‘Turn Yongxing Island in disputed South China Sea into China’s British Virgin Islands’: CPPCC delegate
Move on Woody Island would shore up Beijing’s maritime claims in South China Sea and provide much needed financial services closer to home
A member of China’s top political advisory body has proposed turning a disputed island in the South China Sea into China’s version of British Virgin Islands as an offshore financial centre, claiming the move could boost China’s control in the region.
Han Fangming, a Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) delegate and vice-chairman of the board of LeTV, proposed turning Woody Island, which he called Yongxing, as it is known in China, into an international hub for offshore company registration.
Woody Island, covering 2.13 square kilometres and with the population of about 1,000, is the largest of the Paracel Islands in the South China Sea. It houses the government of Sansha, a prefectural-level city established in 2012 to administer several island chains claimed by Beijing in the South China Sea.
“Yongxing Island holds a significant meaning to China’s sovereignty in the islands of the South China Sea,” Han wrote in the proposal.
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By turning the island into an international offshore financial centre, China would strengthen its political and economic control in the South China Sea, more than 80 per cent of which is claimed by China, despite competing claims by neighbours Vietnam, Philippines, Malaysia, Brunei, Indonesia and Taiwan.