Thomas J. Shattuck
(FPRI) — The multi-state dispute in the South China Sea has enveloped the region for decades, with no signs of abating. Much of the media attention on the region has recently focused on coercion and aggression conducted by the People’s Republic of China’s (PRC) People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) and China Coast Guard (CCG) against the Philippines. In August 2025, a CCG cutter pursuing a Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) vessel collided with a PLAN ship. The PCG ship, which escaped unscathed, documented the embarrassing and dangerous incident.
Despite the focus on the regular CCG-PCG interactions in the South China Sea, another player in the dispute—Taiwan—rarely figures into the broader regional discussion. That changed in early September after Andrew S. Erickson, Jason Wang, Pei-Jhen Wu, and Marvin Bernardo released a report at the Jamestown Foundation on PRC oil structures around Taiwan-occupied Pratas/Dongsha Island—within the island’s exclusive economic zone (EEZ). Since May 2020, the PRC has placed at least “seven ‘jackets’ (steel space-frame substructures of fixed offshore platforms that that support the weight of an oil drilling rig), three floating production storage and offloading (FPSOs—converted oil tankers with an oil refinery built on top), and five semi-submersible oil rigs.” The structures had been near Pratas for five years, and Taiwan’s presidential office only acknowledged them and pushed back against their presence after the report’s publication, calling on the PRC to “immediately cease illegal deployment and exploitation activities in the economic waters of countries in the region, including Taiwan.”
The revelation of these oil structures’ presence exposes key issues related to Taiwan’s position in the South China Sea and, perhaps more importantly, President Lai Ching-te’s South China Sea policy. Since Lai took office in May 2024, neither he nor his administration has released a clear statement or strategy on the South China Sea.
What President Lai Has Said
Throughout Lai’s campaign and presidency, he has discussed countless critical national security and cross-strait issues. However, he has generally avoided any substantive discussion of the South China Sea since launching his bid for the presidency. He did not mention the South China Sea issue in his inaugural address. And when discussing Taiwan’s territory and sovereignty vis-à-vis China, a glaring omission is Taiping and Pratas Islands.
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