Wiki  Paracel Islands

• • 16°40′N 112°20′E[2]

  • Coastline: 518 km

  • Climate: tropical

  • Elevation extremes:

    • • lowest point: South China Sea 0 m

      • highest point: unnamed location on Rocky Island 14 m

  • Natural resources: fish, coral reefs, possible reserves of oil and gas of unknown size

  • Natural hazards: typhoons

Amphitrite Group

The Amphitrite group was named after the French frigate Amphitrite of the Jesuitmissionary.[5][6][7]

Lying in the northeast of the Paracel Islands at 16°53′N 112°17′E,[8] the group consists of low narrow islands with sand cays, enclosed shallow lagoons connected by reefs of rock, and is about 37 km (23 mi) northwest of Lincoln Island. The group approximately forms an ellipse with a north-south axis of 22 km (14 mi).

The northern section of the group comprises West Sand, Tree Island and the Qilian Yu sub-group (The "Seven Sisters": North Island, Middle Island, South Island, North Sand, Middle Sand, South Sand and two small "sands".) The centre of the group consists of Woody Island and Rocky Island, approximately 5 km (3 mi) south of the southern tip of the eastern extremity of the northern section. The southwest corner of the group is occupied by the Iltis Bank.

The largest island of the Paracels, Woody Island (which has an area of 213 ha (530 acres)), has over 1,000 residents[9] including fishermen and their families, military personnel and civilian administrators.[10]

Crescent Group

Lying about 70 km (43 mi) southwest of the Amphitrite group, at 16.5°N 111.7°E, the Crescent group consists of islands and reefs that form a crescent-like structure from west to east, enclosing a deep central lagoon. The group measures 31 by 15 km (19 by 9 mi) east-west and north-south. All of the islands in the group support vegetation except on their small cays.

The islands are named after former senior figures in the British East India Company. Three were members of the EIC's 'Select Committee' in Canton: James Drummond, Thomas Pattle and John William Roberts. Jonathan Duncan was Governor in Council of Bombay and William Taylor Money was Superintendent of the Bombay Marine. The Chinese name for Money Island is simply the translation of the word 'money - Jin Yin Dao. Money Island' lies at the southwest extremity of the group, and has some small cays in the southern side.

Antelope Reef, submerged at high tide and containing a central lagoon, lies 2.4 km (1.5 mi) east of Money Island.

Northeast of this are Robert Island (also named Round Island) and Pattle Island, separated from each other by a 3.5 km (2.2 mi) wide deep channel. A weather station was built on Pattle Island (by the French) in 1932, and a lighthouse and radio station in 1937.

Northeast of this is Quanfu Dao ("All Wealth Island").

Observation Bank, also named Silver Islet, and the Lesser Silver Islet, are the northernmost of the group and contain a small cay. Just south of them are Yagong Dao (He Duck) and Xianshe Yu (Salty Hut).

At the eastern side of the group lies a 12 km (7 mi) long boomerang shaped reef with Stone Islet at its north end and Drummond Island at its south end.

The Duncan Islands (16°27′N 111°43′E[11]), consisting of Duncan Island and Palm Island, lie approximately 3 km (2 mi) west of Drummond Island and about 8 km (5 mi) east of Antelope Reef. Kuangzai Shazhou (Little Basket) lies about halfway between Palm Island and Antelope Reef.

Other features

Taking 16°40′N 112°20′E as the centre of the Paracel Islands, then the Amphitrite Group is ENE, and the Crescent Group is West.

Southeast

• • Bombay Reef: This elongated reef is situated at the southeastern corner of the Paracel Islands (

• • 1460–1497, under the reign of Emperor Lê Thánh Tông, the Vietnamese began conducting commercial activities on and around Hoàng Sa, including harvesting abundant sea-products and conducting salvage operations on shipwrecks.[31]

  • In 1634, under the Lê dynasty (1527–1786), the ship Grootebroek of the Dutch East India Company sank in the vicinity of the Paracel archipelago. Using a small boat, captain Huijch Jansen and 12 sailors managed to reach Annam, territory of Lord Nguyễn Phước Nguyên (1613–1635), to seek rescue for other castaways remained on the islands.[72]

  • 1680–1705, Lord Trịnh Căn instructed Đỗ Bá Công Đạo to publish Thiên Nam tứ chí lộ đồ (天南四至路圖), an encyclopedia consists of 4 series of maps that detail routes from Thăng Long, capital of Đại Việt, to other countries in the Southeast Asia. Part of this work was based on the Hồng Đức Atlas (Hồng Đức Bản Đồ) developed during the time of Emperor Lê Thánh Tông (1460–1497). This encyclopedia was considered one of the oldest and rarely preserved Vietnamese documents regarding the islands. The volume "Đường từ phủ Phụng Thiên đến Chiêm Thành" (The Route to Champa from Phụng Thiên Province), remarkably described the archipelago with maps. For instance, a statement found in the volume read "In the middle of the sea, there is a long sandbank called Bãi Cát Vàng, which is approximately 400-league long and 20-league wide rising up above the sea." Bãi Cát Vàng means Hoàng Sa, Golden Sandbank.[31][73]

  • In the 18th century, under instructions of the Nguyễn Lords, the salvage operations officially started with the formation of Hoàng Sa and Bắc Hải Companies. Their responsibility was to carry out the mission at Hoàng Sa (Golden Sandbank) and Vạn Lý Trường Sa (Ten-thousand-league Long Sandbank) respectively. This effort was continued thereafter with successive establishments of other naval task units in accordance with strategic policies toward the two archipelagos under the Nguyễn dynasty. Noticeably, a number of naval battles between the Dutch fleet and the Nguyễn Royal Navy occurred in 1643 and 1644. The Hoàng Sa naval task unit consisted of 70 men recruited from An Vĩnh and An Hải villages of Quảng Ngãi, while the majority of members of the Bắc Hải Company came from Bình Thuậnprovince.[31][34][74][75]

• • In 1776, the Phủ Biên Tạp Lục (撫邊雜錄), the Miscellaneous Records on the Pacification of the Frontiers, published by Lê Quý Đôn, a philosopher, an encyclopaedist, and a Minister of Construction of the Lê dynasty (1527–1786). These six volumes detail the Nguyễn dynasty's territories, including the exploitation of the Paracel and Spratly Islands from 1702 onwards.[31][74][75]

  • 1777–1784, when traveling to Cochin China, Father Jean-Baptiste Grosier recorded his impression about maritime activities of the Vietnamese from Huế, Đà Nẵng, and Quảng Ngãi. The abbot Grosier wrote that the people from those ports were excellent and cleverest navigators in this Kingdom. One of their activities was making long distance sailing every year to the long chain of islands and rocks known as the Paracels to collect debris from shipwrecks.[76]

1800–1899 

• • 1802–1820, under the reign of Emperor Gia Long, the territory of his kingdom included Tonkin,Cochin China, part of Cambodia, and "certain islands off the coast including the well known Paracels which bear such an evil reputation as a source of danger to navigation in the China Seas."[77]

  • In 1807, the East India Company sent Captain Daniel Ross to Cochin China to survey the Paracel Islands. Upon arriving to the kingdom, he presented a letter of introduction entrusted by the English company to the reigning king, who was believed to be Emperor Gia Long at that time.[78] Subsequently, Captain Ross completed chartering the south coast of China in 1807, the Paracel Islands in 1808, part of the coast of Cochin China in 1809, and the coast of Palawan in 1810. Most notably, in his surveys published in 1821 under the title "(South) China Sea, Sheet I & II", the Spratly Islands was referred to as The Dangerous Ground, and was later renamed as Storm Island on the 1859 edition of the chart.[79] Separately, in another document, the "Correct Chart of the China Sea", published by Herbert in 1758, the Paracel archipelago was described as a long group of islands and reefs extending from 13 to 17 degrees North, which approximately correspond to the geographic latitudes of the present-day Spratly and Paracel Islands, respectively.[79] It is quite clearly that the captain himself, and probably most navigators of his time, did not differentiate the two archipelagos, but instead had delineated the present-day Spratly Islands as part of the Paracels. Captain Daniel Ross was a well known hydrographer of the Navy of Government of English Bengal and founder of the Bombay Geographical Society.[80]

  • In 1815, Emperor Gia Long ordered Phạm Quang Anh's Hoàng Sa naval task unit to sail to the islands to make surveys and report on maritime routes and draw up maps.[75][81]

  • In 1816, according to Jean-Baptiste Chaigneau, Emperor Gia Long officially claimed the sovereignty of the Paracel Islands, which would include the present-day Spratly archipelago. These two islands were later delineated distinctly under the reign of his successor, Emperor Minh Mạng. Chaigneau was one of the most respected advisors to Emperor Gia Long. He spent more than 30 years inCochinchina and became the first French Consul to this kingdom in 1821.[82]

  • In 1821, the Lịch triều hiến chương loại chí (歷朝憲章類誌) published by Phan Huy Chú, a historian, an encyclopaedist, and an officer of the Ministry of Construction in the time of emperor Minh Mạng. This remarkable work was prepared in 10 years (1809–1819) and consisted of 10 volumes. One of them, the Địa Dư Chí volume, details territories of Dai Nam Kingdom. In 1838, he published the Đại Nam Thống Nhất Toàn Đồ, the Unified Đại Nam Complete Map, that distinctly delineated Vạn Lý Trường Sa (the Ten-thousand-league Long Sandbank) and Hoàng Sa (the Golden Sandbank).[34]

  • In 1827, a world atlas produced by Belgian geographer Philippe Vandermaelen was published in Belgium. Vietnam was described by four maps in this atlas. One of these maps has the title "Partie de la Cochinchine", in which Paracel Islands was included, indicating that it was part of Cochinchine (southern Vietnam region). The map also featured geography, politics, minerals and statistics about the Empire of An Nam (former name of Vietnam). Moreover, the map titled "Partie de la Chine" in the atlas had identified Hainan Island as the southernmost point of China at that time.[83]

  • In 1833, Emperor Minh Mạng ordered Ministry of Construction to build a temple, erect steles, and plant many trees on the islands for navigation purposes.[75][81]

  • In 1834, Emperor Minh Mạng ordered Trương Phúc Sĩ, a naval task unit commander, accompanied by 21 men sailing to the islands to survey and draw map of Hoàng Sa.[31]

  • In 1835, Emperor Minh Mạng issued a royal ordinance to order 24 troops to the Paracel Islands. The royal ordinance has been preserved by generations of Đặng family and was publicly disclosed in early 2009.[84]

  • In 1835, the King ordered Phạm Văn Nguyên's naval task unit, accompanied by workers from Bình Định and Quãng Ngãi provinces, to build Hoàng Sa temple with a wind screen and erect steles on Bàn Than Thạch (Bàn Than Rock) of the present-day Woody Island. The mission was completed in 10 days. Notably, about 33m southwest from the erection, there was a little ancient temple where a stele engraved with the words "Vạn Lý Ba Bình" found. This inscription means Ten Thousand Leagues of Calming Waves. The date of the actual erection of the ancient temple remains unknown[75][81]

  • In 1836, Emperor Minh Mạng received a report from his Ministry of Construction that recommended a comprehensive survey of all the East Sea islands because of their "great strategic importance to our maritime borders."[75][85] The King ordered Phạm Hữu Nhật, a royal navy commander, to erect a wooden stele on the islands. The post was engraved with the following inscription: The 17th of the reign of Minh Mạng by the royal ordinance commander of the navy Phạm Hữu Nhật came here to Hoàng Sa for reconnaissance to make topographical measurements and leave this stele as record thereof.[75][81]

  • In 1838, Bishop Jean-Louis Taberd published the "Latin-Annamese Dictionary". The dictionary contains the "An Nam Đại Quốc Họa Đồ" (The Great Annam Map). In the neighborhood of the present-day coordinate of the islands, words found on the map read "Paracel seu Cát Vàng" (Paracel or Cát Vàng). Cát Vàng means Hoàng Sa, Golden Sands or Golden Sandbank.[35]

  • In 1842, Hai Lu Do Chi, a historical Chinese document was written in the 22nd year of the reign of the Daoguang Emperor (1820–1850) of the Qing eynasty (1644 to 1912) of China. A statement found in this book read: Wang Li Shi Tang (万里石塘) is a sandbank rising above the sea. Several thousand leagues in length, it forms a rampart on the periphery of the Kingdom of Annam. Wang Li Shi Tang means Ten-thousand-league Long Sandbank.[75]

  • In 1858, Napoleon III ordered French troops to attack Tourane, the present-day Đà Nẳng city. Subsequently, France launched more attacks and forced Cochin China and some provinces in the South to become her colonies. The French Indochina was formed in 1887 and consisted of Tonkin, Annam, Cochin China, and Cambodia.

  • The 1887 Chinese-Vietnamese Boundary convention signed between France and China after the Sino-French War stated that China was the owner of the Spratly and Paracel islands.[62]

  • 1895–1896, German vessel Bellona and Japanese ship Imezi Maru sank at the islands. Chinese fishermen looted and resold them atHainan. These countries protested but local Chinese authorities, the Governor of Liang Guang, denied any responsibilities on the ground that the Paracels were abandoned and belonged to neither country.[75]

20th-century events 

• • In the 1910-20s, the French Ministry of Colonies and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs agreed that the Paracel Islands were under Chinese sovereignty, and that France should not try to claim them, either on behalf of itself, or Annam. Therefore, France did not protest in 1921 when the government of Guangdong province declared the Paracels to be under the administration of Hainan Island. 5 years later in 1926, France refused an application from a French company to exploit guano in the Paracels. It also refused a similar application from a Japanese company.[86]

  • In 1932, France nonetheless formally claimed both the Paracel and Spratly Islands. China and Japan both protested. In 1933, France seized the Paracels and Spratlys, announced their annexation, formally included them in French Indochina, and built a couple of weather stations on them, but did not disturb the numerous Chinese fishermen it found there.[86]

  • In 1938 Japan took the islands from France, garrisoned them, and built a submarine base at Itu Aba (now Taiping / 太平) Island. In 1941, the Japanese Empire made the Paracel and Spratly islands part of Taiwan, then under its rule.[86]

• After World War II, Nationalist China reaffirmed its sovereignty over the islands in the South China Sea, and dispatched a patrol force to the islands, but this was challenged by the French. 

  • After the fall of the nationalist regime in China in 1949, the PRC gained control of the eastern half of the Paracel islands. Several small clashes occurred between the French and the communist Chinese naval forces during this period, but eventually a de facto line of control was established with the PRC occupying Woody Island, while the remainder was held by Franco-Vietnamese forces.

  • In 1951, at the international Treaty of San Francisco conference, Vietnam's representative claimed that both the Paracels and Spratlys are territories of Vietnam, and was met with no challenge from all nations at the event. However, neither the PRC nor the ROC participated in the conference. Separately, the ROC negotiated and signed its own treaty with Japan regarding the islands on April 29, 1952.[86]

  • In 1954, according to the Geneva Agreements, which were signed by a number of nations including the PRC,[87][88] Vietnam was partitioned into two states, North Vietnamand South Vietnam. The 17th parallel was used as the provisional military demarcation line, which was effectively extended into the territorial waters. The Paracel archipelago lies below this line and belongs to South Vietnam accordingly.

  • In 1956, after the French withdrawal from Vietnam, South Vietnam replaced French control of the islands. By February 1956, the South Vietnamese Navy was already stationed on Pattle Island by Ngô Đình Diệm.[86] Again, both the PRC and ROC politically and diplomatically condemned the decision and reaffirmed their claims to the islands. Although the South Vietnamese "inherited" the French claim to the entire Paracel Islands, the period was peaceful, and both sides held onto what was in their control without venturing into other's domain. At this time, maps and other official documents of the North Vietnam government asserted that the islands belonged to the PRC,[89][citation needed]mainly due to the fact that the PRC was the largest supporter of North Vietnam during the Vietnam War.

  • On September 4, 1958, the government of the PRC proclaimed the breadth of its territorial sea to be twelve nautical miles (22 km) which applied to all its territory, including the Paracel and Spratly Islands. Ten days later, the prime minister of North Vietnam, Phạm Văn Đồng, in his letter to Zhou Enlai stated that his government had recognized the declaration of the PRC government.[67][75][90][91]

  • On January 19, 1974, the Battle of the Paracel Islands occurred between the PRC and South Vietnam. After the battle, the PRC took control over the entire Paracel Islands.

  • In 1982, Vietnam established Hoang Sa District in Quang Nam-Da Nang covering these islands.[92][93]

• In a statement released on 13 July 1999 by the foreign ministry of Taiwan, under President Lee Teng-hui stated that "legally, historically, geographically, or in reality", all of the South China Sea and the islands were Taiwan's territory and under Taiwanese sovereignty.[94] The ROC's and the PRC's claims "mirror" each other.[95] Taiwan and China are largely strategically aligned on the islands issue, since they both claim exactly the same area, so Taiwan's claims are viewed  as an extension of China's claims.[96]Taiwan and China both claim the entire island chains, while all the other claimaints only claim portions of them, and China has proposed cooperation with Taiwan against all the other countries claiming the islands, such as Vietnam.[97] China has urged Taiwan to cooperate and offered Taiwan a share in oil and gas resources while shutting out all the other rival claimants.[98] Board director Chiu Yi of Taiwan's state run oil company, CPC Corp, has named Vietnam as the "greatest threat" to Taiwan.[97] America 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.[99]

21st-century events

• • In July 2012 the National Assembly of Vietnam passed a law demarcating Vietnamese sea borders to include the Paracel and Spratly Islands.[100][101]

In response to the Vietnamese move, Beijing announced the establishment of the prefecture-level city of Sansha covering the Paracel and Spratly Islands.[citation needed]

The Philippines and Vietnam promptly lodged diplomatic protests strongly opposing the establishment of the Sansha City under Chinese jurisdiction.[102][103]

• • In April 2013, a representative from the Vietnamese Foreign Ministry’s National Boundary Commission gave a diplomatic note to a representative of the Chinese Embassy inHanoi demanding that China cancel its plan to bring tourists to the Paracel archipelago.[104]

  • (Main article: Haiyang Shiyou 981 standoff)

According to reports, at the beginning of May 2014, Chinese and Vietnamese naval vessels collided near the islands as Hanoi sought to prevent a Chinese oil rig from setting up in the area.[105] On May 26, a Vietnamese fishing boat sank near the oil rig, after colliding with a Chinese vessel. As both sides imputed the blame to each other, Vietnam released a video footage in a week later, showing a Chinese vessel ramming into its ship before it sank; the Chinese said they were on the defensive while Vietnamese vessels were attacking the Chinese fishing boats.[106]

• • [when?]Taiwan rejected all rival claims to the Paracel islands amidst the standoff, repeating its position that all of the Paracel Islands, Spratly Islands, Macclesfield Bank andPratas Islands belong to the Republic of China along with "their surrounding waters and respective seabed and subsoil", and that Taiwan views both Vietnam and mainland China's claims as illegitimate. This statement was released by Taiwan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, which added – "There is no doubt that the Republic of China has sovereignty over the archipelagos and waters."[107]

In January 2016, photographs emerged that indicate that China is reclaiming land and expanding military facilities in the Paracels, including at Duncan Island, North Island, and Tree Island. Commentators have likened this work to the initial stages of China's large-scale construction in the Spratly Islands.[108]

FIPS country code 

The FIPS 10-4 country code for the Paracel Islands is PF.

References 

Citations 

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  14.  This is the maximum height, or for submerged features, the minimum depth, in metres. A height of zero indicates low sandy cays or beaches, reefs that dry at low tide, or similar.Source: "The Paracel Islands" (PDF). Sector 1: The South China Sea - Central Part, Sailing Directions - Publication 161 - 14th Edition. National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency, U.S. Government. 12 July 2014. pp. 5–7.

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  17. a b Sailing Directions, Publication 161, Sector 1, pg. 7, section 1.14

  18.  Sailing Directions, Publication 161, Sector 1, pg. 6, section 1.13

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2. (1776) Le Quí Don (translated by Le Xuan Giao), "Phu Bien Tap Luc", Saigon, 1972.

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Further reading 

1. Menon, Rajan, "Worry about Asia, Not Europe", The National Interest, Sept–Oct 2012 Issue, September 11, 2012

2. Bateman, Sam; Emmers, Ralf, eds. (2008). Security and International Politics in the South China Sea: Towards a co-operative management regime (illustrated ed.). Taylor & Francis. ISBN 0203885244.

3. Bezlova, Antoaneta (Jan 29, 2008). "China moves to expand its reach". Asia Times. Retrieved 10 March 2014.

4. Bouchat, Clarence J. (2014). The Paracel Islands and U.S. Interests and Approaches in the South China Sea. Carlisle, PA: Strategic Studies Institute and U.S. Army War College Press. ISBN 9781584876236. Retrieved 25 July 2014.

5. The Editors of Encyclopædia Britannica. "Spratly Islands - Britannica Online Encyclopedia". Darshana Das, Gloria Lotha. Britannica.com. Retrieved 16 April 2014.

6. Kastner, Jens (Aug 10, 2012). "Taiwan pours cement on maritime dispute". Asia Times. Retrieved 10 March 2014.

7. Kivimäki, Timo, ed. (2002). War Or Peace in the South China Sea?. Contributor Nordic Institute of Asian Studies (illustrated ed.). NIAS Press. ISBN 8791114012. ISSN 0904-597X. horizontal tab character in |others= at position 12 (help)

8. Lee, Peter (Jul 29, 2010). "US goes fishing for trouble". Asia Times. p. 2. Retrieved 14 May 2014.

9. Lin, Cheng-yi (Feb 22, 2008). "Buffer benefits in Spratly initiative". Asia Times. pp. 1–2. Retrieved 14 May 2014.

10. Morley, James W.; Nishihara, Masashi, eds. (1997). Vietnam Joins the World. M.E. Sharpe. ISBN 076563306X.

11. Pak, Hŭi-gwŏn (2000). The Law of the Sea and Northeast Asia: A Challenge for Cooperation. Volume 35 of Publications on Ocean Development, V. 35 (illustrated ed.). Martinus Nijhoff Publishers. ISBN 9041114076.

12. Severino, Rodolfo (2011). Where in the World is the Philippines?: Debating Its National Territory (illustrated ed.). Institute of Southeast Asian Studies. ISBN 9814311715.

13. Sisci, Francesco (Jun 29, 2010). "US toe-dipping muddies South China Sea". Asia Times. Retrieved 14 May 2014.

14. STRATFOR's Global Intelligence Update (July 14, 1999). "Taiwan sticks to its guns, to U.S. chagrin". Asia Times. Retrieved 10 March 2014.

15. Womack, Brantly (Feb 14, 2013). "Rethinking the US-China-Taiwan triangle". Asia Times. Retrieved 14 May 2014.

16. Wortzel, Larry M.; Higham, Robin D. S. (1999). Dictionary of Contemporary Chinese Military History. ABC-CLIO. ISBN 0313293376.

17. Editorial (2014-05-13). "Timing of flareups in South China Sea is no coincidence". Want China Times. Retrieved 14 May 2014.

18. External links

• CIA World Factbook for Paracel Islands

• Territorial claims in the Spratly and Paracel Islands