South China Sea Islands
The South China Sea Islands (南海諸島 pinyin: nan2 hai3 zhu1 dao3) is an archipelago of over 250 islands, atolls, cays, shoals, reefs, and sandbars, many of which are uninhabited by indigenous people whose families have traditionally and permanently resided there for centuries. The Islands are subdivided into four sub-archipelagos (listed by area size):
- The Spratly Islands (southern)
- The Macclesfield Islands (central)
- The Paracel Islands (western)
- The Pratas Islands (eastern)
There are rich minerals, natural gas, and oil deposits on the islands and their nearby seafloor. Because of the economic, military, and transportational importance, the control, especially of the Spratlys, has been in dispute by China and several Southeast Asian countries, especially Vietnam, in the 20th century onwards.
History
The countries with the most extensive participation and well documented history on the Islands are China and Vietnam.
The South China Sea Islands were collectively named The Tough Heads (above Water) of Zhang Sea (漲海崎頭 zhang4 hai3 qi2 tou2) and Coral Islets (珊瑚洲) since their discovery by the Chinese in the Qin Dynasty. But seafaring did not occur until the next dynasty, the Han. After the Song Dynasty, the Islands had been called The Thousand-Mile Lengthy Sand (千里長沙) and Myriad-Mile Stone Embankment (萬里石塘).
There are houses dated back to the Tang or Song Dynasty on Qanquan Island (甘泉島), which nowadays is under disputed with the Vietnamese. In 1045, Emperor Renzong of Song China sent the Army of the Crown Prince (王師) to the Paracel Islands. The fishermen of Hainan composed various "The Notebooks on the Changing Paths" (更路簿) that recorded over 200 secure routes, and the names of over 100 islands used by the fishermen commonly.
Even though some of the voyages of Zheng Ho passed by the Islands, they probably did not dock on them. There is an island in the Spratly Islands named after Zheng Ho though.
Vietnamese fishermen and merchants also have been exploring the South Sea Islands, with less well-known presences that are un official and shorter than the Chinese.
In the 19th century, as a part of Occupation of Indochina, France claimed control of the Stralys until the 1930s, exchanging a few with the British. During World War II, the Islands were annexed by Japan.
Claims and Control
As soon as their respective Occupations ended, the Japanese and the French renounced their claim. Afterwards, China claims all Islands belong to an administrative level of banshichu (辦事處) in the Hainan Province. On the other hand, Vietnam claims all Spratly Islands belong to a district of, first in 1973, the Phuoc Tuy Province, then, the Khanh Hoa Province.
In addition to China and Vietnam, Taiwan, Malaysia and The Philippines also occupy some Islands. Officially, Taiwan, as the Republic of China, claims all Islands, but in fact, it occupies only one island, Itu Aba (Taiping), in the Spratlys; none in the Paracels; and maybe a few in the other sub-archipelagos. Malaysia occupies 3 islands on its continental shelf. The Philippines claim 8 that they think are not in the Spratlys for the Palawan Province.
Brunei's and Indonesia's claims are not on any island, but on the sea.
Geography
The Islands locate on a shallow humite-layer continental shelf with an average of 200 metres. Although in the Spratlys, the sea floor drastically change its height in thousands, and near The Philippines, the Palawan Trough is more than 5,000 metres. The sea floor contains Paleozoic and Mezozoic granite and metamorphic rocks. The abysses are caused by the formation of the Himalayas in the Cenozoic.
Except one volcano-island, most Islands are made of coral reefs.
Life
Boobies and seagulls are very common residents on the island. Their feces can build up to a layer from 10-mm to 1-metre.
There are around 100-200 plant species on the Islands. For example, the Paracel have 166 species, but later the Chinese and the Vietnamese introduced 47 more species, including corn, peanut, sweet potato, and various vegetables.
External links
- Vietnam-China Claims, pt. 1 note: this article is pro-Vietnam, nevertheless the history it offers is not distorted and well documented.
- Erratum: the Chinese keng jian should be kong jian.