The Spratly Islands are a disputed archipelago in the South China Sea. Composed of islands,islets,cays,and more than 100 reefs,sometimes grouped in submerged old atolls,the archipelago lies off the coasts of the Philippines,Malaysia,and southern Vietnam. Named after the 19th-century British whaling captain Richard Spratly who sighted Spratly Island in 1843,the islands contain less than 2 km2 of naturally occurring land area,which is spread over an area of more than 425,000 km2 (164,000 sq mi).
Pratas Island,also known as the Tungsha Islands or the Dongsha Islands,is a coral island situated in the northern part of the South China Sea administered as part of Cijin District,Kaohsiung,Taiwan. It is located about 170 nautical miles southeast of Hong Kong. It has an area of about 240 hectares,including 64 hectares of lagoon,and is the largest of the South China Sea Islands. It is the location of the Dongsha Airport.
Macclesfield Bank is an elongated sunken atoll of underwater reefs and shoals in the South China Sea. It lies east of the Paracel Islands,southwest of Pratas Island and north of the Spratly Islands. It is about 130 km (81 mi) long from southwest to northeast,and about 70 km (43 mi) wide at its broadest part. With an ocean area of 6,448 km2 (2,490 sq mi) it is one of the largest atolls in the world. The Macclesfield Bank is part of what China calls the Zhongsha Islands,which includes a number of geographically separate submarine features,and also refers to a county-level administrative division.
The Kerama Islands are a subtropical island group 32 kilometres (20 mi) southwest of Okinawa Island in Japan.
James Shoal is a shoal (bank) in the South China Sea,with a depth of 22 metres (72 ft) below the surface of the sea,located about 45 nautical miles off the Borneo coast of Malaysia. It is claimed by Malaysia,the People's Republic of China,and the Republic of China (Taiwan). The reef and its surrounds are administered by Malaysia.
The Johnson South Reef skirmish took place on 14 March 1988 between military forces of the People's Republic of China and Vietnam,on the Johnson South Reef in the Union Banks region of the Spratly Islands,in the South China Sea.
Cijin District is a district of Kaohsiung City,Taiwan,covering Cijin Island (旗津島) and islands in the South China Sea. It is the second smallest district in Kaohsiung City after Yancheng District,with an area of 1.4639 square kilometers,or 0.5652 square miles. It has a population of 26,282 as of October 2023,making it the 26th most populated district in Kaohsiung,with a population density of 18,414 people per square kilometer,or 47,692 people per square mile.
Sansha City is a prefecture-level city under the Hainan province of the People's Republic of China (PRC),and is the southernmost and least populated prefecture in China by far,with the smallest land area but the largest maritime territory. The city's seat is located on Yongxing Island in the South China Sea,and administers several island groups,atolls,seamounts and a number of other ungrouped maritime features within the nine-dash line,although the PRC's de facto control over the area varies. The name "Sansha",literally meaning "three sands",refers to the three archipelago districts of Xisha,Zhongsha and Nansha.
Nansha District and Nansha New Area is one of 11 urban districts and a state-level new area of the prefecture-level city of Guangzhou,the capital of Guangdong Province,China. It is the home of the present-day port of Guangzhou,as well as the Nansha Wetland Park.
Johnson South Reef,also known in Mandarin Chinese:赤瓜礁;pinyin:ChìguāJiāo;Mabini Reef;Vietnamese:ĐáGạc Ma),is a reef in the southwest portion of the Union Banks in the Spratly Islands of the South China Sea. It is controlled by the People's Republic of China (PRC),but its ownership is disputed and also claimed by the Philippines,Taiwan (ROC),and Vietnam.
Subi Reef,also known as ĐáXu Bi;Zamora Reef;Zhubi Reef,is an atoll in the Spratly Islands of the South China Sea located 26 km (16 mi) southwest of Thitu Island. It is occupied by China,and claimed by the Philippines,Taiwan and Vietnam.
Mischief Reef,also known as Panganiban Reef,is a low tide elevation (LTE) reef/atoll surrounding a large lagoon in the southeastern region of Dangerous Ground in the east of the Spratly Islands in the South China Sea. It is located 250 kilometres (130 nmi) west of Palawan Island of the Philippines. Administratively,it belonged to the Kalayaan Islands municipality of the province of Palawan. It is also under the de facto jurisdiction of Nansha,Sansha City,Hainan province,China. Activities by the People's Republic of China (PRC) in the mid-2010s have created a large artificial island on the atoll including an approximately 2,700-metre (8,900 ft) runway and associated airfield.
The Ministry of Civil Affairs the cabinet-level executive department of the State Council of China which is responsible for social and administrative affairs. It is the 10th-ranked department in the State Council. It was founded in its current form in May 1978,and the current minister is Lu Zhiyuan.
Fiery Cross Reef,also known as "Northwest Investigator Reef",Mandarin Chinese:永暑礁;pinyin:YǒngshǔJiāo;Kagitingan Reef;Vietnamese:ĐáChữThập,is a militarized reef occupied and controlled by China (PRC) as part of Sansha of Hainan Province and is also claimed by the Republic of China (ROC/Taiwan),the Philippines and Vietnam.
Xisha District is the municipal district of Sansha,Hainan. It administers the islands and reefs of the disputed Paracel Islands and its sea areas,and is responsible for the islands and reefs and sea areas of the Zhongsha Islands. The People's Government of Xisha District is stationed in Yongxing Island.
The "Great Wall of Sand" is a name first used in March 2015 by U.S. Admiral Harry Harris,who was commander of the Pacific Fleet,to describe a series of land reclamation projects by the People's Republic of China (PRC) in the Spratly Islands area of the South China Sea between late 2013 to late 2016.
Dou Yupei is a former Chinese politician,and Vice Minister of Civil Affairs. He was dismissed from his position in January 2017 for investigation by the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection.
Hengshui (572) is a Type 054A frigate of the People's Liberation Army Navy. She was commissioned on 26 December 2012.
West London Reef;West Reef;Mandarin Chinese:西礁;pinyin:Xījiāo,is an atoll on the western part of the London Reefs of the Spratly Islands in the South China Sea. The Atoll has been occupied by Vietnam since 1987. It is also claimed by China (PRC),the Philippines,and Taiwan (ROC).
