Mar 18, 2017 paracel and spratly islands in south china sea. They comprise less than four square kilometers of land area spread over more than 425,000 square kilometers of sea. Spratly islands is more than a territorial dispute over a collection of reefs and atolls. Underscored by the prospects of large natural energy reserves, control of strategic. Paracel and spratly islands in south china sea belong to. Since then, diplomatic relations have been normalized, but. The paracels and spratlys were handed over to republic of china control from. Local boaters still collect guano to sell in their home markets. Territorial disputes in the south china sea global conflict tracker. However, what these features are, exactly, cant be overlooked when examining this issue.
A lot of fish are found around them so countries like brunei darussalam, china, indonesia, malaysia, philippines, taiwan, and vietnam are interested in them. It is barely hospitable and it is nonsense if any one tells you that they had sovereignty over them before the 20th century. You can also see the distance in miles and km below the map. The spratly islands lies on the strategic lines of the south china sea therefore means that all 6 countries hope to have their hands on the spratly islands to set up a sea port along the south china seas. A dispute between china and south vietnam over the ownership of two archipelagos in the south china sea, the paracel islands and the spratly or spratley islands, led to a naval battle.
The spratly islands are 100 small uninhabited islands in the south china sea. Spratly islands maps perrycastaneda map collection ut. Names and boundary representation are not necessarily authoritative. Feb 02, 2017 spratly island and the paracel islands i would suggest adding to the present draft, article 2, paragraph f, quoted below, the words which are underscored. Oct 31, 20 the only value to mark spratly islands on the map before modern era was to avoid them when sailing. Today they push forward a claim of every property in the world that they determine today was at some point, perhaps under their control. The battle was an attempt by the south vietnamese navy to expel the chinese navy from the vicinity. The paracel islands and spratly islands, so gktoday. Stanford libraries official online search tool for books, media, journals, databases, government documents and more. Acres of new land china created in the spratly islands since 20. The paracel archipelago consists of coral islands, reefs and banks distributed across 5,800 squares miles of maritime area almost equidistant from chinas hainan island 162 nautical miles and vietnams port of da nang 200 nautical miles.
The spratly islands were, in 1939, coral islets mostly inhabited by seabirds. This article is brought to you for free and open access by the student journals at case. Peaceful settlement of disputes in the south china sea. Spratly islands simple english wikipedia, the free. Chinese acquisition of the spratly archipelago and its implications. Feb 02, 2017 spratly island and the paracel islands. In this study, i first examine the place of the spratly islands dispute at the heart of interstate. Available also through the library of congress web site as a raster image.
During world war ii, the islands were claimed by the japanese. The washingtonbased organization announced last week that it would change naming conventions for the paracel islands on future map printings. Cloma then sold his claim to the philippine government and in 1978, president marcos declared the spratly islands, or the kalayaan islands, as philippine territory as per presidential decree no. Most of the islands are grouped in the northeast amphitrite group or the western crescent group, which. His solutions to the spratly islands dispute all assume that china will be able to claim eezs and territorial waters around mischief reef and its manmade features. China maintains pdf that, under international law, foreign militaries are not able to. The largest land feature in the spratly islands, the only spratly island with fresh ground water, and the only island that taiwan occupies in the south china sea. Nanwei dao, also known as storm island, with a natural area of 15 hectares 37 acres, is the fourth largest of the naturally occurring spratly islands in the south china sea, and the largest of the vietnameseadministered spratly islands. This map shows the distance from spratly islands to hainan, china. These countries share control of the islands but each of them want to take control of all or most of the islands. Territorial claims in the spratly and paracel islands. Prc offers for its free removal, the vessel remains aground on the reef. Vietnam currently occupies 21 features in the spratly islands, with the latest taken a few days after a bloody clash on march 14, 1988 with china at johnson south reef.
In terms of national security, these islands are important due to their location in the south china sea, where many merchant ships pass through to deliver goods, people, and energy products to asianpacific countries. Vietnamese position on the sovereignty of the paracels and spratlys the paracels are an archipelago consisting of over 30 islands, islets, and reefs stretching over some 16,000 square kilometres of the ocean surface between north latitude 16. The spratly islands dispute is a regional maritime territorial sovereignty dispute which involves six countries in the south china sea china, taiwan, vietnam, philippines, malaysia and brunei. Later in 1956, tomas cloma, a filipino, independently declared a state on the islands, calling them freedomland. After conducting the study, three legal requirements have been raised. The spratly islands dispute can be looked at from a variety of angles.
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 to 17 degrees north, which approximately correspond to the geographic latitudes of the presentday spratly and paracel islands, respectively. Convention on the law of the sea 200 mile economic zones march 21, 2016 bbc news spratly islands and paracel islands maps nguyen thai hoc. Over half of the worlds merchant fleet sails through the south china sea every year. The spratly islands are a disputed group of more than 750 reefs, islands, cays, atolls, and islets. Spratly islands, group of about 100 low islands and coral reefs in the central south china sea, intersecting busy shipping lanes.
Japan annexed the paracel and spratly islands in 1941, claiming they were part of japaneseoccupied taiwan. In the 19 th and early 20 th century, china asserted claims to the spratly and paracel islands. The spratly islands archipelago is a cluster of approximately 100 islands, islets, cays, reefs, atolls, rocks, shoals, and banks in the south china sea. Read more details about the features of these projects and use click and drag the slider in the middle to see before and after. Introduction dn august, 1990, in singapore, premier li peng of the peoples republic of china the prc reaffirmed chinas sovereignty over xisha and nansha islands. The archipelago lies off the coasts of the philippines and malaysia sabah, about one third of the way from there to southern vietnam. Cloma then sold his claim to the philippine government and in 1978, president marcos declared the spratly islands, or the kalayaan islands, as philippine territory as. During the 1980s, at least 270 ships passed through the spratly islands. This book analyses vietnams claim of sovereignty over paracel and spratly islands. Mar 28, 2016 images, especially satellite images, of happenings in the south china sea, including the spratly islands, the paracels, and other parts of the region.
Paracel spratly archipelagoes historical truth international workshop, vietnam 2014 on june 20, 2014, vietnams da nang and pham van dong universities coorganized the 2nd international workshop on paracel and spratly archipelagos under the theme paracel and spratly archipelagos. This map shows four land features in the spratly islands that have undergone significant construction or land reclamation work in the past year. Chinas claim of sovereignty over spratly and paracel. Spratly islands article about spratly islands by the free. Spratly islands is a group of islands, reefs, islets and cays in the south china sea or west philippines sea which is being claimed by asian countries namely the philippines, vietnam, brunei, malaysia, taiwan and peoples republic of china. Get your kindle here, or download a free kindle reading app. Vietnam s position on the sovereignty over the paracels.
Professor of international law chemilliergendreaus contribution is that she set forth the legal principles involved and analysed each event and each claim against these principles. Us navy destroyer asserts freedom of navigation in paracel islands on saturday, the uss curtis wilbur sailed within 12. Paracel spratly archipelagoes historical truth international workshop, vietnam 2014 on june 20, 2014, vietnams da nang and pham van dong universities coorganized the 2nd international workshop on paracel and spratly archipelagos under the theme. Coral reefs, however, are the predominant structure of the islands and there are over 600 coral reefs in total in the. Sovereignty dispute over the spratly islands of the. Why philippines has the strongest claim of spratly islands.
A historical and legal perspective tehkuang chang i. Prospects for peace in spratly islands dispute politics essay. The battle of the paracel islands was a military engagement between the naval forces of china and south vietnam in the paracel islands on january 19, 1974. The whole group is claimed by china, taiwan, and vietnam, and parts are claimed by malaysia and the philippines.
Held by taiwan since 1946, when japan left the island at the end of the second world war. International law and sovereignty over the paracel and. History of the spratly islands article about history of. Itu aba, gaven reef, johnson south reef, and fiery cross reef. Introduction the spratly island the spratly islands are a group of more than 750 reefs,2 islets, atolls, cays and islands in the south china sea. Trump emphasized the importance of such operations, and of ensuring free and. Spratly islands chinese construction in the disputed spratly islands bbc news spratly islands satellite images victor robert lee spratly islands chinas claimed territorial waters and u. Article information, pdf download for chinese acquisition of the spratly.
The conflict in the south china sea, especially the sovereignty over paracel and spratly. Sovereignty over the paracel and spratly islands in. 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, 1 submerged reefs, 35 underwater banks and 21 underwater shoals the northeast part of the spratlys is known as dangerous ground and is. Which country has the rightful claim over the spratly islands. Traditionally, the spratly islands have provided rich deposits of guano bird feces which is rich in phosphates and used for fertilizer. Reasons why philippines has the strongest claim of spratly islands. The paracel and spratly disputes are among the most dangerous maritime disputes in the world today.
Spratly islands article about spratly islands by the. The assertion of sovereignty by the vietnamese government. The only value to mark spratly islands on the map before modern era was to avoid them when sailing. The four groups of uninhabited coral islets scattered in the south china sea have been the object of territorial claims by the surrounding. The spratly islands are a group of more than 750 reefs,2 islets, atolls, cays and islands in the south china sea. 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, 1 submerged reefs, 35 underwater banks and 21 underwater shoals. Free navigational access through the spratly islands is paramount for the economies of east.
Reasons for the spratly island disputes free essay examples. Essay about reasons for the spratly island disputes 465. In order to better understand the politics of the south china sea, it is necessary to divide the waters into two zones. How far is it between spratly islands and hainan, china. South china sea islands 1988 229k shows location of the spratley islands and paracel islands spratly and paracel islands 1988 229k spratly islands political 1995 218k and pdf format 221k spratly islands 1988 223k spratly islands small map 2016 21k maps on other web sites fiery cross. Chinese and vietnamese naval forces clashed in the south china sea over the disputed spratly islands. Sovereignty over paracel and spratly archipelagoes south.
Ecology and pollution most of the islands in the spratly region are composed of coral reefs or sediments consisting of sand and pebbles. The spratly islands dispute is an ongoing territorial dispute between china, taiwan, malaysia. Le duc if you have documents or selfwritten articles that you would like to publish on this site, or if you have comments regarding the materials in this forum, please send them to paracel. Spratly island and the paracels, in draft japanese peace. History of the spratly islands article about history of the.
I would suggest adding to the present draft, article 2, paragraph f, quoted below, the words which are underscored. Brunei have been attempting to untie the gordian knot that has arisen over the spratly islands. Chinas claim of sovereignty over spratly and paracel islands. If one were to combine all 750 atolls, reefs, rocks, and islets that constitute the spratly islands into one landmass, it would barely make up two square miles scattered across over 150,000.
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