South China Sea Islands

South China Sea

The South China Sea Islands consist of over 250islands, atolls, cays, shoals, reefs, and sandbars in theSouth China Sea, none of which have indigenous peo-ple, few of which have any natural water supply, many ofwhich are naturally under water at high tide, and manyof which are permanently submerged. The features aregrouped into three archipelagos, plus the MaccleseldBank and Scarborough Shoal. Collectively they have atotal land surface area of less than 15 km2 at low tide:

The Spratly Islands, disputed between the People'sRepublic of China, the Republic of China, and Viet-nam, with Malaysia, Brunei, and the Philippinesclaiming parts of the archipelago*[1]

The Paracel Islands, disputed between the People'sRepublic of China, the Republic of China, and Viet-nam, occupied by the PRC*[2]

The Pratas Islands, disputed between the People'sRepublic of China and the Republic of China, oc-cupied by the ROC

The Maccleseld Bank, disputed between the Peo-ple's Republic of China, the Republic of China, thePhilippines, and Vietnam, with no land above sea-level*[3]*[4]

The Scarborough Shoal, disputed between the Peo-ple's Republic of China, the Philippines, and the Re-public of China, with only rocks above sea-level.

There are minerals, natural gas, and oil deposits on the is-lands and under their nearby seaoor, also an abundanceof sealife, such as sh, animals and vegetation, tradi-tionally exploited as food by all the claimant nations forthousands of yearsmostly without disputes that couldrisk war. In the 20th century, since the WW2 settle-ments failed to resolve ownership of such lesser areasof land, seas and islandsand because of the economic,military, and transportational importancetheir control,especially that of the Spratlys, has been in dispute be-tween China and several Southeast Asian countries, suchas Vietnam, from the mid-20th century onwards. Trueoccupation and control are shared between the claimants.(See Claims and control below)

1 NamesThe South China Sea Islands were discussed from the 4thcentury BC in the Chinese texts Yizhoushu, Classic of Po-etry, Zuo Zhuan, and Guoyu, but only implicitly as partof the Southern Territories(Chinese: ; pinyin:Nn Zhu) orSouth Sea(, Nn Hi). During theQin Dynasty (221206 BC), government administratorscalled the South China Sea Islands theThreeMysteriousGroups of Islands(, Sn Shn Shn). But dur-ing the Eastern Han dynasty (23-220), the South ChinaSea was renamedRising Sea(, Zhng Hi), sothe islands were called theRising Sea Islands(, Zhnghi Qtu). During the Jin Dynasty (265420), they were known as the Coral Islands(, Shnh Zhu). From the Tang Dynasty (618907) tothe Qing Dynasty (16441912), various names were usedfor the islands, but in general Changsha and permutationsreferred to the Paracel Islands, while Shitang referred tothe Spratly Islands. These variations included, for theParacels: Jir Luzhu (), Qzhu Yng (), Chngsh (), Qinl Chngsh (),and Qinl Shtng (); for the Spratlys: Shtng(), Shchung (), Wnl Shtng (),andWnl Chngsh ().*[5]During the Qing, the names Qianli Changsha and WanliShitang were in vogue, and Chinese shermen fromHainan named specic islands from within the groups,although the Qing ocially named 15 large islands in

1

2 2 HISTORY

1909. During China's Republican era (1912-1949), thegovernment named the Spratlys Tunsh Qndo (

) and thenNnsh Qndo (); the Paracelswere Xsh Qndo (); Republican authori-ties mapped over 291 islands, reefs, and banks in sur-veys in 1932, 1935, and 1947. The People's Repub-lic of China has retained the Republican-era names forthe island groups, supplementing them with a list of 287names for islands, reefs, banks, and shoals in 1983.*[5]From 2011-2012, China's State Oceanic Administra-tion named 1,660 nameless islands and islets under itsclaimed jurisdiction; in 2012, China announced plansto name a further 1,664 nameless features by August2013. The naming campaign is intended to consolidateChina's sovereignty claim over Sansha (),*[6] a citywhich includes islands from the Xisha (Paracel), Nansha(Spratly) and Zhongsha (, Zhngsh; MaccleseldBank, Scarborough Shoal, and others) groups.

2 HistoryThe countries with themost extensive activity in the SouthChina Sea Islands are China and Vietnam.In the 19th century, as a part of the occupation ofIndochina, France claimed control of the Spratlys untilthe 1930s, exchanging a few with the British. DuringWorld War II, the islands were annexed by Japan.The People's Republic of China, founded in 1949,claimed the islands as part of the province of Canton(Guangdong), and later of the Hainan special adminis-trative region.Various factions of the Muslim Moro people are waginga war for independence against the Philippines. Thewebsite of the separatist Moro National Liberation Front(MNLF) of Nur Misuari declared its support for Chinaagainst the Philippines in the South China Sea dispute,calling both China and the Moro people as victims ofPhilippine colonialism, and noting China's history offriendly relations with the Moros.*[7] The MNLF web-site also denounced America's assistance to the Philip-pines in their colonisation of the Moro people in addi-tion to denouncing the Philippines' claims to the islandsdisputed with China, and denouncing America for sidingwith the Philippines in the dispute, noting that in 1988China punishedVietnam for attempting to set up amilitary presence on the disputed islands, and noting thattheMoros and Chinamaintained peaceful relations, whileon the other hand the Moros had to resist other colonialpowers, having to ght the Spanish, ght the Americans,and ght the Japanese, in addition to ghting the Philip-pines.*[8]Champa historically had a large presence in the SouthChina Sea. The Vietnamese broke Champa's power in aninvasion of Champa in 1471, and then nally conqueredthe last remnants of the Cham people in an invasion in

1832. A Cham named Katip Suma, who received Is-lamic education in Kelantan, declared a jihad against theVietnamese, and ghting continued until the Vietnamesecrushed the remnants of the resistance in 1835. TheCham organisation Front de Libration du Champa waspart of the United Front for the Liberation of OppressedRaces, which waged war against the Vietnamese for inde-pendence in the VietnamWar along with the MontagnardandKhmer Kromminorities. The last remaining FULROinsurgents surrendered to the United Nations in 1992.Vietnam has settled more than a million ethnic Viet-namese on Montagnard lands in the Central Highlands.The Montagnards staged a massive protest against theVietnamese in 2001, which led the Vietnamese to force-fully crush the uprising and seal the entire area o to for-eigners.The Vietnamese government fears that evidence ofChampa's inuence over the disputed area in the SouthChina Sea would bring attention to human rights viola-tions and killings of ethnic minorities in Vietnam, suchas in the 2001 and 2004 uprisings, and lead to the is-sue of Cham autonomy being brought into the dispute,since the Vietnamese conquered the Hindu and MuslimCham people in a war in 1832, and the Vietnamese con-tinue to destroy evidence of Cham culture and artefactsleft behind, plundering or building on top of Cham tem-ples, building farms over them, banning Cham religiouspractices, and omitting references to the destroyed Chamcapital of Song Luy in the 1832 invasion in history booksand tourist guides. The situation of Cham compared toethnic Vietnamese is substandard, lacking water and elec-tricity and living in houses made out of mud.*[9]The Cham in Vietnam are only recognised as a minor-ity, and not as an indigenous people by the Vietnamesegovernment despite being indigenous to the region. BothHindu and Muslim Cham have experienced religiousand ethnic persecution and restrictions on their faith un-der the current Vietnamese government, with the Viet-namese state consticating Cham property and forbid-ding Cham from observing their religious beliefs. Hindutemples were turned into tourist sites against the wishesof the Cham Hindus. In 2010 and 2013 several inci-dents occurred in Thnh Tn and Phc Nhn villageswhere Cham were murdered by Vietnamese. In 2012,Vietnamese police in Chau Giang village stormed intoa Cham Mosque, stole the electric generator, and alsoraped Cham girls.*[10] Cham Muslims in the MekongDelta have also been economically marginalised andpushed into poverty by Vietnamese policies, with ethnicVietnamese Kinh settling on majority Cham land withstate support, and religious practices of minorities havebeen targeted for elimination by the Vietnamese govern-ment.*[11]

33 Claims and controlMain article: Territorial disputes in the South China SeaThe Republic of China (ROC) named 132 of the South

Territorial monument of the Republic of Vietnam (South Viet-nam) on Southwest Cay, Spratly Islands, dening the cay as partof Vietnamese territory (to Phc Tuy Province). Used since 22August 1956 until 1975, when replaced by another one from theSocialist Republic of Vietnam (successor state after the Fall ofSaigon)

China Sea Islands in 1932 and 1935. In 1933, the ROCgovernment lodged an ocial protest to the French gov-ernment after its occupation of Taiping Island.*[12] Af-ter World War II, the ROC government occupied the is-lands earlier controlled by the Japanese. In 1947, theMinistry of Interior renamed 149 of the islands. Later,in November 1947, the Secretary Department of Guang-dong Government was authorised to publish the Map ofthe South China Sea Islands.The Japanese and the French renounced their claimsas soon as their respective occupations or colonisationsended.In 1958, the People's Republic of China (PRC) issueda declaration dening its territorial waters within whatis known as the nine-dotted line which encompassed theSpratly Islands. North Vietnam's prime minister, PhmVn ng, sent a diplomatic note to Zhou Enlai, statingthat The Government of the Democratic Republic ofVietnam respects this decision.The diplomatic note waswritten on 14 September and was publicised inNhan Dannewspaper (Vietnam) on 22 September 1958. Regarding

this letter, there have been many arguments on its truemeaning and the reason why Phm Vn ng decided tosend it to Zhou Enlai. In an interview with BBCVietnam,Dr. Balzs Szalontai provided the following analysis ofthis issue:

The general context of the Chinese decla-ration was the United Nations Conference onthe Law of the Sea, held in 1956, and theresulting treaties signed in 1958, such as theConvention on the Territorial Sea and Con-tiguous Zone. Understandably, the PRC gov-ernment, though not being a member of theU.N., also wanted to have a say in how theseissues were dealt with. Hence the Chinese dec-laration of September 1958. In these years,as I said before, North Vietnam could hardlyaord to alienate China. The Soviet Uniondid not give any substantial support to Viet-namese reunication, and neither South Viet-namese leader Ngo Dinh Diem nor the U.S.government showed readiness to give consentto the holding of all-Vietnamese elections asstipulated by the Geneva Agreements. On thecontrary, Diem did his best to suppress theCommunist movement in the South. This iswhy Pham Van Dong felt it necessary to takesides with China, whose tough attitude towardthe Asian policies of the U.S. oered somehope. And yet he seems to have been cau-tious enough to make a statement that sup-ported only the principle that China was enti-tled for 12-mile territorial seas along its terri-tory but evaded the issue of dening this ter-ritory. While the preceding Chinese statementwas very specic, enumerating all the islands(including the Paracels and the Spratlys) forwhich the PRC laid claim, the DRV statementdid not say a word about the concrete territo-ries to which this rule was applicable. Still, it istrue that in this bilateral territorial dispute be-tween Chinese and Vietnamese interests, theDRV standpoint, more in a diplomatic than alegal sense, was incomparably closer to that ofChina than to that of South Vietnam.*[13]

It was also argued that, Pham Van Dong who representedNorth Vietnam at that time had no legal right to commenton a territorial part which belonged to the South Vietnamrepresented by Ngo Dinh Diem. Therefore, the letter hasno legal value and is considered as a diplomatic documentto show the support of the government of North Vietnamto the PRC at that time. In 1959, the islands were put un-der at the administrative level of banshichu (/) in 1959. In 1988, the banshichu were switched tothe administration of the newly foundedHainan Province.The PRC strongly asserted its claims to the islands, butin the late 1990s, under the new security concept, the

4 7 REFERENCES

PRC put its claims less strongly. According to the KyodoNews, in March 2010 PRC ocials told US ocials thatthey consider the South China Sea acore interestonpar with Taiwan, Tibet and Xinjiang*[14] In July 2010the Communist Party-controlled Global Times stated thatChina will never waive its right to protect its core inter-est with military means*[15] and a Ministry of Defensespokesman said thatChina has indisputable sovereigntyof the South Sea and China has sucient historical andlegal backingto underpin its claims.*[16]In addition to the People's Republic of China and Viet-nam, the Republic of China (Taiwan), Malaysia, Bruneiand the Philippines also claim and occupy some is-lands. Taiwan claims all the Spratly Islands, but occupiesonly one island and one shelf including Taiping Island.Malaysia occupies three islands on its continental shelf.The Philippines claim most of the Spratlys and call themthe Kalayaan Group of islands, and they form a distinctmunicipality in the province of Palawan. The Philippines,however, occupy only eight islands. Brunei claims a rela-tively small area, including islands on Louisa Reef.*[17]Indonesia's claims are not on any island, but on maritimerights. (See South China Sea)

4 Geography

Locations in the South China Sea

The islands are located on a shallow continental shelf withan average depth of 200metres. However, in the Spratlys,the sea oor drastically changes its depth, and near thePhilippines, the Palawan Trough is more than 5,000 me-tres deep. Also, there are some parts that are so shallowthat navigation becomes dicult and prone to accidents.The sea oor contains Paleozoic and Mesozoic graniteand metamorphic rocks. The abysses are caused by theformation of the Himalayas in the Cenozoic.

Except one volcanic island, the islands are made of coralreefs of varying ages and formations.

5 LifeThere are no known native animals, except boobies andseagulls, which are very common on the islands. Theirfaeces can build up to a layer from 10mm to 1m annually.There are around 100200 plant species on the islandsaltogether. For example, the Paracels have 166 species,but later the Chinese and the Vietnamese introduced 47more species, including peanut, sweet potato, and variousvegetables.

6 See also Great wall of sand

List of islands in the South China Sea

List of islands of the Republic of China

South China Sea

Spratly Islands

7 References

7.1 Citation footnotes[1] Global Security

[2] https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/pf.html CIA World Fact-book

[3]Limits in the Seas - No. 127 Taiwan's Maritime Claims(PDF). United States Department of State. 15 November2005. Retrieved 1 July 2012.

[4]Philippines protests Chinas moving in on MaccleseldBank. Inquirer.net. 6 July 2012. Retrieved 6 July 2012.

[5] Shen, Jianming (2002). China's Sovereignty over theSouth China Sea Islands: A Historical Perspective. Chi-nese Journal of International Law 1 (1): 94157.

[6] China to name territorial islands. Beijing: Xinhua. 16October 2012. Retrieved 26 October 2012.

[7] RRayhanR (8 October 2012). HISTORICAL ANDHUMAN WRONGOF PHILIPPINE COLONIAL-ISM: HOW NOT TO RESPECT HISTORIC-HUMANRIGHTS OF BANGSAMORO AND CHINA?".mnlfnet.com. Moro National Liberation Front (Misuarifaction). Retrieved 16 May 2014.

7.2 Reference sources 5

[8] RRayhanR (11 August 2012). IMPACT OF POSSI-BLECHINA-PHILIPPINESWARWITHIN FILIPINO-MORO WAR IN MINDANAO. mnlfnet.com. MoroNational Liberation Front (Misuari faction). Retrieved 16May 2014.

[9] Bray, Adam (16 June 2014).TheCham: Descendants ofAncient Rulers of South China Sea Watch Maritime Dis-pute From Sidelines. National Geographic News (Na-tional Geographic). Archived from the original on 2014.Retrieved 3 September 2014.

[10] Mission to Vietnam Advocacy Day (Vietnamese-American Meet up 2013) in the U.S. Capitol. A UPRreport By IOC-Campa. Chamtoday.com. 14 Septem-ber 2013. Retrieved 17 June 2014.

[11] Taylor, Philip (December 2006). Economy in Mo-tion: Cham Muslim Traders in the Mekong Delta(PDF). The Asia Pacic Journal of Anthropology

(The Australian National University) 7 (3): 238.doi:10.1080/14442210600965174. ISSN 1444-2213.Retrieved 3 September 2014.

[12] Todd C. Kelly

[13] BBC Vietnam, V l th ca Phm Vn ng nm 1958,January 24, 2008. The English text of the interview isdownloadable at https://www.academia.edu/6174115/Interview_North_Vietnam_and_Chinas_Maritime_Territorial_Claims_1958 .

[14] Clinton Signals U.S. Role in China Territorial DisputesAfter Asean Talks Bloomberg 2010-07-23

[15] American shadow over South China Sea Global Times 26July 2010

[16] China Says Its South Sea Claims Are `Indisputable'Bloomberg 29 July 2010

[17] Regional strategic considerations in the Spratly Islandsdispute

7.2 Reference sources The Dotted Line on the Chinese Map of the SouthChina Sea: A Note

Vietnamese claims PDF (1.70 MB) The South China Sea Issue (Chinese) Geopolitics of Scarborough Schoal Chinese islands names dened by the Republic ofChina (Taiwan)

6 8 TEXT AND IMAGE SOURCES, CONTRIBUTORS, AND LICENSES

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South China Sea Islands Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/South_China_Sea_Islands?oldid=664987909 Contributors: Roadrunner,Anthere, Menchi, Seav, Ralmin, Ahoerstemeier, Docu, Pratyeka, Jiang, Cncs wikipedia, Sjorford, Robbot, DHN, Tom Radulovich, Gug-ganij, Hardouin, D6, Rich Farmbrough, Guanabot, Vsmith, Smyth, Mwng, SElefant, Cwolfsheep, Bart133, Jguk, Gene Nygaard, In-stantnood, Pekinensis, Chochopk, Kelisi, Tslocum, Rjwilmsi, R.O.C, Kevinsbowden, Le Anh-Huy, Chobot, Benlisquare, Wavelength,Phantomsteve, Bdell555, Wikipeditor, SmackBot, Slleong, Wittylama, Cattus, Jou46, Bardsandwarriors, Rarelibra, DLinth, Takamaxa,John, Robosh, Ludahai, DabMachine, HongQiGong, Dia^, Zeus1234, Namayan, Yi Ding, Cydebot, Vrillon, 23prootie, RevolverOcelotX,Visik, WinBot, Maork, Magioladitis, Corsarius, Rif Wineld, TomCat4680, Jianbob, Mawai, Bowsun, Hobe, Lambdoid, Altus N, Pdfpdf,QuentinFisher, Euryalus, NetService, Arbor to SJ, Xeltran, ClueBot, Waltigs, Alexbot, Badgernet, Addbot, ILVTW, Lightbot, Angrygo-jira, Yobot, Jason Recliner, Esq., Minh abc123456, AnomieBOT, Estlandia~enwiki, Robbygay, Bestabestas, Metatokyo, Hieu79, Javert,Jonesey95, Reconsider the static, Caciquer, EmausBot, Vnlstar, Shrigley, ClueBot NG, Vagobot, Kalentina, Rasterieslover, PhnomPen-cil, PaintedCarpet, Lieutenant of Melkor, BattyBot, Justincheng12345-bot, Huayu-Huayu, YFdyh-bot, NVP1706, Rajmaan, Greenwol,Applevillage, Wakanebe Wizard and Anonymous: 51

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wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/9b/Bia_VNCH_Truong_Sa_-_Republic_of_Vietnam_Spratly_Islands_Territorial_Marker.JPGLicense: CC BY-SA 3.0 Contributors: Own work Original artist: Phm Xun Nguyn

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Names History Claims and control Geography Life See alsoReferences Citation footnotes Reference sources

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