feels it would eventually take over the "renegade province" and that Taiwan's projects would also fall under the Chinese government.

"China is not overly concerned with what Taiwan is doing on Itu Aba given that it believes it will one day control these islands," according to regional security analyst Ian Storey from the Institute of Southeast Asian studies.

Although Beijing was "okay" with Taiwan using a Chinese shipper to transfer materials, there is no formal cooperation between the two countries regarding the disputed waters in South China Sea. Taiwan is said to have close ties with the United States and this is seen as a critical move by Beijing in the disputed waters.

TagsTaiwan, spratlys, Shanghai Zhenhua Heavy Industry