Cornwallis South Reef

Cornwallis South Reef
	Satellite image
	Cornwallis South Reef
Other names	; Đá Núi Le; Nanhua Reef (南华礁)
Geography
Location	South China Sea
Coordinates	8°43′09″N 114°10′55″E / 8.7191081°N 114.1819513°E
Archipelago	Spratly Islands
Administration
	Vietnam
District	Trường Sa district

Cornwallis South Reef is a coral atoll reef in the Spratly Islands in the South China Sea. It covers an area of about 10 km by 5 km, and is entirely submerged at high tide.^[1]

Territorial claims

The reef is controlled by Vietnam, but is claimed by China as part of its claim to the entire Spratly Islands. In 2009, Vietnam, in a submission to the UN Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf (CLCS), accepted that its continental shelf did not include Cornwallis and therefore they have no entitlement to exploit it.^[1]

Development

The reef has been subjected to a small amount of development by Vietnam. Structures have been built at three points on the reef, in 2014/15 two access channels were dredged to allow ships enter the lagoon, and in 2015 small-scale land reclamation was started beside the new access channels.^[1] Much of the reclamation work was washed away by Typhoon Melor in December 2015.^[2]

References

^ ^a ^b ^c "Washed Away". Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative. 2016. Retrieved 2016-05-24.
^ Zou Luxiao (2016-02-02). "Typhoon Blows Away Illegal Island Made by Vietnam in South China Sea". People's Daily. Retrieved 2016-05-24.

[washedaway-1] "Washed Away". Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative. 2016. Retrieved 2016-05-24.

[2] Zou Luxiao (2016-02-02). "Typhoon Blows Away Illegal Island Made by Vietnam in South China Sea". People's Daily. Retrieved 2016-05-24.

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