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Spratly Islands

April 29, 2023

Not to be confused with Spratly Island.
"Spratly" redirects here. For the surname, see Spratly (surname).

The Spratly Islands (Filipino: Kapuluan ng Kalayaan;[1] Chinese: 南沙群島/南沙群岛; pinyin: Nánshā Qúndǎo; Malay, Indonesian: Kepulauan Spratly; Vietnamese: Quần đảo Trường Sa) are a disputed archipelago in the South China Sea. Composed of islands, islets, cays,[2] and more than 100 reefs, sometimes grouped in submerged old atolls,[3] the archipelago lies off the coasts of the Philippines, Malaysia, and southern Vietnam. Named after the 19th-century British whaling captain Richard Spratly who sighted Spratly Island in 1843, the islands contain less than 2 km2 (490 acres) of naturally occurring land area, which is spread over an area of more than 425,000 km2 (164,000 sq mi).

Spratly Islands
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Spratly Islands

The Spratly Islands are one of the major archipelagos in the South China Sea which complicate governance and economics in this part of Southeast Asia due to their location in strategic shipping lanes. The islands are largely uninhabited, but offer rich fishing grounds and may contain significant oil and natural gas reserves,[4][5][6] and as such are important to the claimants in their attempts to establish international boundaries. Some of the islands have civilian settlements, but of the approximately 45 islands, cays, reefs and shoals that are occupied, all contain structures that are occupied by military forces from Malaysia, Taiwan (ROC), China (PRC), the Philippines or Vietnam. Additionally, Brunei has claimed an exclusive economic zone in the southeastern part of the Spratly Islands, which includes the uninhabited Louisa Reef.

Geographic and economic overview

Further information: List of maritime features in the Spratly Islands
 
The Spratly Islands

In 1939, the Spratly Islands were coral islets mostly inhabited by seabirds.[2] Despite the Spratly Islands naturally consisting of 19 islands (see below), according to a Chinese 1986 source, the Spratly Islands consist of 14 islands or islets, 6 banks, 113 submerged reefs, 35 underwater banks and 21 underwater shoals.[7]

The northeast part of the Spratly Islands is known as Dangerous Ground and is characterised by many low islands, sunken reefs, and degraded, sunken atolls with coral often rising abruptly from ocean depths greater than 1,000 metres (3,300 ft) – all of which makes the area dangerous for navigation.

The islands are all of similar nature; they are cays (or keys): sand islands formed on old degraded and submerged coral reefs.

The Spratly Islands contain almost no arable land, are largely uninhabited, and very few of the islands have a permanent drinkable water supply.[5][8]

Natural resources include fish, guano, oil and natural gas.[9] Economic activity has included commercial fishing, shipping, guano mining, oil and gas exploitation, and more recently, tourism. The Spratly Islands are located near several primary shipping lanes.

The islands and cays, listed in descending order of naturally occurring area, are:

# Island name in Atoll Area
(ha.)		 Location Currently occupied by Reclaimed
area
1 Itu Aba Island Tizard Bank 46.00 10°23′N 114°21′E / 10.383°N 114.350°E / 10.383; 114.350 Taiwan (Taiping Island) ~6ha
2 Thitu Island Thitu Reefs 37.20 11°03′N 114°17′E / 11.050°N 114.283°E / 11.050; 114.283 Philippines (Pagasa Island)
3 West York Island West York Island 18.60 11°05′N 115°01′E / 11.083°N 115.017°E / 11.083; 115.017 Philippines (Likas Island)
4 Spratly Island Spratly Island 13.00 08°38′N 111°55′E / 8.633°N 111.917°E / 8.633; 111.917 Vietnam (Trường Sa Island)
5 Northeast Cay North Danger Reef 12.70 11°28′N 114°21′E / 11.467°N 114.350°E / 11.467; 114.350 Philippines (Parola Island)
6 Southwest Cay North Danger Reef 12.00 11°26′N 114°20′E / 11.433°N 114.333°E / 11.433; 114.333 Vietnam (Song Tử Tây Island) ~8ha
7 Sin Cowe Island Union Banks 08.00 09°52′N 114°19′E / 9.867°N 114.317°E / 9.867; 114.317 Vietnam (Sinh Tồn Island) ~1ha
8 Nanshan Island Nanshan Group 07.93 10°45′N 115°49′E / 10.750°N 115.817°E / 10.750; 115.817 Philippines (Lawak Island)
9 Sand Cay Tizard Bank 07.00 10°23′N 114°28′E / 10.383°N 114.467°E / 10.383; 114.467 Vietnam (Sơn Ca Island) ~2.1ha[10]
10 Loaita Island Loaita Bank 06.45 10°40′N 114°25′E / 10.667°N 114.417°E / 10.667; 114.417 Philippines (Kota Island)
11 Swallow Reef Swallow Reef 06.20 07°22′N 113°50′E / 7.367°N 113.833°E / 7.367; 113.833 Malaysia (Layang-Layang Reef)
12 Namyit Island Tizard Bank 05.30 10°11′N 114°22′E / 10.183°N 114.367°E / 10.183; 114.367 Vietnam (Nam Yết Island)
13 Amboyna Cay Amboyna Cay 01.60 07°51′N 112°55′E / 7.850°N 112.917°E / 7.850; 112.917 Vietnam (An Bang Island)
14 Grierson Reef Union Banks 01.60 09°51′N 114°29′E / 9.850°N 114.483°E / 9.850; 114.483 Vietnam (Sinh Tồn Đông Island)
15 West London Reef London Reefs 01.10 08°52′N 112°15′E / 8.867°N 112.250°E / 8.867; 112.250 Vietnam (Đá Tây A Island)
16 Central London Reef London Reefs 00.88 08°56′N 112°21′E / 8.933°N 112.350°E / 8.933; 112.350 Vietnam (Trường Sa Đông Island)
17 Flat Island Nanshan Group 00.57 10°49′N 115°49′E / 10.817°N 115.817°E / 10.817; 115.817 Philippines (Patag Island)
18 Lankiam Cay Loaita Bank 00.44 10°43′N 114°32′E / 10.717°N 114.533°E / 10.717; 114.533 Philippines (Panata Island)

The total area of the archipelago's naturally occurring islands is 177 ha (440 acres) and 200 ha (490 acres) with reclaimed land.

Spratly Islands
Disputed islands
 
The Spratly Islands
Geography
LocationSouth China Sea
Coordinates10°N 114°E / 10°N 114°E / 10; 114Coordinates: 10°N 114°E / 10°N 114°E / 10; 114
Total islands18 islands and cays
Major islands
Area200 ha (490 acres)
Coastline926 km (575.4 mi)
Highest elevation4 m (13 ft)
Highest pointSouthwest Cay
Claimed by
Brunei
EEZBrunei zone
People's Republic of China
Prefecture-level citySansha, Hainan[12]
Malaysia
StateSabah
Philippines
MunicipalityKalayaan, Palawan
Taiwan
MunicipalityKaohsiung
Vietnam
DistrictTrường Sa, Khánh Hòa
Spratly Islands
Chinese name
Traditional Chinese南沙群島
Simplified Chinese南沙群岛
Transcriptions
Standard Mandarin
Hanyu PinyinNánshā Qúndǎo
Yue: Cantonese
Yale RomanizationNàhmsaa Kwùhndóu
Jyutpingnam4 saa1 kwun4 dou2
Southern Min
Hokkien POJLâm-soa Kûn-tó
Hainanese RomanizationNâm-so Kún-tō
Vietnamese name
VietnameseQuần đảo Trường Sa
Hán-Nôm群島長沙
Malay name
Malay
Filipino name
TagalogKapuluan ng Kalayaan
 
A geographic map of Spratly Islands[a]

Geology

The Spratly Islands consist of islands, reefs, banks and shoals made up of biogenic carbonate. These accumulations of biogenic carbonate lie upon the higher crests of major submarine ridges that are uplifted fault blocks known by geologists as horsts.[16] These horsts are part of a series of parallel and en echelon, half-grabens and rotated fault-blocks. The long axes of the horsts, rotated fault blocks and half-grabens form well-defined linear trends that lie parallel to magnetic anomalies exhibited by the oceanic crust of the adjacent South China Sea. The horsts, rotated fault blocks, and the rock forming the bottoms of associated grabens consist of stretched and subsided continental crust that is composed of Triassic, Jurassic, and Cretaceous strata that include calc-alkalic extrusive igneous rocks, intermediate to acid intrusive igneous rocks, sandstones, siltstones, dark-green claystones, and metamorphic rocks that include biotite–muscovite–feldspar–quartz migmatites and garnet–mica schists.[17][18][19]

The dismemberment and subsidence of continental crust into horsts, rotated fault blocks and half-grabens that underlie the Spratly Islands and surrounding sea bottom occurred in two distinct periods. They occurred as the result of the tectonic stretching of continental crust along underlying deeply rooted detachment faults. During the Late Cretaceous and Early Oligocene, the earliest period of tectonic stretching of continental crust and formation of horsts, half-grabens, and rotated fault-blocks occurred in association with the rifting and later sea-floor spreading that created the South China Sea. During the Late Oligocene-Early Miocene additional stretching and block faulting of continental crust occurred within the Spratly Islands and adjacent Dangerous Ground. During and after this period of tectonic activity, corals and other marine life colonised the crests of the horsts and other ridges that lay in shallow water. The remains of these organisms accumulated over time as biogenic carbonates that comprise the current day reefs, shoals and cays of the Spratly Islands. Starting with their formation in Late Cretaceous, fine-grained organic-rich marine sediments accumulated within the numerous submarine half-grabens that underlie sea bottom within the Dangerous Ground region.[17][18][19]

The geological surveys show localised areas within the Spratly Islands region are favourable for the accumulation of economic oil and gas reserves. They include thick sequences of Cenozoic sediments east of the Spratly Islands. Southeast and west of them, there also exist thick accumulations of sediments that possibly might contain economic oil and gas reserves lie closer to the Spratly Islands.[4][20]

Ecology

In some cays in the Spratly Islands, the sand and pebble sediments form the beaches and spits around the island. Under the influence of the dominant wind direction, which changes seasonally, these sediments move around the island to change the shape and size of the island. For example, Spratly Island is larger during the northeast monsoon (about 700 × 300 meters), and smaller during the southwest monsoon (approximately 650 × 320 meters).[21]

Some islands may contain fresh groundwater fed by rain. Groundwater levels fluctuate during the day with the rhythm of the tides.[22]

Phosphates from bird faeces (guano) are mainly concentrated in the beach rocks by the way of exchange-endosmosis. The principal minerals bearing phosphate are podolite, lewistonite and dehonite.[23]

Coral reefs

Coral reefs are the predominant structures of these islands; the Spratly group contains over 600 coral reefs in total.[3] In April 2015 the New York Times reported that China were using "scores of dredgers" to convert Fiery Cross Reef and several other reefs into military facilities.[24][25]

Vegetation

Little vegetation grows on these islands, which are subject to intense monsoons. Larger islands are capable of supporting tropical forest, scrub forest, coastal scrub and grasses. It is difficult to determine which species have been introduced or cultivated by humans. Taiping Island (Itu Aba) was reportedly covered with shrubs, coconut, and mangroves in 1938; pineapple was also cultivated there when it was profitable. Other accounts mention papaya, banana, palm, and even white peach trees growing on one island. A few islands that have been developed as small tourist resorts had soil and trees brought in and planted where there was none.[3]

Wildlife

A total of 2,927 marine species have been recorded in the Spratly Sea, including 776 benthic species, 382 species of hard coral, 524 species of marine fish, 262 species of algae and sea grass, 35 species of seabirds, and 20 species of marine mammals and sea turtles.[26] Terrestrial vegetation in the islands includes 103 species of vascular plants of magnolia branches (Magnoliophyta) of 39 families and 79 genera.[26] The islands that do have vegetation provide important habitats for many seabirds and sea turtles.[3] Both the green turtle (Chelonia mydas, endangered) and the hawksbill turtle (Eretmochelys imbricata, critically endangered) formerly occurred in numbers sufficient to support commercial exploitation. These species reportedly continue to nest even on islands inhabited by military personnel (such as Pratas) to some extent, though it is believed that their numbers have declined.[3]

Seabirds use the islands as resting, breeding, and wintering sites. Species found here include streaked shearwater (Calonectris leucomelas), brown booby (Sula leucogaster), red-footed booby (S. sula), great crested tern (Sterna bergii), and white tern (Gygis alba). Little information is available regarding the current status of the islands' seabird populations, though it is likely that birds may divert nesting sites to smaller, less disturbed islands. Bird eggs cover the majority of Southwest Cay, a small island in the eastern Danger Zone.[3] A variety of cetaceans such as dolphins,[27] orcas, pilot whales, and sperm whales are also present around the islands.[28][29][30]

This ecoregion is still largely a mystery. Scientists have focused their research on the marine environment, while the ecology of the terrestrial environment remains relatively unknown.[3]

Ecological hazards

Political instability, tourism and the increasing industrialisation of neighbouring countries has led to serious disruption of native flora and fauna, over-exploitation of natural resources, and environmental pollution. Disruption of nesting areas by human activity and/or by introduced animals, such as dogs, has reduced the number of turtles nesting on the islands. Sea turtles are also slaughtered for food on a significant scale. The sea turtle is a symbol of longevity in Chinese culture and at times the military personnel are given orders to protect the turtles.[3]

Heavy commercial fishing in the region incurs other problems. Although it has been outlawed, fishing methods continue to include the use of bottom trawlers fitted with chain rollers. In 1994 a routine patrol by Taiwan's marine navy confiscated more than 200 kg of potassium cyanide solution from fishermen who had been using it for cyanide fishing. These activities have a devastating impact on local marine organisms and coral reefs.[31]

Some interest has been taken in regard to conservation of these island ecosystems. J.W. McManus, professor of marine biology and ecology at the University of Miami's Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science, has explored the possibilities of designating portions of the Spratly Islands as a marine park. One region of the Spratly Archipelago, named Truong Sa, was proposed by Vietnam's Ministry of Science, Technology, and the Environment (MOSTE) as a future protected area. The site, with an area of 160 km2 (62 sq mi), is currently managed by the Khánh Hòa Provincial People's Committee of Vietnam.[3]

Military groups in the Spratly Islands have engaged in environmentally damaging activities such as shooting turtles and seabirds, raiding nests and fishing with explosives. The collection of rare medicinal plants, collecting of wood, and hunting for the wildlife trade are common threats to the biodiversity of the entire region, including these islands. Coral habitats are threatened by pollution, over-exploitation of fish and invertebrates, and the use of explosives and poisons as fishing techniques.[3]

A 2014 United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) report said: "Sand is rarer than one thinks".[32]

The average price of sand imported by Singapore was US$3 per tonne from 1995 to 2001, but the price increased to US$190 per tonne from 2003 to 2005.[32] Although the Philippines and China had both ratified the UNCLOS III, in the case of and Johnson South Reef, Hughes Reef, Mischief Reef, the PRC dredged sand for free in the EEZ the Philippines[33] had claimed from 1978[34] arguing this is the "waters of China's Nansha Islands".

Although the consequences of substrate mining are hidden, they are tremendous.[32] Aggregate particles that are too fine to be used are rejected by dredging boats, releasing vast dust plumes and changing water turbidity.[32]

John McManus, a professor of marine biology and ecology at the Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science, said: "The worst thing anyone can do to a coral reef is to bury it under tons of sand and gravel ... There are global security concerns associated with the damage. It is likely broad enough to reduce fish stocks in the world's most fish-dependent region." He explained that the reason "the world has heard little about the damage inflicted by the Peoples [sic] Republic of China to the reefs is that the experts can't get to them" and noted "I have colleagues from the Philippines, Taiwan, PRC, Vietnam and Malaysia who have worked in the Spratly area. Most would not be able to get near the artificial islands except possibly some from PRC, and those would not be able to release their findings."[35]

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
23
 
24
 
25
 
26
 
27
 
28
 
29
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Location of the major islands/islets in the Spratly Islands

Legend:
  Brunei   1：Louisa Reef
  Malaysia   1：Swallow Reef   2：Ardasier Reef   3：Dallas Reef   4：Erica Reef   5：Investigator Shoal   6：Mariveles Reef
  People's Republic of China   1：Yongshu   2：Meiji   3：Zhubi   4：Huayang   5：Nanxun   6：Chigua   7：Dongmen
  Philippines   1：Flat Island   2：Lankiam Cay   3：Loaita Cay   4：Loaita Island   5：Nanshan Island   6：Northeast Cay   7：Thitu Island
  8：West York Island   9：Commodore Reef   10：Irving Reef   11：Second Thomas Shoal
  Republic of China   1：Taiping   2：Zhongzhou

  Vietnam   1：Southwest Cay   2：Sand Cay   3：Namyit Island   4：Sin Cowe Island   5：Spratly Island   6：Amboyna Cay   7：Grierson Reef
  8：Central London Reef   9：Pearson Reef   10：Barque Canada Reef   11：West London Reef   12：Ladd Reef   13：Discovery Great Reef
  14：Pigeon Reef   15：East London Reef   16：Alison Reef   17：Cornwallis South Reef   18：Petley Reef   19：South Reef
  20：Collins Reef   21：Lansdowne Reef   22：Bombay Castle   23：Prince of Wales Bank [zh]   24：Vanguard Bank [zh]   25：Prince Consort Bank [zh]
  26：Grainger Bank [zh]   27：Alexandra Bank [zh]   28：Orleana Shoal [zh]   29：Kingston Shoal [zh]

History

 
The Velarde map shows actual Philippine control over Scarborough Shoal, as well as islands off of Palawan, identified as the Spratly Islands. The map was one of the key evidences in the Philippines v. China international case that debunked China's so-called nine-dash line claims.[36]
 
The Spratlys labeled as "Los Bajos de Paragua" off the coast of Palawan (Paragua) on the 1734 Murillo Velarde map. Some shoals in the Spratlys were then considered part of Palawan in the Philippines v. China arbitration case.

Records show the islands as inhabited at various times in history by Chinese and Vietnamese fishermen. In 1888 the Central Borneo Company were granted a lease to work guano 'on Sprattly island and Amboyna Cay'[37] During the Second World War troops from French Indochina and Japan were in occupation.[38][39][40] However, there is no record of large settlements on the islands until 1956, when Filipino adventurer Tomás Cloma, Sr., decided to "claim" a part of Spratly islands as his own, naming it the "Free Territory of Freedomland".[41]

Evidence of human presence in the region extends back nearly 50,000 years at Tabon Caves on Palawan. Therefore, it is difficult to say when humans first came upon this island group. Within historical times, several groups may have passed through or occupied the islands. Between 600 BC to 3 BC there was an east to west migration by members of the seafaring Sa Huỳnh culture. This may have led them through the Spratly Islands on their way to Vietnam. These migrants were the forebears of the Cham people, an Austronesian-speaking people that founded the Old Champa empire that ruled what was known for centuries as the Champa Sea.[42][43]

Early records and cartography

 
Mao Kun map, Spratly Islands is suggested to be the islands at the bottom right (石星石塘; shíxīng shítáng).[44] Others however believe the islands may refer to the Paracel Islands or Macclesfield Bank.[45][46]

In the Song Dynasty work Zhu fan zhi by Zhao Rugua, the name "Thousand Li Stretch of Sands" (Qianli Changsha, 千里長沙) and the "Ten-Thousand Li of Stone Pools/Beds" (Wanli Shitang 萬里石塘, or Wanli Shichuang 萬里石床) were given, interpreted by some to refer to Paracel and Spratly respectively.[47] Wanli Shitang is also recorded in the History of Yuan to have been explored by the Chinese during the Mongol-led Yuan dynasty and may have been considered by them to have been within their national boundaries.[48][49][50] However, the Yuan also ruled over Korea, Outer Mongolia, and parts of modern Russia. They are also referenced, sometimes with different names, in the Ming dynasty.[51][52] For example, in the Mao Kun map dating from Zheng He's voyage of the early 15th century, Shixing Shitang (石星石塘) is taken by some to mean Spratly,[44] however different authors interpret the identities of these islands differently.[45] Another Ming text, Haiyu (海語, On the Sea), uses Wanli Changsha (萬里長沙) for Spratly and noted that it is located southeast of Wanli Shitang (Paracels).[44] When the Ming Dynasty collapsed, the Qing dynasty continued to include the territory in maps compiled in 1724,[53] 1755,[54] 1767,[55] 1810,[56] and 1817,[57] but did not officially claim jurisdiction over these islands.

 
An 1801 Cary Map of the East Indies and Southeast Asia, with isles similar to those in the Mao Kun map. The isles are not the Paracels or Spratly Islands, but are instead identified as "Pulo Taya" and "Amphitrite".
 
An 1838 Unified Dai Nam map marking Trường Sa and Hoàng Sa, which are considered as Spratly and Paracel Islands by some Vietnamese scholars; yet they share different latitude, location, shape and distance. The Paracel claim may have been correctly identified, however, the "Spratly" claim on the map may instead be islands nearer to Vietnamese shores[which?], instead of the actual Spratly Islands.

A Vietnamese map from 1834 also combines the Spratly and Paracel Islands into one region known as "Vạn Lý Trường Sa", a feature commonly incorporated into maps of the era (萬里長沙) ‒ that is, the same as the aforementioned Chinese island name Wanli Changsha.[58] According to Hanoi, Vietnamese maps record Bãi Cát Vàng (Golden Sandbanks, referring to both the Spratly and Paracel Islands), which lay near the coast of the central Vietnam, as early as 1838.[59] In Phủ Biên Tạp Lục (The Frontier Chronicles) by scholar Lê Quý Đôn, both Hoàng Sa and Trường Sa were defined as belonging to the Quảng Ngãi District. He described it as where sea products and shipwrecked cargoes were available to be collected. Vietnamese text written in the 17th century referenced government-sponsored economic activities during the Lê dynasty, 200 years earlier. The Vietnamese government conducted several geographical surveys of the islands in the 18th century.[59]

 
A striking large black and white British chart of the sea in northern Borneo, first issued in 1881 and corrected to 1935.

Despite the fact that China and Vietnam both made a claim to these territories simultaneously, at the time, neither side was aware that its neighbour had already charted and made claims to the same stretch of islands.[59]

An early European map, A correct chart of the China Seas of 1758 by William Herbert, left the Spratly Islands region (known then as the Dangerous Ground) as largely blank, indicating that region has yet to be properly surveyed, although some islands and shoals at its western edge were marked (one appears at the same place as Thitu Island).[60][61] A number of maps of the South China Sea were later produced, but the first map that gives a reasonably accurate delineation of the Spratly Islands region (titled [South] China Sea, Sheet 1) was only published in 1821 by the hydrographer of the East India Company James Horsburgh after a survey by Captain Daniel Ross. A later 1859 edition of the map named the Spratly Island as Storm Island.[60] The islands were sporadically visited throughout the 19th and early 20th centuries by mariners from different European powers (including Richard Spratly, after whom the island group derives its most recognisable English name, who visited the group in the 1840s in his whaler Cyrus).[62] However, these nations showed little interest in the islands. In 1883, German boats surveyed the Spratly and the Paracel Islands but eventually withdrew the survey, after receiving protests from the Guangdong government representing the Qing dynasty. China sent naval forces on inspection tours in 1902 and 1907 and placed flags and markers on the islands.[63]

In the 1950s, a group of individuals claimed sovereignty over the islands in the name of Morton F. Meads, supposedly an American descendant of a British naval captain who gave his name to Meads Island (Itu Aba) in the 1870s. In an affidavit made in 1971, the group claimed to represent the Kingdom of Humanity/Republic of Morac-Songhrati-Meads,[64] which they asserted was in turn the successor entity for a supposed Kingdom of Humanity established between the two world wars on Meads Island, allegedly by the son of the British captain. This claim to this would-be micronation fell dormant after 1972, when several members of the group drowned in a typhoon.[65][66][67][68]

Military conflicts and diplomatic dialogues

Further information: Spratly Islands dispute

The following are political divisions for the Spratly Islands claimed by various area nations (in alphabetical order):

In the 19th century, Europeans found that Chinese fishermen from Hainan annually sojourned on the Spratly islands for part of the year, while in 1877 it was the British who launched the first modern legal claims to the Spratly Islands.[71][72]

When the Spratly Islands and Paracels were surveyed by Germany in 1883, China issued protests against them. The 1887 Chinese-Vietnamese Boundary convention signed between France and China after the Sino-French War said that China was the owner of the Spratly and Paracel islands.[63][73] China sent naval forces on inspection tours in 1902 and 1907 and placed flags and markers on the islands. The Qing dynasty's successor state, the Republic of China, claimed the Spratly and Paracel islands under the jurisdiction of Hainan.[63]

In 1933, France asserted its claims to the Spratly and Paracel Islands[citation needed] on behalf of its then-colony French Indochina.[74] It occupied a number of the Spratly Islands, including Taiping Island, built weather stations on two of the islands, and administered them as part of French Indochina. This occupation was protested by the Republic of China (ROC) government because France admitted finding Chinese fishermen there when French warships visited nine of the islands.[75] In 1935, the ROC government also announced a sovereignty claim on the Spratly Islands. Japan occupied some of the islands in 1939 during World War II, and it used the islands as a submarine base for the occupation of Southeast Asia. During the Japanese occupation, these islands were called Shinnan Shoto (新南諸島), literally the New Southern Islands, and together with the Paracel Islands (西沙群岛), they were put under the governance of the Japanese colonial authority in Taiwan.

Japan occupied the Paracels and the Spratly Islands from February 1939 to August 1945.[76] Japan annexed the Spratly Islands via Taiwan's jurisdiction and the Paracels via Hainan's jurisdiction.[71] Parts of the Paracels and Spratly Islands were again controlled by Republic of China after the 1945 surrender of Japan,[77] since the Allied powers assigned the Republic of China to receive Japanese surrenders in that area,[63] however no successor was named to the islands.[77]

 
China's (now ROC and PRC) nine-dash line claim over the South China Sea, 1947

In November 1946, the ROC sent naval ships to take control of the islands after the surrender of Japan.[76] It had chosen the largest and perhaps the only inhabitable island, Taiping Island, as its base, and it renamed the island under the name of the naval vessel as Taiping. Also following the defeat of Japan at the end of World War II, the ROC re-claimed the entirety of the Spratly Islands (including Taiping Island) after accepting the Japanese surrender of the islands based on the Cairo and Potsdam Declarations. The Republic of China then garrisoned Itu Aba (Taiping) island in 1946 and posted Chinese flags.[71] The aim of the Republic of China was to block the French claims.[63][78] The Republic of China drew up the map showing the U-shaped claim on the entire South China Sea, showing the Spratly and Paracels in Chinese territory, in 1947.[63] Japan had renounced all claims to the islands in the 1951 San Francisco Peace Treaty together with the Paracels, Pratas and other islands captured from the Chinese, and upon these declarations, the government of the Republic of China reasserted its claim to the islands. The Chinese Kuomintang force withdrew from most of the Spratly and Paracel Islands after they retreated to Taiwan from the opposing Chinese Communist Party due to their losses in the Chinese Civil War and the founding of the People's Republic of China (PRC) in 1949.[74] Taiwan quietly withdrew troops from Taiping Island in 1950, but then reinstated them in 1956 in response to Tomás Cloma's sudden claim to the island as part of Freedomland.[79] As of 2013, Taiping Island is administered by Taiwan.[80]

After pulling out its garrison in 1950 when the Republic of China evacuated to Taiwan, when the Filipino Tomas Cloma uprooted an ROC flag on Itu Aba laid claim to the Spratly Islands and, Taiwan again regarrisoned Itu Aba in 1956.[81] In 1946, the Americans allegedly reminded the Philippines at its independence that the Spratly Islands were not Philippine territory, both to not anger Chiang Kai-shek in China and because the Spratly Islands were not part of the Philippines per the 1898 treaty Spain signed with the United States.[71] However, no document was found to that effect. The Philippines then claimed the Spratly Islands in 1971 under President Marcos, after Taiwanese troops attacked and shot at a Philippine fishing boat on Itu Aba.[82]

Taiwan's garrison from 1946 to 1950 and 1956-now on Itu Aba represents an "effective occupation" of the Spratly Islands.[82][83] China established a coastal defence system against Japanese pirates or smugglers.[84]

 
Territorial monument of the Republic of Vietnam (South Vietnam) on Southwest Cay, Spratly Islands, defining the cay as part of Vietnamese territory (Phước Tuy Province). Used from 22 August 1956 until 1975, when replaced by another one from the Socialist Republic of Vietnam (successor state after the Fall of Saigon)

In 1958, China issued a declaration defining its territorial waters that encompassed the Spratly Islands. North Vietnam's prime minister, Phạm Văn Đồng, sent a formal note to Zhou Enlai, stating that the Government of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam (DRV) respected the Chinese decision regarding the 12 nmi (22 km; 14 mi) limit of territorial waters.[85] While accepting the 12-nmi principal with respect to territorial waters, the letter did not actually address the issue of defining actual territorial boundaries. North Vietnam recognised China's claims on the Paracels and Spratly Islands during the Vietnam War as it was being supported by China. Only after winning the war and conquering South Vietnam did North Vietnam retract its recognition and admitted it recognised them as part of China to receive aid from China in fighting the Americans.[86][87]

In 1987, China installed a small military structure on Fiery Cross Reef under the pretext of building an oceanic observation station and installing a tide gauge for the Global Sea Level Observing System.[88][verification needed] After a deadly skirmish with the Vietnamese Navy, China installed some military structures on more reefs in the vicinity of the Philippines and Vietnamese occupied islands and this led to escalating tensions between these countries and China over the status and ownership of reefs.

In 1988, the Vietnamese and Chinese navies engaged in a skirmish in the area of Johnson South Reef (also called Gạc Ma Reef in Vietnam and Yongshu Reef in China).[89]

Under President Lee Teng-hui, Taiwan stated that "legally, historically, geographically, or in reality", all of the South China Sea and Spratly islands were Taiwan's territory and under Taiwanese sovereignty, and denounced actions undertaken there by Malaysia and the Philippines, in a statement on 13 July 1999 released by the foreign ministry of Taiwan.[90] Taiwan and China's claims "mirror" each other; during international talks involving the Spratly islands, China and Taiwan have cooperated with each other since both have the same claims.[82][91]

It was unclear whether France continued its claim to the islands after World War II, since none of the islands, other than Taiping Island, was habitable. The South Vietnamese government took over the Trường Sa administration after the defeat of the French at the end of the First Indochina War. "The French bestowed its titles, rights, and claims over the two island chains to the Republic of Vietnam (RoV) in accordance with the Geneva Accords", said Nguyen Hong Thao, Associate Professor at Faculty of Law, Vietnam National University.[92]

In 1999, a Philippine navy ship (Number 57 – BRP Sierra Madre) was purposely run aground near Second Thomas Shoal to enable establishment of an outpost. As of 2014 it had not been removed, and Filipino marines have been stationed aboard since the grounding.[93][94]

Taiwan and mainland China are largely strategically aligned on the Spratly islands issue, since they both claim exactly the same area, so Taiwan's control of Itu Aba (Taiping) island is viewed as an extension of China's claim.[73] Taiwan and China both claim the entire island chain, while all the other claimants only claim portions of them. China has proposed co-operation with Taiwan against all the other countries claiming the islands. Taiwanese lawmakers have demanded that Taiwan fortify Itu Aba (Taiping) island with weapons to defend against the Vietnamese, and both China and Taiwanese NGOs have pressured Taiwan to expand Taiwan's military capabilities on the island, which played a role in Taiwan expanding the island's runway in 2012.[95] China has urged Taiwan to co-operate and offered Taiwan a share in oil and gas resources while shutting out all the other rival claimants. Taiwanese lawmakers have complained about repeated Vietnamese aggression and trespassing on Taiwan's Itu Aba (Taiping), and Taiwan has started viewing Vietnam as an enemy over the Spratly Islands, not China.[96] Taiwan's state run oil company CPC Corp's board director Chiu Yi has called Vietnam as the "greatest threat" to Taiwan.[95] Taiwan's airstrip on Taiping has irritated Vietnam.[97] China views Taiwan's expansion of its military and airstrip on Taiping as benefiting China's position against the other rival claimants from southeast Asian countries.[83] China's claims to the Spratly Islands benefit from legal weight because of Taiwan's presence on Itu Aba, while America on the other hand has regularly ignored Taiwan's claims in the South China Sea and does not include Taiwan in any talks on dispute resolution for the area.[98]

Taiwan performed live fire military exercises on Taiping island in September 2012; reports said that Vietnam was explicitly named by the Taiwanese military as the "imaginary enemy" in the drill. Vietnam protested against the exercises as violation of its territory and "voiced anger", demanding that Taiwan stop the drill. Among the inspectors of the live fire drill were Taiwanese national legislators, adding to the tensions.[99]

In May 2011, Chinese patrol boats attacked two Vietnamese oil exploration ships near the Spratly Islands.[100] Also in May 2011, Chinese naval vessels opened fire on Vietnamese fishing vessels operating off East London Reef (Da Dong). The three Chinese military vessels were numbered 989, 27 and 28, and they showed up with a small group of Chinese fishing vessels. Another Vietnamese fishing vessel was fired on near Fiery Cross Reef (Chu Thap). The Chief Commander of Border Guards in Phú Yên Province, Vietnam, reported that a total of four Vietnamese vessels were fired upon by Chinese naval vessels.[101][failed verification] These incidents involving Chinese forces sparked mass protests in Vietnam, especially in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City,[102] and in various Vietnamese communities in the West (namely in the US state of California and in Paris) over attacks on Vietnamese citizens and the intrusion into what Vietnam claimed was part of its territory.[103]

In June 2011, the Philippines began officially referring to parts of the South China Sea as the "West Philippine Sea" and the Reed Bank as "Recto Bank".[104][105]

In July 2012, the National Assembly of Vietnam passed a law demarcating Vietnamese sea borders to include the Spratly and Paracel Islands.[106][107]

In 2010, it was reported that the former Malaysian Prime Minister (now the current Malaysian Prime Minister) Mahathir Mohamad believed Malaysia could profit from China's economic growth through co-operation with China,[108] and said that China "was not a threat to anyone and was not worried about aggression from China", as well accusing the United States of provoking China and trying to turn China's neighbours against China.[109] Malaysian authorities displayed no concern over China conducting a military exercise at James Shoal in March 2013,[33] with its Defence Minister Hishammuddin Hussein suggested they might work with China and saying that Malaysia had no problem with China patrolling the South China Sea, and telling ASEAN, America, and Japan that "Just because you have enemies, doesn't mean your enemies are my enemies".[110] However, until present Malaysia still maintained a balance relations with the countries involved in this dispute.[111] But since China has started encroaching its territorial waters,[112] Malaysia has become active in condemning China.[113][114]

The editorial of the Taiwanese news website Want China Times accused America of being behind the May 2014 flareup in the South China Sea, saying that Vietnam rammed a Chinese vessel on 2 May over an oil rig drilling platform and the Philippines detained 11 Chinese fishermens occurred because of Obama's visit to the region and that they were incited by America "behind the scenes". Want China Times claimed America ordered Vietnam on 7 May to complain about the drilling platform, and noted that a joint military exercise was happening at this time between the Philippines and America, and also noted that the American New York Times newspaper supported Vietnam.[115]

In a series of news stories on 16 April 2015, it was revealed, through photos taken by Airbus, that China had been building an airstrip on Fiery Cross Reef, one of the southern islands. The 10,000-foot-long (3,048 m) runway covers a significant portion of the island, and is viewed as a possible strategic threat to other countries with claims to the islands, such as Vietnam and the Philippines.

Champa historically had a large presence in the South China Sea. The Vietnamese broke Champa's power in an invasion of Champa in 1471, and then finally conquered the last remnants of the Cham people in an invasion in 1832. A Cham named Katip Suma who received Islamic education in Kelantan declared a Jihad against the Vietnamese, and fighting continued until the Vietnamese crushed the remnants of the resistance in 1835. The Cham organisation Front de Libération du Champa was part of the United Front for the Liberation of Oppressed Races, which waged war against the Vietnamese for independence in the Vietnam War along with the Montagnard and Khmer Krom minorities. The last remaining FULRO insurgents surrendered to the United Nations in 1992.

The Vietnamese government fears that evidence of Champa's influence over the disputed area in the South China Sea would bring attention to human rights violations and killings of ethnic minorities in Vietnam such as in the 2001 and 2004 uprisings, and lead to the issue of Cham autonomy being brought into the dispute, since the Vietnamese conquered the Hindu and Muslim Cham people in a war in 1832.[116]

Japanese scholar Taoka Shunji said in a journal article that the assumption amongst many Japanese people that the territory of the Philippines was being invaded by China, was incorrect. He pointed out that the Spratly islands were not part of the Philippines, when the US acquired the Philippines from Spain in the Treaty of Paris in 1898, and when the Japanese-ruled Taiwan itself had annexed the Spratly islands in 1938, the US-ruled Philippines did not challenge the move and never asserted that it was their territory. He also pointed out that other countries did not need to do full land reclamation since they already control islands, and that the reason China engaged in extensive land reclamation is because they needed it to build airfields since China only has control over reefs.[117]

The "Moro" as "people", is used to describe both the Filipino Muslims and their homeland. Ancestors of Moro people were the owners of Spratly Islands prior to the arrival of the Spanish colonials in the 16th century, according to the Sultan of Sulu in the southern Philippines reported in a local paper. "China has no right over the Spratly Islands in what it calls the South China Sea because that is part of our ancestral domain," Majaraj Julmuner Jannaral, Sultanate information officer, told the Philippine Star. "The Spratly Archipelago is part of the Sulu Sea (the inner area around the islands in the southern Philippines, which is part of the West Philippine Sea (designation of parts of the South China Sea claimed by the Philippines to be part of its EEZ)," Jannaral concluded. "Exploration of the marine territory and the waters around the Spratly Archipelago, Palawan in southwestern Philippines and the southern Philippines, belong to the residents in those areas," he added. The Sultanate of Sulu claims historic proprietary rights over the Spratly Islands since before the Spanish colonial era.[118]

Various incidents of fishing boats being harassed by Chinese warships have occurred.[119][120][121] At least 2 vessels were rammed or sunk. One was a Vietnamese ship attacked by a Chinese coastguard vessel, and another was a Fillipino ship rammed and sunk by a Chinese fishing boat who let the Fillipino fishermen drift at sea without giving aid. The stranded fishermen were later rescued by a Vietnamese ship.[122][123]

In 2017, the United States despite not being a claimant in the Spratly dispute, reported using freedom of navigation operations (FONOPs) to challenge what it deemed as excessive and illegal maritime claims from multiple Asia-Pacific states including Cambodia, China, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Maldives, the Philippines, Sri Lanka, Taiwan, and Vietnam.[124]

In 2022, Vietnam demanded that Taiwan cease conducting live fire exercises at the Spratly Islands.[125]

2016 arbitration

Main article: Philippines v. China

In January 2013, the Philippines initiated arbitration proceedings against China under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) across a range of issues, including the latter's historic rights claims over parts or all of the Spratly Islands inside the nine-dash line.[126][127][128] A tribunal of arbitrators constituted under Annex VII of UNCLOS appointed the Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA) as registry to the proceedings.[129]

On 12 July 2016, the arbitral tribunal ruled in favor of the Philippines on most of its submissions. While it would not "rule on any question of sovereignty over land territory and would not delimit any maritime boundary between the Parties", it concluded that China had not historically exercised exclusive control within the nine-dash line, hence has "no legal basis" to claim "historic rights" to resources.[126] It also concluded that China's historic rights claims over the maritime areas (as opposed to land masses and territorial waters) inside the nine-dash line would have no lawful effect outside of what is entitled to under UNCLOS.[130][131][132] It criticized China's land reclamation projects and construction of artificial islands in the Spratly Islands, saying that they had caused "severe harm to the coral reef environment".[133] Finally, it characterized Taiping Island and other features of the Spratly Islands as "rocks" under UNCLOS, and therefore are not entitled to a 200 nautical mile exclusive economic zone.[134] The award was ruled as final and non-appealable by either country.[135][136] China rejected the ruling, calling it "ill-founded".[137] Taiwan, which currently administers Taiping Island, the largest of the Spratly Islands, also rejected the ruling.[138] Eight governments have publicly called for the ruling to be respected, 35 have issued generally positive statements without calling for parties to abide by it, and eight have publicly rejected it. The eight governments in support were Australia, Canada, Germany, Japan, New Zealand, the Philippines, United Kingdom, and the United States; the eight in opposition were China, Montenegro, Pakistan, Russia, Sudan, Syria, Taiwan, and Vanuatu.[139][140] The United Nations itself does not have a position on the legal and procedural merits of the case or on the disputed claims, and the Secretary-General expressed his hope that the continued consultations on a Code of Conduct between ASEAN and China under the framework of the Declaration of the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea will lead to increased mutual understanding among all the parties.[141]

Transportation and communication

Airports

See also: List of airports in the Spratly Islands
Location Occupied by Name Code Built Length Notes
Taiping Island   Republic of China Taiping Island Airport RCSP 2007 1,200 m (est.) Military use only. No refueling facilities.[142]
Swallow Reef   Malaysia Layang-Layang Airport LAC 1995 1,367 m Dual-use concrete airport.
Fiery Cross Reef   People's Republic of China Yongshu Airport AG 4553 2016 3,300 m (est.) Dual-use concrete airport.
Subi Reef   People's Republic of China Zhubi Airport 2016 3,000 m (est.) Dual-use concrete airport.
Mischief Reef   People's Republic of China Meiji Airport 2016 2,700 m (est.) Dual-use concrete airport.
Thitu Island (Pag-asa)   Philippines Rancudo Airfield RPPN 1978 1,300 m (est.) Dual-use concrete airport.[143]
Spratly Island (Trường Sa)   Vietnam Trường Sa Airport 1976–77 1,200 m (est.)[144] Military use only. Extended from 600 m to 1,200 m in 2016.[144]

Telecommunications

In 2005, a cellular phone base station was erected by the Philippines' Smart Communications on Pag-asa Island.[145]

Vietnam Military Telecommunications Corp., known commonly as Viettel, established mobile coverage in the Spratly Islands in 2007.[146]

On 18 May 2011, China Mobile announced that its mobile phone coverage has expanded to the Spratly Islands. The extended coverage would allow soldiers stationed on the islands, fishermen, and merchant vessels within the area to use mobile services, and can also provide assistance during storms and sea rescues. The service network deployment over the islands took nearly one year.[147]

Gallery

  •  

    An ancient Heliotropium foertherianum on Spratly Island

  •  

    Young Vietnamese residents of Spratly Island

  •  

    A military cemetery for Vietnamese soldiers on Central London Reef

  •  

    A view from Amboyna Cay

  •  

    The Pearson Reef dock under Vietnam's administration

See also

References

Notes

  1. ^ Black type is used for islands, and for those reefs and shoals that have portions above water at high tide. Blue type is used for submerged features. Erratum: Hughes Reef is wrongly labelled Chigua Reef, a name of Johnson South Reef in Chinese, part of the same Union Banks sunken atoll.

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Further reading

External links

  •   Wikimedia Atlas of the Spratly Islands
  • Taiwanese List with ~170 entries 6 November 2012 at the Wayback Machine
  • at the Wayback Machine (archived 23 December 2010)
  • Map showing the claims
  • A tabular summary about the Spratly and Paracel Islands
  • CIA World Factbook for Spratly Islands
  • (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 3 March 2016. (1.70 MB), from Vietnam Ministry of Foreign Affairs
  • Ji Guoxing (October 1995), Maritime Jurisdiction in the Three China Seas: Options For Equitable Settlement (PDF), Institute on Global Conflict and Cooperation.
  • A collection of documents on Spratly and Paracel Islands by Nguyen Thai Hoc Foundation 26 January 2020 at the Wayback Machine
  • Depositional and erosional of the coast and beach, and change of morphology of Spratly coral island
  • Results of premininary survey for the underground water in Spratly coral island
  • Some geological features of Spratly Island
  • Vietnamese sea and islands – position resources, and typical geological and ecological wonders
  • Some researches on marine topography and sedimentation in Spratly Islands

April 29, 2023
spratly, islands, confused, with, spratly, island, spratly, redirects, here, surname, spratly, surname, filipino, kapuluan, kalayaan, chinese, 南沙群島, 南沙群岛, pinyin, nánshā, qúndǎo, malay, indonesian, kepulauan, spratly, vietnamese, quần, đảo, trường, disputed, a. Not to be confused with Spratly Island Spratly redirects here For the surname see Spratly surname The Spratly Islands Filipino Kapuluan ng Kalayaan 1 Chinese 南沙群島 南沙群岛 pinyin Nansha Qundǎo Malay Indonesian Kepulauan Spratly Vietnamese Quần đảo Trường Sa are a disputed archipelago in the South China Sea Composed of islands islets cays 2 and more than 100 reefs sometimes grouped in submerged old atolls 3 the archipelago lies off the coasts of the Philippines Malaysia and southern Vietnam Named after the 19th century British whaling captain Richard Spratly who sighted Spratly Island in 1843 the islands contain less than 2 km2 490 acres of naturally occurring land area which is spread over an area of more than 425 000 km2 164 000 sq mi Spratly Islandsclass notpageimage Spratly Islands The Spratly Islands are one of the major archipelagos in the South China Sea which complicate governance and economics in this part of Southeast Asia due to their location in strategic shipping lanes The islands are largely uninhabited but offer rich fishing grounds and may contain significant oil and natural gas reserves 4 5 6 and as such are important to the claimants in their attempts to establish international boundaries Some of the islands have civilian settlements but of the approximately 45 islands cays reefs and shoals that are occupied all contain structures that are occupied by military forces from Malaysia Taiwan ROC China PRC the Philippines or Vietnam Additionally Brunei has claimed an exclusive economic zone in the southeastern part of the Spratly Islands which includes the uninhabited Louisa Reef Contents 1 Geographic and economic overview 2 Geology 3 Ecology 3 1 Coral reefs 3 2 Vegetation 3 3 Wildlife 3 4 Ecological hazards 4 History 4 1 Early records and cartography 4 2 Military conflicts and diplomatic dialogues 4 3 2016 arbitration 5 Transportation and communication 5 1 Airports 5 2 Telecommunications 6 Gallery 7 See also 8 References 8 1 Notes 8 2 Citations 8 3 Further reading 9 External linksGeographic and economic overviewFurther information List of maritime features in the Spratly Islands The Spratly Islands In 1939 the Spratly Islands were coral islets mostly inhabited by seabirds 2 Despite the Spratly Islands naturally consisting of 19 islands see below according to a Chinese 1986 source the Spratly Islands consist of 14 islands or islets 6 banks 113 submerged reefs 35 underwater banks and 21 underwater shoals 7 The northeast part of the Spratly Islands is known as Dangerous Ground and is characterised by many low islands sunken reefs and degraded sunken atolls with coral often rising abruptly from ocean depths greater than 1 000 metres 3 300 ft all of which makes the area dangerous for navigation The islands are all of similar nature they are cays or keys sand islands formed on old degraded and submerged coral reefs The Spratly Islands contain almost no arable land are largely uninhabited and very few of the islands have a permanent drinkable water supply 5 8 Natural resources include fish guano oil and natural gas 9 Economic activity has included commercial fishing shipping guano mining oil and gas exploitation and more recently tourism The Spratly Islands are located near several primary shipping lanes The islands and cays listed in descending order of naturally occurring area are Island name in Atoll Area ha Location Currently occupied by Reclaimedarea1 Itu Aba Island Tizard Bank 46 00 10 23 N 114 21 E 10 383 N 114 350 E 10 383 114 350 Taiwan Taiping Island 6ha2 Thitu Island Thitu Reefs 37 20 11 03 N 114 17 E 11 050 N 114 283 E 11 050 114 283 Philippines Pagasa Island 3 West York Island West York Island 18 60 11 05 N 115 01 E 11 083 N 115 017 E 11 083 115 017 Philippines Likas Island 4 Spratly Island Spratly Island 13 00 08 38 N 111 55 E 8 633 N 111 917 E 8 633 111 917 Vietnam Trường Sa Island 5 Northeast Cay North Danger Reef 12 70 11 28 N 114 21 E 11 467 N 114 350 E 11 467 114 350 Philippines Parola Island 6 Southwest Cay North Danger Reef 12 00 11 26 N 114 20 E 11 433 N 114 333 E 11 433 114 333 Vietnam Song Tử Tay Island 8ha7 Sin Cowe Island Union Banks 08 00 09 52 N 114 19 E 9 867 N 114 317 E 9 867 114 317 Vietnam Sinh Tồn Island 1ha8 Nanshan Island Nanshan Group 07 93 10 45 N 115 49 E 10 750 N 115 817 E 10 750 115 817 Philippines Lawak Island 9 Sand Cay Tizard Bank 07 00 10 23 N 114 28 E 10 383 N 114 467 E 10 383 114 467 Vietnam Sơn Ca Island 2 1ha 10 10 Loaita Island Loaita Bank 06 45 10 40 N 114 25 E 10 667 N 114 417 E 10 667 114 417 Philippines Kota Island 11 Swallow Reef Swallow Reef 06 20 07 22 N 113 50 E 7 367 N 113 833 E 7 367 113 833 Malaysia Layang Layang Reef 12 Namyit Island Tizard Bank 05 30 10 11 N 114 22 E 10 183 N 114 367 E 10 183 114 367 Vietnam Nam Yết Island 13 Amboyna Cay Amboyna Cay 01 60 07 51 N 112 55 E 7 850 N 112 917 E 7 850 112 917 Vietnam An Bang Island 14 Grierson Reef Union Banks 01 60 09 51 N 114 29 E 9 850 N 114 483 E 9 850 114 483 Vietnam Sinh Tồn Đong Island 15 West London Reef London Reefs 01 10 08 52 N 112 15 E 8 867 N 112 250 E 8 867 112 250 Vietnam Đa Tay A Island 16 Central London Reef London Reefs 00 88 08 56 N 112 21 E 8 933 N 112 350 E 8 933 112 350 Vietnam Trường Sa Đong Island 17 Flat Island Nanshan Group 00 57 10 49 N 115 49 E 10 817 N 115 817 E 10 817 115 817 Philippines Patag Island 18 Lankiam Cay Loaita Bank 00 44 10 43 N 114 32 E 10 717 N 114 533 E 10 717 114 533 Philippines Panata Island The total area of the archipelago s naturally occurring islands is 177 ha 440 acres and 200 ha 490 acres with reclaimed land Spratly IslandsDisputed islands The Spratly IslandsGeographyLocationSouth China SeaCoordinates10 N 114 E 10 N 114 E 10 114 Coordinates 10 N 114 E 10 N 114 E 10 114Total islands18 islands and caysMajor islandsItu Aba Island Thitu Island West York Island Spratly Island Northeast Cay Southwest Cay Sin Cowe Island 11 Area200 ha 490 acres Coastline926 km 575 4 mi Highest elevation4 m 13 ft Highest pointSouthwest CayClaimed byBruneiEEZBrunei zonePeople s Republic of ChinaPrefecture level citySansha Hainan 12 MalaysiaStateSabahPhilippinesMunicipalityKalayaan PalawanTaiwanMunicipalityKaohsiungVietnamDistrictTrường Sa Khanh HoaSpratly IslandsChinese nameTraditional Chinese南沙群島Simplified Chinese南沙群岛TranscriptionsStandard MandarinHanyu PinyinNansha QundǎoYue CantoneseYale RomanizationNahmsaa KwuhndouJyutpingnam4 saa1 kwun4 dou2Southern MinHokkien POJLam soa Kun toHainanese RomanizationNam so Kun tōVietnamese nameVietnameseQuần đảo Trường SaHan Nom群島長沙Malay nameMalayKepulauan SpratlyGugusan Semarang Peninjau 13 14 15 Filipino nameTagalogKapuluan ng Kalayaan A geographic map of Spratly Islands a GeologyThe Spratly Islands consist of islands reefs banks and shoals made up of biogenic carbonate These accumulations of biogenic carbonate lie upon the higher crests of major submarine ridges that are uplifted fault blocks known by geologists as horsts 16 These horsts are part of a series of parallel and en echelon half grabens and rotated fault blocks The long axes of the horsts rotated fault blocks and half grabens form well defined linear trends that lie parallel to magnetic anomalies exhibited by the oceanic crust of the adjacent South China Sea The horsts rotated fault blocks and the rock forming the bottoms of associated grabens consist of stretched and subsided continental crust that is composed of Triassic Jurassic and Cretaceous strata that include calc alkalic extrusive igneous rocks intermediate to acid intrusive igneous rocks sandstones siltstones dark green claystones and metamorphic rocks that include biotite muscovite feldspar quartz migmatites and garnet mica schists 17 18 19 The dismemberment and subsidence of continental crust into horsts rotated fault blocks and half grabens that underlie the Spratly Islands and surrounding sea bottom occurred in two distinct periods They occurred as the result of the tectonic stretching of continental crust along underlying deeply rooted detachment faults During the Late Cretaceous and Early Oligocene the earliest period of tectonic stretching of continental crust and formation of horsts half grabens and rotated fault blocks occurred in association with the rifting and later sea floor spreading that created the South China Sea During the Late Oligocene Early Miocene additional stretching and block faulting of continental crust occurred within the Spratly Islands and adjacent Dangerous Ground During and after this period of tectonic activity corals and other marine life colonised the crests of the horsts and other ridges that lay in shallow water The remains of these organisms accumulated over time as biogenic carbonates that comprise the current day reefs shoals and cays of the Spratly Islands Starting with their formation in Late Cretaceous fine grained organic rich marine sediments accumulated within the numerous submarine half grabens that underlie sea bottom within the Dangerous Ground region 17 18 19 The geological surveys show localised areas within the Spratly Islands region are favourable for the accumulation of economic oil and gas reserves They include thick sequences of Cenozoic sediments east of the Spratly Islands Southeast and west of them there also exist thick accumulations of sediments that possibly might contain economic oil and gas reserves lie closer to the Spratly Islands 4 20 EcologyIn some cays in the Spratly Islands the sand and pebble sediments form the beaches and spits around the island Under the influence of the dominant wind direction which changes seasonally these sediments move around the island to change the shape and size of the island For example Spratly Island is larger during the northeast monsoon about 700 300 meters and smaller during the southwest monsoon approximately 650 320 meters 21 Some islands may contain fresh groundwater fed by rain Groundwater levels fluctuate during the day with the rhythm of the tides 22 Phosphates from bird faeces guano are mainly concentrated in the beach rocks by the way of exchange endosmosis The principal minerals bearing phosphate are podolite lewistonite and dehonite 23 Coral reefs Coral reefs are the predominant structures of these islands the Spratly group contains over 600 coral reefs in total 3 In April 2015 the New York Times reported that China were using scores of dredgers to convert Fiery Cross Reef and several other reefs into military facilities 24 25 Vegetation Little vegetation grows on these islands which are subject to intense monsoons Larger islands are capable of supporting tropical forest scrub forest coastal scrub and grasses It is difficult to determine which species have been introduced or cultivated by humans Taiping Island Itu Aba was reportedly covered with shrubs coconut and mangroves in 1938 pineapple was also cultivated there when it was profitable Other accounts mention papaya banana palm and even white peach trees growing on one island A few islands that have been developed as small tourist resorts had soil and trees brought in and planted where there was none 3 Wildlife A total of 2 927 marine species have been recorded in the Spratly Sea including 776 benthic species 382 species of hard coral 524 species of marine fish 262 species of algae and sea grass 35 species of seabirds and 20 species of marine mammals and sea turtles 26 Terrestrial vegetation in the islands includes 103 species of vascular plants of magnolia branches Magnoliophyta of 39 families and 79 genera 26 The islands that do have vegetation provide important habitats for many seabirds and sea turtles 3 Both the green turtle Chelonia mydas endangered and the hawksbill turtle Eretmochelys imbricata critically endangered formerly occurred in numbers sufficient to support commercial exploitation These species reportedly continue to nest even on islands inhabited by military personnel such as Pratas to some extent though it is believed that their numbers have declined 3 Seabirds use the islands as resting breeding and wintering sites Species found here include streaked shearwater Calonectris leucomelas brown booby Sula leucogaster red footed booby S sula great crested tern Sterna bergii and white tern Gygis alba Little information is available regarding the current status of the islands seabird populations though it is likely that birds may divert nesting sites to smaller less disturbed islands Bird eggs cover the majority of Southwest Cay a small island in the eastern Danger Zone 3 A variety of cetaceans such as dolphins 27 orcas pilot whales and sperm whales are also present around the islands 28 29 30 This ecoregion is still largely a mystery Scientists have focused their research on the marine environment while the ecology of the terrestrial environment remains relatively unknown 3 Ecological hazards Political instability tourism and the increasing industrialisation of neighbouring countries has led to serious disruption of native flora and fauna over exploitation of natural resources and environmental pollution Disruption of nesting areas by human activity and or by introduced animals such as dogs has reduced the number of turtles nesting on the islands Sea turtles are also slaughtered for food on a significant scale The sea turtle is a symbol of longevity in Chinese culture and at times the military personnel are given orders to protect the turtles 3 Heavy commercial fishing in the region incurs other problems Although it has been outlawed fishing methods continue to include the use of bottom trawlers fitted with chain rollers In 1994 a routine patrol by Taiwan s marine navy confiscated more than 200 kg of potassium cyanide solution from fishermen who had been using it for cyanide fishing These activities have a devastating impact on local marine organisms and coral reefs 31 Some interest has been taken in regard to conservation of these island ecosystems J W McManus professor of marine biology and ecology at the University of Miami s Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science has explored the possibilities of designating portions of the Spratly Islands as a marine park One region of the Spratly Archipelago named Truong Sa was proposed by Vietnam s Ministry of Science Technology and the Environment MOSTE as a future protected area The site with an area of 160 km2 62 sq mi is currently managed by the Khanh Hoa Provincial People s Committee of Vietnam 3 Military groups in the Spratly Islands have engaged in environmentally damaging activities such as shooting turtles and seabirds raiding nests and fishing with explosives The collection of rare medicinal plants collecting of wood and hunting for the wildlife trade are common threats to the biodiversity of the entire region including these islands Coral habitats are threatened by pollution over exploitation of fish and invertebrates and the use of explosives and poisons as fishing techniques 3 A 2014 United Nations Environment Programme UNEP report said Sand is rarer than one thinks 32 The average price of sand imported by Singapore was US 3 per tonne from 1995 to 2001 but the price increased to US 190 per tonne from 2003 to 2005 32 Although the Philippines and China had both ratified the UNCLOS III in the case of and Johnson South Reef Hughes Reef Mischief Reef the PRC dredged sand for free in the EEZ the Philippines 33 had claimed from 1978 34 arguing this is the waters of China s Nansha Islands Although the consequences of substrate mining are hidden they are tremendous 32 Aggregate particles that are too fine to be used are rejected by dredging boats releasing vast dust plumes and changing water turbidity 32 John McManus a professor of marine biology and ecology at the Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science said The worst thing anyone can do to a coral reef is to bury it under tons of sand and gravel There are global security concerns associated with the damage It is likely broad enough to reduce fish stocks in the world s most fish dependent region He explained that the reason the world has heard little about the damage inflicted by the Peoples sic Republic of China to the reefs is that the experts can t get to them and noted I have colleagues from the Philippines Taiwan PRC Vietnam and Malaysia who have worked in the Spratly area Most would not be able to get near the artificial islands except possibly some from PRC and those would not be able to release their findings 35 1 2 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 1 2 3 4 5 6 1 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29class notpageimage Location of the major islands islets in the Spratly IslandsLegend Brunei 1 Louisa Reef Malaysia 1 Swallow Reef 2 Ardasier Reef 3 Dallas Reef 4 Erica Reef 5 Investigator Shoal 6 Mariveles Reef People s Republic of China 1 Yongshu 2 Meiji 3 Zhubi 4 Huayang 5 Nanxun 6 Chigua 7 Dongmen Philippines 1 Flat Island 2 Lankiam Cay 3 Loaita Cay 4 Loaita Island 5 Nanshan Island 6 Northeast Cay 7 Thitu Island 8 West York Island 9 Commodore Reef 10 Irving Reef 11 Second Thomas Shoal Republic of China 1 Taiping 2 Zhongzhou Vietnam 1 Southwest Cay 2 Sand Cay 3 Namyit Island 4 Sin Cowe Island 5 Spratly Island 6 Amboyna Cay 7 Grierson Reef 8 Central London Reef 9 Pearson Reef 10 Barque Canada Reef 11 West London Reef 12 Ladd Reef 13 Discovery Great Reef 14 Pigeon Reef 15 East London Reef 16 Alison Reef 17 Cornwallis South Reef 18 Petley Reef 19 South Reef 20 Collins Reef 21 Lansdowne Reef 22 Bombay Castle 23 Prince of Wales Bank zh 24 Vanguard Bank zh 25 Prince Consort Bank zh 26 Grainger Bank zh 27 Alexandra Bank zh 28 Orleana Shoal zh 29 Kingston Shoal zh History The Velarde map shows actual Philippine control over Scarborough Shoal as well as islands off of Palawan identified as the Spratly Islands The map was one of the key evidences in the Philippines v China international case that debunked China s so called nine dash line claims 36 The Spratlys labeled as Los Bajos de Paragua off the coast of Palawan Paragua on the 1734 Murillo Velarde map Some shoals in the Spratlys were then considered part of Palawan in the Philippines v China arbitration case Records show the islands as inhabited at various times in history by Chinese and Vietnamese fishermen In 1888 the Central Borneo Company were granted a lease to work guano on Sprattly island and Amboyna Cay 37 During the Second World War troops from French Indochina and Japan were in occupation 38 39 40 However there is no record of large settlements on the islands until 1956 when Filipino adventurer Tomas Cloma Sr decided to claim a part of Spratly islands as his own naming it the Free Territory of Freedomland 41 Evidence of human presence in the region extends back nearly 50 000 years at Tabon Caves on Palawan Therefore it is difficult to say when humans first came upon this island group Within historical times several groups may have passed through or occupied the islands Between 600 BC to 3 BC there was an east to west migration by members of the seafaring Sa Huỳnh culture This may have led them through the Spratly Islands on their way to Vietnam These migrants were the forebears of the Cham people an Austronesian speaking people that founded the Old Champa empire that ruled what was known for centuries as the Champa Sea 42 43 Early records and cartography Mao Kun map Spratly Islands is suggested to be the islands at the bottom right 石星石塘 shixing shitang 44 Others however believe the islands may refer to the Paracel Islands or Macclesfield Bank 45 46 In the Song Dynasty work Zhu fan zhi by Zhao Rugua the name Thousand Li Stretch of Sands Qianli Changsha 千里長沙 and the Ten Thousand Li of Stone Pools Beds Wanli Shitang 萬里石塘 or Wanli Shichuang 萬里石床 were given interpreted by some to refer to Paracel and Spratly respectively 47 Wanli Shitang is also recorded in the History of Yuan to have been explored by the Chinese during the Mongol led Yuan dynasty and may have been considered by them to have been within their national boundaries 48 49 50 However the Yuan also ruled over Korea Outer Mongolia and parts of modern Russia They are also referenced sometimes with different names in the Ming dynasty 51 52 For example in the Mao Kun map dating from Zheng He s voyage of the early 15th century Shixing Shitang 石星石塘 is taken by some to mean Spratly 44 however different authors interpret the identities of these islands differently 45 Another Ming text Haiyu 海語 On the Sea uses Wanli Changsha 萬里長沙 for Spratly and noted that it is located southeast of Wanli Shitang Paracels 44 When the Ming Dynasty collapsed the Qing dynasty continued to include the territory in maps compiled in 1724 53 1755 54 1767 55 1810 56 and 1817 57 but did not officially claim jurisdiction over these islands An 1801 Cary Map of the East Indies and Southeast Asia with isles similar to those in the Mao Kun map The isles are not the Paracels or Spratly Islands but are instead identified as Pulo Taya and Amphitrite An 1838 Unified Dai Nam map marking Trường Sa and Hoang Sa which are considered as Spratly and Paracel Islands by some Vietnamese scholars yet they share different latitude location shape and distance The Paracel claim may have been correctly identified however the Spratly claim on the map may instead be islands nearer to Vietnamese shores which instead of the actual Spratly Islands A Vietnamese map from 1834 also combines the Spratly and Paracel Islands into one region known as Vạn Ly Trường Sa a feature commonly incorporated into maps of the era 萬里長沙 that is the same as the aforementioned Chinese island name Wanli Changsha 58 According to Hanoi Vietnamese maps record Bai Cat Vang Golden Sandbanks referring to both the Spratly and Paracel Islands which lay near the coast of the central Vietnam as early as 1838 59 In Phủ Bien Tạp Lục The Frontier Chronicles by scholar Le Quy Đon both Hoang Sa and Trường Sa were defined as belonging to the Quảng Ngai District He described it as where sea products and shipwrecked cargoes were available to be collected Vietnamese text written in the 17th century referenced government sponsored economic activities during the Le dynasty 200 years earlier The Vietnamese government conducted several geographical surveys of the islands in the 18th century 59 A striking large black and white British chart of the sea in northern Borneo first issued in 1881 and corrected to 1935 Despite the fact that China and Vietnam both made a claim to these territories simultaneously at the time neither side was aware that its neighbour had already charted and made claims to the same stretch of islands 59 An early European map A correct chart of the China Seas of 1758 by William Herbert left the Spratly Islands region known then as the Dangerous Ground as largely blank indicating that region has yet to be properly surveyed although some islands and shoals at its western edge were marked one appears at the same place as Thitu Island 60 61 A number of maps of the South China Sea were later produced but the first map that gives a reasonably accurate delineation of the Spratly Islands region titled South China Sea Sheet 1 was only published in 1821 by the hydrographer of the East India Company James Horsburgh after a survey by Captain Daniel Ross A later 1859 edition of the map named the Spratly Island as Storm Island 60 The islands were sporadically visited throughout the 19th and early 20th centuries by mariners from different European powers including Richard Spratly after whom the island group derives its most recognisable English name who visited the group in the 1840s in his whaler Cyrus 62 However these nations showed little interest in the islands In 1883 German boats surveyed the Spratly and the Paracel Islands but eventually withdrew the survey after receiving protests from the Guangdong government representing the Qing dynasty China sent naval forces on inspection tours in 1902 and 1907 and placed flags and markers on the islands 63 In the 1950s a group of individuals claimed sovereignty over the islands in the name of Morton F Meads supposedly an American descendant of a British naval captain who gave his name to Meads Island Itu Aba in the 1870s In an affidavit made in 1971 the group claimed to represent the Kingdom of Humanity Republic of Morac Songhrati Meads 64 which they asserted was in turn the successor entity for a supposed Kingdom of Humanity established between the two world wars on Meads Island allegedly by the son of the British captain This claim to this would be micronation fell dormant after 1972 when several members of the group drowned in a typhoon 65 66 67 68 Military conflicts and diplomatic dialogues Further information Spratly Islands dispute The following are political divisions for the Spratly Islands claimed by various area nations in alphabetical order Brunei Part of Brunei s Exclusive Economic Zone 69 China Part of Sansha Hainan 70 Malaysia Part of Sabah state Philippines Part of Kalayaan Palawan province Taiwan Part of Kaohsiung municipality Vietnam Part of Trường Sa Khanh Hoa ProvinceIn the 19th century Europeans found that Chinese fishermen from Hainan annually sojourned on the Spratly islands for part of the year while in 1877 it was the British who launched the first modern legal claims to the Spratly Islands 71 72 When the Spratly Islands and Paracels were surveyed by Germany in 1883 China issued protests against them The 1887 Chinese Vietnamese Boundary convention signed between France and China after the Sino French War said that China was the owner of the Spratly and Paracel islands 63 73 China sent naval forces on inspection tours in 1902 and 1907 and placed flags and markers on the islands The Qing dynasty s successor state the Republic of China claimed the Spratly and Paracel islands under the jurisdiction of Hainan 63 In 1933 France asserted its claims to the Spratly and Paracel Islands citation needed on behalf of its then colony French Indochina 74 It occupied a number of the Spratly Islands including Taiping Island built weather stations on two of the islands and administered them as part of French Indochina This occupation was protested by the Republic of China ROC government because France admitted finding Chinese fishermen there when French warships visited nine of the islands 75 In 1935 the ROC government also announced a sovereignty claim on the Spratly Islands Japan occupied some of the islands in 1939 during World War II and it used the islands as a submarine base for the occupation of Southeast Asia During the Japanese occupation these islands were called Shinnan Shoto 新南諸島 literally the New Southern Islands and together with the Paracel Islands 西沙群岛 they were put under the governance of the Japanese colonial authority in Taiwan Japan occupied the Paracels and the Spratly Islands from February 1939 to August 1945 76 Japan annexed the Spratly Islands via Taiwan s jurisdiction and the Paracels via Hainan s jurisdiction 71 Parts of the Paracels and Spratly Islands were again controlled by Republic of China after the 1945 surrender of Japan 77 since the Allied powers assigned the Republic of China to receive Japanese surrenders in that area 63 however no successor was named to the islands 77 China s now ROC and PRC nine dash line claim over the South China Sea 1947 In November 1946 the ROC sent naval ships to take control of the islands after the surrender of Japan 76 It had chosen the largest and perhaps the only inhabitable island Taiping Island as its base and it renamed the island under the name of the naval vessel as Taiping Also following the defeat of Japan at the end of World War II the ROC re claimed the entirety of the Spratly Islands including Taiping Island after accepting the Japanese surrender of the islands based on the Cairo and Potsdam Declarations The Republic of China then garrisoned Itu Aba Taiping island in 1946 and posted Chinese flags 71 The aim of the Republic of China was to block the French claims 63 78 The Republic of China drew up the map showing the U shaped claim on the entire South China Sea showing the Spratly and Paracels in Chinese territory in 1947 63 Japan had renounced all claims to the islands in the 1951 San Francisco Peace Treaty together with the Paracels Pratas and other islands captured from the Chinese and upon these declarations the government of the Republic of China reasserted its claim to the islands The Chinese Kuomintang force withdrew from most of the Spratly and Paracel Islands after they retreated to Taiwan from the opposing Chinese Communist Party due to their losses in the Chinese Civil War and the founding of the People s Republic of China PRC in 1949 74 Taiwan quietly withdrew troops from Taiping Island in 1950 but then reinstated them in 1956 in response to Tomas Cloma s sudden claim to the island as part of Freedomland 79 As of 2013 update Taiping Island is administered by Taiwan 80 After pulling out its garrison in 1950 when the Republic of China evacuated to Taiwan when the Filipino Tomas Cloma uprooted an ROC flag on Itu Aba laid claim to the Spratly Islands and Taiwan again regarrisoned Itu Aba in 1956 81 In 1946 the Americans allegedly reminded the Philippines at its independence that the Spratly Islands were not Philippine territory both to not anger Chiang Kai shek in China and because the Spratly Islands were not part of the Philippines per the 1898 treaty Spain signed with the United States 71 However no document was found to that effect The Philippines then claimed the Spratly Islands in 1971 under President Marcos after Taiwanese troops attacked and shot at a Philippine fishing boat on Itu Aba 82 Taiwan s garrison from 1946 to 1950 and 1956 now on Itu Aba represents an effective occupation of the Spratly Islands 82 83 China established a coastal defence system against Japanese pirates or smugglers 84 Territorial monument of the Republic of Vietnam South Vietnam on Southwest Cay Spratly Islands defining the cay as part of Vietnamese territory Phước Tuy Province Used from 22 August 1956 until 1975 when replaced by another one from the Socialist Republic of Vietnam successor state after the Fall of Saigon In 1958 China issued a declaration defining its territorial waters that encompassed the Spratly Islands North Vietnam s prime minister Phạm Văn Đồng sent a formal note to Zhou Enlai stating that the Government of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam DRV respected the Chinese decision regarding the 12 nmi 22 km 14 mi limit of territorial waters 85 While accepting the 12 nmi principal with respect to territorial waters the letter did not actually address the issue of defining actual territorial boundaries North Vietnam recognised China s claims on the Paracels and Spratly Islands during the Vietnam War as it was being supported by China Only after winning the war and conquering South Vietnam did North Vietnam retract its recognition and admitted it recognised them as part of China to receive aid from China in fighting the Americans 86 87 In 1987 China installed a small military structure on Fiery Cross Reef under the pretext of building an oceanic observation station and installing a tide gauge for the Global Sea Level Observing System 88 verification needed After a deadly skirmish with the Vietnamese Navy China installed some military structures on more reefs in the vicinity of the Philippines and Vietnamese occupied islands and this led to escalating tensions between these countries and China over the status and ownership of reefs In 1988 the Vietnamese and Chinese navies engaged in a skirmish in the area of Johnson South Reef also called Gạc Ma Reef in Vietnam and Yongshu Reef in China 89 Under President Lee Teng hui Taiwan stated that legally historically geographically or in reality all of the South China Sea and Spratly islands were Taiwan s territory and under Taiwanese sovereignty and denounced actions undertaken there by Malaysia and the Philippines in a statement on 13 July 1999 released by the foreign ministry of Taiwan 90 Taiwan and China s claims mirror each other during international talks involving the Spratly islands China and Taiwan have cooperated with each other since both have the same claims 82 91 It was unclear whether France continued its claim to the islands after World War II since none of the islands other than Taiping Island was habitable The South Vietnamese government took over the Trường Sa administration after the defeat of the French at the end of the First Indochina War The French bestowed its titles rights and claims over the two island chains to the Republic of Vietnam RoV in accordance with the Geneva Accords said Nguyen Hong Thao Associate Professor at Faculty of Law Vietnam National University 92 In 1999 a Philippine navy ship Number 57 BRP Sierra Madre was purposely run aground near Second Thomas Shoal to enable establishment of an outpost As of 2014 update it had not been removed and Filipino marines have been stationed aboard since the grounding 93 94 Taiwan and mainland China are largely strategically aligned on the Spratly islands issue since they both claim exactly the same area so Taiwan s control of Itu Aba Taiping island is viewed as an extension of China s claim 73 Taiwan and China both claim the entire island chain while all the other claimants only claim portions of them China has proposed co operation with Taiwan against all the other countries claiming the islands Taiwanese lawmakers have demanded that Taiwan fortify Itu Aba Taiping island with weapons to defend against the Vietnamese and both China and Taiwanese NGOs have pressured Taiwan to expand Taiwan s military capabilities on the island which played a role in Taiwan expanding the island s runway in 2012 95 China has urged Taiwan to co operate and offered Taiwan a share in oil and gas resources while shutting out all the other rival claimants Taiwanese lawmakers have complained about repeated Vietnamese aggression and trespassing on Taiwan s Itu Aba Taiping and Taiwan has started viewing Vietnam as an enemy over the Spratly Islands not China 96 Taiwan s state run oil company CPC Corp s board director Chiu Yi has called Vietnam as the greatest threat to Taiwan 95 Taiwan s airstrip on Taiping has irritated Vietnam 97 China views Taiwan s expansion of its military and airstrip on Taiping as benefiting China s position against the other rival claimants from southeast Asian countries 83 China s claims to the Spratly Islands benefit from legal weight because of Taiwan s presence on Itu Aba while America on the other hand has regularly ignored Taiwan s claims in the South China Sea and does not include Taiwan in any talks on dispute resolution for the area 98 Taiwan performed live fire military exercises on Taiping island in September 2012 reports said that Vietnam was explicitly named by the Taiwanese military as the imaginary enemy in the drill Vietnam protested against the exercises as violation of its territory and voiced anger demanding that Taiwan stop the drill Among the inspectors of the live fire drill were Taiwanese national legislators adding to the tensions 99 In May 2011 Chinese patrol boats attacked two Vietnamese oil exploration ships near the Spratly Islands 100 Also in May 2011 Chinese naval vessels opened fire on Vietnamese fishing vessels operating off East London Reef Da Dong The three Chinese military vessels were numbered 989 27 and 28 and they showed up with a small group of Chinese fishing vessels Another Vietnamese fishing vessel was fired on near Fiery Cross Reef Chu Thap The Chief Commander of Border Guards in Phu Yen Province Vietnam reported that a total of four Vietnamese vessels were fired upon by Chinese naval vessels 101 failed verification These incidents involving Chinese forces sparked mass protests in Vietnam especially in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City 102 and in various Vietnamese communities in the West namely in the US state of California and in Paris over attacks on Vietnamese citizens and the intrusion into what Vietnam claimed was part of its territory 103 In June 2011 the Philippines began officially referring to parts of the South China Sea as the West Philippine Sea and the Reed Bank as Recto Bank 104 105 In July 2012 the National Assembly of Vietnam passed a law demarcating Vietnamese sea borders to include the Spratly and Paracel Islands 106 107 In 2010 it was reported that the former Malaysian Prime Minister now the current Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad believed Malaysia could profit from China s economic growth through co operation with China 108 and said that China was not a threat to anyone and was not worried about aggression from China as well accusing the United States of provoking China and trying to turn China s neighbours against China 109 Malaysian authorities displayed no concern over China conducting a military exercise at James Shoal in March 2013 33 with its Defence Minister Hishammuddin Hussein suggested they might work with China and saying that Malaysia had no problem with China patrolling the South China Sea and telling ASEAN America and Japan that Just because you have enemies doesn t mean your enemies are my enemies 110 However until present Malaysia still maintained a balance relations with the countries involved in this dispute 111 But since China has started encroaching its territorial waters 112 Malaysia has become active in condemning China 113 114 The editorial of the Taiwanese news website Want China Times accused America of being behind the May 2014 flareup in the South China Sea saying that Vietnam rammed a Chinese vessel on 2 May over an oil rig drilling platform and the Philippines detained 11 Chinese fishermens occurred because of Obama s visit to the region and that they were incited by America behind the scenes Want China Times claimed America ordered Vietnam on 7 May to complain about the drilling platform and noted that a joint military exercise was happening at this time between the Philippines and America and also noted that the American New York Times newspaper supported Vietnam 115 In a series of news stories on 16 April 2015 it was revealed through photos taken by Airbus that China had been building an airstrip on Fiery Cross Reef one of the southern islands The 10 000 foot long 3 048 m runway covers a significant portion of the island and is viewed as a possible strategic threat to other countries with claims to the islands such as Vietnam and the Philippines Champa historically had a large presence in the South China Sea The Vietnamese broke Champa s power in an invasion of Champa in 1471 and then finally conquered the last remnants of the Cham people in an invasion in 1832 A Cham named Katip Suma who received Islamic education in Kelantan declared a Jihad against the Vietnamese and fighting continued until the Vietnamese crushed the remnants of the resistance in 1835 The Cham organisation Front de Liberation du Champa was part of the United Front for the Liberation of Oppressed Races which waged war against the Vietnamese for independence in the Vietnam War along with the Montagnard and Khmer Krom minorities The last remaining FULRO insurgents surrendered to the United Nations in 1992 The Vietnamese government fears that evidence of Champa s influence over the disputed area in the South China Sea would bring attention to human rights violations and killings of ethnic minorities in Vietnam such as in the 2001 and 2004 uprisings and lead to the issue of Cham autonomy being brought into the dispute since the Vietnamese conquered the Hindu and Muslim Cham people in a war in 1832 116 Japanese scholar Taoka Shunji said in a journal article that the assumption amongst many Japanese people that the territory of the Philippines was being invaded by China was incorrect He pointed out that the Spratly islands were not part of the Philippines when the US acquired the Philippines from Spain in the Treaty of Paris in 1898 and when the Japanese ruled Taiwan itself had annexed the Spratly islands in 1938 the US ruled Philippines did not challenge the move and never asserted that it was their territory He also pointed out that other countries did not need to do full land reclamation since they already control islands and that the reason China engaged in extensive land reclamation is because they needed it to build airfields since China only has control over reefs 117 The Moro as people is used to describe both the Filipino Muslims and their homeland Ancestors of Moro people were the owners of Spratly Islands prior to the arrival of the Spanish colonials in the 16th century according to the Sultan of Sulu in the southern Philippines reported in a local paper China has no right over the Spratly Islands in what it calls the South China Sea because that is part of our ancestral domain Majaraj Julmuner Jannaral Sultanate information officer told the Philippine Star The Spratly Archipelago is part of the Sulu Sea the inner area around the islands in the southern Philippines which is part of the West Philippine Sea designation of parts of the South China Sea claimed by the Philippines to be part of its EEZ Jannaral concluded Exploration of the marine territory and the waters around the Spratly Archipelago Palawan in southwestern Philippines and the southern Philippines belong to the residents in those areas he added The Sultanate of Sulu claims historic proprietary rights over the Spratly Islands since before the Spanish colonial era 118 Various incidents of fishing boats being harassed by Chinese warships have occurred 119 120 121 At least 2 vessels were rammed or sunk One was a Vietnamese ship attacked by a Chinese coastguard vessel and another was a Fillipino ship rammed and sunk by a Chinese fishing boat who let the Fillipino fishermen drift at sea without giving aid The stranded fishermen were later rescued by a Vietnamese ship 122 123 In 2017 the United States despite not being a claimant in the Spratly dispute reported using freedom of navigation operations FONOPs to challenge what it deemed as excessive and illegal maritime claims from multiple Asia Pacific states including Cambodia China India Indonesia Malaysia Maldives the Philippines Sri Lanka Taiwan and Vietnam 124 In 2022 Vietnam demanded that Taiwan cease conducting live fire exercises at the Spratly Islands 125 2016 arbitration Main article Philippines v China In January 2013 the Philippines initiated arbitration proceedings against China under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea UNCLOS across a range of issues including the latter s historic rights claims over parts or all of the Spratly Islands inside the nine dash line 126 127 128 A tribunal of arbitrators constituted under Annex VII of UNCLOS appointed the Permanent Court of Arbitration PCA as registry to the proceedings 129 On 12 July 2016 the arbitral tribunal ruled in favor of the Philippines on most of its submissions While it would not rule on any question of sovereignty over land territory and would not delimit any maritime boundary between the Parties it concluded that China had not historically exercised exclusive control within the nine dash line hence has no legal basis to claim historic rights to resources 126 It also concluded that China s historic rights claims over the maritime areas as opposed to land masses and territorial waters inside the nine dash line would have no lawful effect outside of what is entitled to under UNCLOS 130 131 132 It criticized China s land reclamation projects and construction of artificial islands in the Spratly Islands saying that they had caused severe harm to the coral reef environment 133 Finally it characterized Taiping Island and other features of the Spratly Islands as rocks under UNCLOS and therefore are not entitled to a 200 nautical mile exclusive economic zone 134 The award was ruled as final and non appealable by either country 135 136 China rejected the ruling calling it ill founded 137 Taiwan which currently administers Taiping Island the largest of the Spratly Islands also rejected the ruling 138 Eight governments have publicly called for the ruling to be respected 35 have issued generally positive statements without calling for parties to abide by it and eight have publicly rejected it The eight governments in support were Australia Canada Germany Japan New Zealand the Philippines United Kingdom and the United States the eight in opposition were China Montenegro Pakistan Russia Sudan Syria Taiwan and Vanuatu 139 140 The United Nations itself does not have a position on the legal and procedural merits of the case or on the disputed claims and the Secretary General expressed his hope that the continued consultations on a Code of Conduct between ASEAN and China under the framework of the Declaration of the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea will lead to increased mutual understanding among all the parties 141 Transportation and communicationAirports See also List of airports in the Spratly Islands Location Occupied by Name Code Built Length NotesTaiping Island Republic of China Taiping Island Airport RCSP 2007 1 200 m est Military use only No refueling facilities 142 Swallow Reef Malaysia Layang Layang Airport LAC 1995 1 367 m Dual use concrete airport Fiery Cross Reef People s Republic of China Yongshu Airport AG 4553 2016 3 300 m est Dual use concrete airport Subi Reef People s Republic of China Zhubi Airport 2016 3 000 m est Dual use concrete airport Mischief Reef People s Republic of China Meiji Airport 2016 2 700 m est Dual use concrete airport Thitu Island Pag asa Philippines Rancudo Airfield RPPN 1978 1 300 m est Dual use concrete airport 143 Spratly Island Trường Sa Vietnam Trường Sa Airport 1976 77 1 200 m est 144 Military use only Extended from 600 m to 1 200 m in 2016 144 Telecommunications In 2005 a cellular phone base station was erected by the Philippines Smart Communications on Pag asa Island 145 Vietnam Military Telecommunications Corp known commonly as Viettel established mobile coverage in the Spratly Islands in 2007 146 On 18 May 2011 China Mobile announced that its mobile phone coverage has expanded to the Spratly Islands The extended coverage would allow soldiers stationed on the islands fishermen and merchant vessels within the area to use mobile services and can also provide assistance during storms and sea rescues The service network deployment over the islands took nearly one year 147 Gallery An ancient Heliotropium foertherianum on Spratly Island Young Vietnamese residents of Spratly Island A military cemetery for Vietnamese soldiers on Central London Reef A view from Amboyna Cay The Pearson Reef dock under Vietnam s administrationSee also Politics portal Islands portalGreat Wall of Sand Johnson South Reef Skirmish Keying ship Kingdom of Humanity List of islands in the South China Sea List of maritime features in the Spratly Islands Natuna Regency Paracel Islands Philippines and the Spratly Islands South China Sea South China Sea Islands Spratly Islands dispute SSN a computer game set during a conflict over the Spratly Islands Territorial disputes in the South China Sea Territories claimed by the Philippines Tomas Cloma and the Free Territory of FreedomlandReferencesNotes Black type is used for islands and for those reefs and shoals that have portions above water at high tide Blue type is used for submerged features Erratum Hughes Reef is wrongly labelled Chigua Reef a name of Johnson South Reef in Chinese part of the same Union Banks sunken atoll Citations Anda Redempto 17 July 2012 Government told of China buildup 2 months ago Philippine Inquirer Archived from the original on 2 November 2013 Retrieved 29 October 2013 a b Claudius Madrolle 1939 La question de Hai nan et des Paracels The question of Hai nan and Paracel Politique etrangere in French 4 3 302 312 doi 10 3406 polit 1939 5631 Archived from the 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Spratly Islands at Wikipedia s sister projects Media from Commons Travel information from Wikivoyage Data from Wikidata Wikimedia Atlas of the Spratly Islands Mariner s page of the Spratly Islands Taiwanese List with 170 entries Archived 6 November 2012 at the Wayback Machine Satellite images of all islands and reefs of the Spratly Islands at the Wayback Machine archived 23 December 2010 Map showing the claims A tabular summary about the Spratly and Paracel Islands CIA World Factbook for Spratly Islands Vietnamese claims PDF Archived from the original PDF on 3 March 2016 1 70 MB from Vietnam Ministry of Foreign Affairs Ji Guoxing October 1995 Maritime Jurisdiction in the Three China Seas Options For Equitable Settlement PDF Institute on Global Conflict and Cooperation A collection of documents on Spratly and Paracel Islands by Nguyen Thai Hoc Foundation Archived 26 January 2020 at the Wayback Machine Depositional and erosional of the coast and beach and change of morphology of Spratly coral island Results of premininary survey for the underground water in Spratly coral island Some geological features of Spratly Island Vietnamese sea and islands position resources and typical geological and ecological wonders Some researches on marine topography and sedimentation in Spratly Islands Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Spratly Islands amp oldid 1152280468, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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