plural	yes
name	Paracel Islands
image name	ParacelIslands.png
image caption	Paracel Islands
image size	300px
location	South China Sea
coordinates
total islands	>30
major islands	Rocky Island, Tree Island, Woody Island
area	15,000 km² (ocean surface)
coastline
highest mount	on Rocky Island
elevation
country claim	People's Republic of China
country claim divisions title	Province
country claim divisions	Hainan
country 1 claim	Republic of China (Taiwan)
country 1 claim divisions title	Municipality
country 1 claim divisions	Kaohsiung
country 2 claim	Vietnam
country 2 claim divisions title	Province
country 2 claim divisions	Da Nang
country	People's Republic of China
country admin divisions title	County
country admin divisions	Administration Office for Xisha Islands, Zhongsha Islands and Nansha Islands
additional info	}}

The Paracel Islands, also called ''Xisha Islands'' (西沙群岛) in Chinese and ''Hoàng Sa Islands'' in Vietnamese, is a group of islands under the administration of Hainan Province, The People's Republic of China. Vietnam and the Republic of China (Taiwan) also claim sovereignty of these islands. The People's Republic of China and South Vietnam each controlled part of the Paracel Islands before 1974. A brief conflict in 1974 resulted in 71 soldiers being killed, and China has controlled the whole of Paracel since then, though this control is still disputed by Vietnam.

The Paracel Islands consist of over 30 islets, sandbanks or reefs, occupy about 15,000 km² of the ocean surface, and are located in the South China Sea. Turtles live on the islands, and seabirds have left nests and guano deposits, but there are no permanent human residents except for a small number of troops. The archipelago is approximately equidistant from the coastlines of Vietnam and China, 180 nautical miles SE of Hainan Island, and about one-third of the way from central Vietnam to the northern Philippines.

The islands are divided into two main groups. The Amphitrite group is in the northeast and the Crescent group is in the southwest, and they are located about from one another. Subject to hot and humid climate, with abundant rainfall and frequent typhoons, the archipelago is surrounded by productive fishing grounds and potential oil and gas reserves.

Geography

Geographic data

Geographic coordinates:

Coastline: 518 km

Climate: tropical

Elevation extremes:

* ''lowest point:'' South China Sea 0 m

* ''highest point:'' unnamed location on Rocky Island 14 m

Natural resources: fishery, coral reef, possible oil and gas nearby

Natural hazards: typhoons

Amphitrite Group

The Amphitrite group was named after the French frigate Amphitrite of the Jesuit missionary. Lying in the most northeastern of the Paracel Islands, at the coordinates of 16.97 degrees North and 112.28 degrees East, the group consists of six low narrow islands with sand cays; enclose shallow lagoons, connected by reefs of rock, and about northwest from Lincoln Island. The northern section of the group comprises South Island, Middle Island, North Island, and Tree Island. The last unit lies toward the eastern tip of this section with coconut palm trees seen on the island. Together they form the upper branch of an ellipse of long semimajor axis that approximately orientates from west to east. The southern section consists of two islands called Woody and Rocky Islands lying very near each other. The former located approximately southwards from the southern tip of the east extremity of the northern section. This feature is the largest island of the Amphitrite group.

West Sand

Tree Island

Woody Island

Rocky Islands

Crescent Group

Lying about southwest of Amphitrite group, at the latitude of 16.52 degrees North and the longitude of 111.63 degrees East, this group consists of 8 islands and forms a crescent-like structure hanging from west to east and enclosing a deep central lagoon. The group measures and in length and width, from east to west and from north to south, respectively. All of the islands of the group are vegetated except for small cays. Located in the southwestern extremity of the group, at the hanging point of the crescent structure, is Money Island. This feature has some small cays in the southern side. The Antelope Reef, submerged at high tide and containing a central lagoon, lies east of the island of Money. Respectively, northeast of this reef are Robert and Pattle Islands. They are separated from each other by a wide, deep channel. The latter is the largest island of the group; a lighthouse and a radio and weather station were built there on 1937. The Observation Bank situates at the northernmost of the Crescent group and contains a small cay; from the southeastern side lying a long, boomerang shaped reef with the island of Drummond. The last distinct unit of the atoll-like structure is the Duncan Islands group, which is approximately west of the Drummond Island and about east of the island of Antelope.

Pattle Islands

Money Island

Drummond Island

Duncan Islands

Other features

Bombay Reef: The elongated-structure reef situates at the southeastern corner of the Paracel Islands and lies approximately southeast from the Crescent Group. With most parts are submerged, the reef is measured approximately and from east to west and from north to south, respectively. The Bombay Reef encloses a deep lagoon with rocks on its edge. Bremen Bank: Located north from Bombay Reef, the submerged shallow bank is measured approximately in length from northeast to southwest. The shallowest area is about 12 m and located in the southwestern part of the bank. Discovery Reef: Measured approximately in length from east to west, and from north to south, the reef is located about south from the Crescent Group. Completely submerged, the elongated ring structure is the largest single reef of the Paracel Islands. The reef has two large, deep openings into the lagoon on the southern side. Itis Bank: Located south from the Amphitrite Group, this shallow bank is measured approximately in length with an average depth of . Lincoln Island: Surrounded by a coral reef, located southeast from the Amphitrite Group, the island is covered with brushes and fairly high trees, including coconut palm trees. The depth increases sharply on the northern and eastern sides of the island but the southern and south western regions are shallow. An observation post on the western side was found by officers of the German government surveys in 1883. In 1948, Great Britain requested France for permission to use the feature for military exercises. North Reef: Situated approximately north from the Crescent group and about west-northwest from the Amphitrite group, the reef is the most northwesterly feature of the Paracel Islands. Most part of the reef is submerged. Ruggedly, rocks are around the edge and barely above water. There is a passage into the lagoon on the southwestern side of the reef. Passu Keah: This small reef encloses a shallow lagoon and located about south of eastern side of Discovery Reef, approximate 37 miles east-northeast from Triton Island. The sand cay measures in length. Triton Island: The vegetated sand cay stands on a steep-sided coral reef and measures in length. This southernmost island of the Paracel Islands lies far away from the rest and situates about southwest of Discovery Reef. Vuladdore Reef: Mostly submerged, the reef orientates from east to west, measures and approximate in length and width, respectively. Lying near the center of the Paracel Islands, this feature situates about west-northwest from Discovery Reef. Some small spiral rocks are seen on the reef.

List of all Islands with Chinese and Vietnamese names

{|class="wikitable" |+List of Paracel Islands (See map below for locations) |- !English name!!Chinese name!!Vietnamese name!!coordinates!!Area(km²)||Location/Note |- |Amphitrite Group||Xuande Islands (宣德群岛)||Nhóm An Vĩnh, Tuyên Đức||||-||NE of the Islands |- |Woody Island||Yongxing Dao (永兴岛)||Đảo Phú Lâm||||2.1||Has airport, Center East |- |Rocky Island||Shidao (石岛)||Đảo Hòn Đá||||0.08||connected to (NE of) Woody, 14m elev. |- |West Sand||Xisha Zhou (西沙洲)||Cồn Cát Tây||||0.04||NW of Amphitrite Group |- |Tree Island||Zhaoshudao (赵述岛)||Đảo Cây||||0.22||North of Amphitrite Group |- |(seven sisters)||Qilian Yu Subgroup(七连屿)||-||-||-||NE of Amphitrite Group |- |North Island||Bei Dao (北岛)||Đảo Bắc||||0.04||N of Seven Islets(1) |- |Middle Island||Zhong Dao (中岛)||Đảo Trung/Giữa||||0.13||N2 of Seven Islets(2) |- |South Island||Nan Dao (南岛)||Đảo Nam||||0.17||N3 of Seven Islets(4) |- |(North Sand)||Bei Sha Zhou (北沙洲)||Cồn Cát Bắc||||0.02||N4 of Seven Islets(4) |- |Middle Sand||Zhong Sha Zhou (中沙洲)||Đá Trung||||0.05||N5 of Seven Islets(5) |- |South Sand||Nan Sha Zhou (南沙洲)||Cồn Cát Nam||||0.06||N6 of Seven Islets(6) |- |(New West Sand)||Xixinsha Zhou (西新沙洲)||Chuỗi Tiên Sa||||0.002||N7a of Seven Islets(7W) |- |(south of South Sand)||Dong Xin Sha Zhou (东新沙洲)||Chuỗi Cát Bằng||||0.004||N7b of Seven Islets(7E) |- |Itis Bank||Yin Shuo Tan (银铄滩)||Bãi Liên Đông||||-||SW of Amphitrite Group |- |Crescent Group||Yongle Islands（永樂群島）||Nhóm Trăng Khuyết||||-||- |- |Money Island||Jinyin Dao (金银岛)||Đảo Quang Ảnh||||0.36|||West end of Crescent Group |- |Robert Island||Ganquan Dao (甘泉岛)||Đảo Hữu Nhật||||0.30|||W side of Crescent Group |- |Pattle Island||Shanhu Dao (珊瑚岛)||Đảo Hoàng Sa||||0.31|||N of Robert Island |- |Antelope Reef||Lingyang Jiao (羚羊礁)||Bãi ngầm Sơn Dương||||-|||W side of Crescent Group, S of Robert Is. |- |(Little Basket Sandbank)||Kuangzai Shazhou (筐仔沙洲)||Bãi Đá Nổi||||0.01|||S of Crescent Group |- |Duncan Island||Shenhang Dao (琛航岛)||Đảo Quang Hòa Đông Đảo Quang Hòa Tây||||0.28|||S side of Crescent Group |- |(Guangjin Island)||Guangjin Dao (广金岛)||Đảo Hoàng Châu||||0.06|||S side of Crescent Group |- |Drummond Island||Jinqing Dao (晋卿岛)||Đảo Duy Mộng||||0.21|||SE of Crescent Group |- |(Stone Islet)||Shi Yu (石屿)||Hòn Đá Nổi||||0.002|||NE of Crescent Group |- |(Minor Silver Islet)||Yinyu Zai (银屿仔)||Hòn Vọng Tuyết||||0.002|||SE of Yin Yu |- |(Silver Islet)||Yin Yu (银屿)||Hòn Đá Bạc||||0.01|||NE of Crescent Group |- |(He Duck Island)||Yagong Dao (鸭公岛)||Đảo Khe Sang||||0.01|||SW of Yin Yu |- |(All Wealth Island)||Quanfu Dao (全富岛)||Đảo Phú Hảo||||0.02|||NE of Pattle,SW of Yin Yu |- |(Salty Hut Islet)||Xianshe Yu (咸舍屿)||Hòn Đá Mặn||||-|||W of Shiyu |- |Other features||-||-||-||-||- |- |Triton Island ||Zhongjiandao (中建岛）||Đảo Tri Tôn||||1.20|||SW of the Islands |- |Discovery Reef ||Huaguang Jiao (华光礁）|| Đá Lồi||||-|||S of Xuande Islands (宣德群岛) |- |Passu Keah ||Panshi Yu (盘石屿）||Đảo Bạch Quỷ||||0.40|||S of Discovery Reef |- |(Songtao Beach) ||Songtao Tan (嵩焘滩）||Đảo Ngân Quý||||-|||Central South of the Islands |- |Bombay Reef ||Langhuajiao (浪花礁）||Đá Bông Bay||||-|||SE of the Islands |- |Vuladdore Reef ||Yuduo Jiao (玉琢礁）||Đảo Chim Yến||||-|||SE of Xuande Islands, Center of the Islands |- |Bremen Bank ||Binmei Tan (滨湄滩）||Bãi ngầm Bremen||||-|||Eastern Group |- |Jehangire Bank ||Zhanhan Tan (湛涵滩）||Bãi ngầm Jehangire||||-|||Eastern Group |- |Neptune Bank ||Beibian Lang (北边廊）||Bãi Thổ Tinh||||-|||Eastern Group |- |Pyramid Rock ||Gaojian Shi (高尖石）||Hòn Tháp||||0.04|||Eastern Group |- |Lincoln Island ||Dong Dao (东岛)||Đảo Linh Côn||||1.60|||Eastern Group |- |Dido Bank ||Xidu Tan (西渡滩)||Rặng Thuỷ Tứ||||-|||SE of the Islands |- |North Reef||Beijiao (北礁)||Cồn Bắc||||-|||NW of the Islands |}

Satellite images

Origin of the names of the islands

Xisha

The Chinese name Xisha (西沙), literally means Western Beach, refers to its location in the west of the South China Sea. The Chinese called the different groups of islands in the South China Sea Western Beach (Xisha, Paracel), Southern Beach (Nansha, Spratly), Eastern Beach (Dongsha, Pratas) and Central Beach respectively. In a Chinese book published in Ming Dynasty ''Voyage with the Tail Wind'' (:zh:順風相送), the islands were called Wanglishitang (万里石塘) or "Ten Thousands Miles of Stone Pond" (“舟过此〔七洲洋〕极险，稍贪东便是万里石塘”). The same name is also presented in the Map of Zheng He's Voyage (郑和航海图).

Hoàng Sa

The Vietnamese call the islands Hoang Sa, (黃沙 or Yellow Sands), has been found in historic Vietnamese documents dating back to the 15th century. In the modern language system it is written as Hoàng Sa or Cát Vàng. They all have the same meaning that is the Yellow Sands or the Yellow Sandbank. Before the early 19th century, the present-day Spratly Islands were treated as the features of Hoàng Sa. Only under the reign of Emperor Minh Mạng (1820–1841) when the Spratlys were distinctly delineated and officially named Vạn Lý Trường Sa, the Ten-thousand-league Long Sandbank. It is believed that much of the Vietnamese documentation relating to the islands was lost during the three major wars, including a thousand years of constant struggles and battles against the Chinese domination, a hundred years of waves of uprisings to regain independence from France, and more than two decades of bloody fighting in the Vietnam war. This war-torn nation has witnessed many significant changes during its history, including the country name, but the name of the islands, Hoàng Sa, has not changed in more than five hundred years.

Pracel and Paracel

On the "Map of Europe, Africa and Asia" published in 1598 by Cornelis Claez, an unnamed band of rocks and sandbanks shown in the neighborhood of the present-day location of the Paracel and Spratly Islands. About two decades later, the names Pracel and Costa de Pracel (Coast of Pracel) appeared on the "Chart of Asia and eight city maps" published in 1617 by Williem Jansz Blaeu, a Dutch map maker. The coast belonged to the Kingdom of Cauchi China. As early as at the beginning of the 16th century, had the Portuguese vessels frequented the South China Sea; then later came the Dutch, the English, the Spanish, and the French. They all wanted to become a major trader in the region of great opportunities commercially, but was still less known to the west. The name Paracel started replacing Pracel on maps and charts as the century passed. Typically, on the "Map of the coast of Tonquin and Cochinchina", made in 1747 by Pierre d'Hondt, the dangerous band of rugged rocks was labeled "Le Paracel", a French phonetic notation. Because of its peculiarity on an important water channel, Ilhas de Pracel (Pracel Islands) had drawn much attention from navigators and hydrographers for several centuries. In addition, recent disputes have once again inflamed the popularity of the islands; but the origination of the terminology is still vaguely understood. There are different stories about the names but none of them are able to provide any convincing evidence. The report "Paracel and Spratly Islands on Charts and Maps made by Westerners" by Dr. Dai-Viet Nguyen (Nguyễn Đại Việt) of Vietnamese Nationalist Party (Việt Nam Quốc Dân Đảng) has shed light on the origin of the terminology. Part of his findings included various citations, typically:

''The coast of Brazil from Santa Catharina island to Maranluio presents a peculiarity which is worthy of remark; for it appears as though it were encircled by two bands of elevated ground (dentures de haut fonds), which, except in a few intervals, are continued throughout all its extent, and seem as if intended to defend the land from the encroachment and impetuosity of the waves, which continually lash the shores. One of these defences adjacent to the land is a ridge rocks, which forms a kind of border, extending principally from cape Frio to Maranhao. The other natural bulwark or defence of the coast is a bank, situated from 2 to 10 leagues from the land, generally of a moderate though irregular depth, which the natives term Pracel or Paracel, as all the depths are unequal and irregular where the inhabitants fish. It may be said that this Pracel the same as the recife...''

or, ''Off Mount Melançia (Ion. 39 degrees 18') before noticed a bank commences which thence extends all the way to the River Iguarassu, an extent of 45 leagues. This bank which is called in the country Pracel de Caracu from the name of the most considerable hamlet on this part of the coast, extends outward about 3 leagues from the shore, and is circumscribed by the depth of 6 fathoms...''

Ecologically, it is understood that the terminology was used to classify a certain islands, rather than being used as a proper noun. Notably, that class of islands seems to possess a number of special characteristics, which may be defined as follows:

''Pracel is a moderately elevated chain of islets, sandbanks, and reefs. These features are continuously distributed and stretched over a noticeable distance of tens or hundreds of kilometers in length. Pracel may not be a suitable place for human residents, but its irregular depth creates an ideal environment inhabited by fish. Pracel often forms a natural bulwark as an outer line of defense for a coast or a land.''

Regarding the features off the coast of the Kingdom of Cauchi China, their structure closely fits the above description. By piecing all the elements together, undoubtedly, it is the Portuguese people who purposely classified them as a ''pracel'' in their native language in the early 16th century. Pracel is an antiquated variation of the now much more common form parcel, which was used by the Portuguese navigators to designate shallow seas or sea banks, and is still widely found in the toponimy of Portuguese-speaking countries. Approximately three hundred and fifty years later, in the early-mid-19th century, Ilhas de Pracel was divided into two archipelagos. From that time onwards, the names Paracel Islands and Spratly Islands have become more popular internationally and widely used on charts, maps, and related documents.

Infrastructure and information of the Islands

Fresh water

There is limited supply of fresh water on the islands. China has planned to build a solar energy powered desalination plant on the islands.

Electricity

There are both wind power and solar power facilities to supply electricity on the islands.

Communication

There is a post office, hospital, bank and hostel on Woody Island. The People Republic of China's postal zip code of the island is 572000, and the telephone area code is +86 (0898).

Transport

There is an airport on Woody Island. The runway is of 2400m long, and can handle landing and take-off of Boeing-737 or planes of similar size. Flight services operate on Haikou - Xisha route. There are three main roads on Woody Island. There is also a 800m long cement bank connecting Woody Island and Rocky Island.

Tourism

The island has been open for tourists since 1997 as announced by the government of People's Republic of China. There are two museums, a Naval Museum and a Maritime Museum, on Woody Island.

The territorial dispute and its historical background

The sovereignty of the archipelago has been the subject of disputes among People's Republic of China, Republic of China (Taiwan), and Vietnam since the 20th century. Around the mid-19th century, after conquering Vietnam, France subsequently took over and administered the islands on behalf of her colony. In 1883 German boats surveyed the islands but withdrew the survey eventually after receiving protests from the Qing Dynasty of China. France annexed the islands as part of French Indochina despite protests from China in the 1930s, but was taken over by Japanese troops during the Second Sino-Japanese War. Japan renounced the claims to the islands after the war and the Republic of China retook the Paracel islands in late 1946. A small Chinese platoon was stationed on Woody Island.

After the success of communists in the Chinese Civil War in 1949, the People's Republic of China took control of Woody Island, the main island of the Amphitrite group and the only island that was occupied at the time. Pattle Island, the largest of the Crescent group, on the other hand, was later taken by the French Indochina and then controlled by South Vietnam following independence in 1956. Tensions over the islands continued to rise unceasingly since then.

Military engagement

: ''Main article: Battle of the Paracel Islands''

In 1974, the political and diplomatic dispute on the islands became an armed conflict between the People's Republic of China and South Vietnam. On 16 January, South Vietnamese army officers and an American observer reported to Saigon some suspected military activities of the People's Liberation Army Navy at the Drummond and Duncan islands. After receiving the report, the government of South Vietnam (Republic of Vietnam) decided to counter the PRC forces, and sent a unit of frigates to the area. On 19 January, there were sea and land battles between the Chinese and Vietnamese forces with casualties on both sides. At the end, the PLAN fleet defeated the naval force of South Vietnam. With the ongoing civil war embroiling South Vietnam's attention and the absence of the USA's backing, no military attempt was made to re-engage the PRC over the islands. After the military engagement and the subsequent victory, the PRC gained the entire archipelago and has taken control of Paracel Islands ever since. It was a significant turning point for the PRC but the sovereignty dispute on the islands remains unresolved with Vietnam.

Historical perspectives

China

618–1279

There are some Chinese cultural relics in the Paracel islands dating from the Tang and Song dynasty eras, and there is some evidence of Chinese habitation on the islands in these periods. According to the ''Wujing Zongyao'', a book published in the Northern Song dynasty in 1044, the Song government then included the Islands in the patrol areas of the Navy of the Court.

1279–1368

In 1279, the Yuan Dynasty emperor sent the famous high-level official and astronomer, Guo Shoujing, to the South China Sea to survey and measure the islands and the surrounding sea area. Guo's base of survey was located in the Paracel Islands. His activities were well recorded in ''Yuan Shi'', or History of Yuan. According to ''Yuan Shi'', the South China Sea islands were within the boundary of the Yuan Dynasty. Maps published in the Yuan era invariably included the ''Changsha'' (the Paracels) and the ''Shitang'' (the Spratlys) within the domain of Yuan.

1368–1912

Relevant local annals and other historic materials of the Ming (1368~1644) and the Qing (1644~1912) dynasties continued to . The Qiongzhou Prefecture (the highest administrative authority in Hainan) exercised jurisdiction over the Paracel and Spratly Islands in the Ming and Qing Dynasties. In 1883, the Qing government lodged strong protests against Germany when the Germans were conducting survey activities in the Paracel and Spratly areas; as a result of such protests, the Germans had to terminate their survey activities. The Sino-French treaty of 1887 between Qing China and France, who had occupied Indochina by that time, expressly provided that the islands east of a delimitation line, known as the Sino-Tonkin delimitation line, should belong to China, whereas the Paracel and Spratly Islands are located east of the delimitation line. In 1910, the Qing government decided to invite Chinese merchants to contract for the administration of the development affairs of the South China Sea islands, and demanded that officials shall provide protection and maintenance in order to highlight Chinese territory and protect its titles and interests.

1912–1950s

After the fall of the Qing Dynasty, the new Government of Guangdong Province decided to place the Paracel Islands under the jurisdiction of the Ya Xian County of Hainan Prefecture in 1911. The Southern Military Government in 1921 reaffirmed the 1911 decision. The Republic of China continued to exercise authority over the South China Sea islands by such means as granting licenses or contracts to private Chinese merchants for the development and exploitation of guano and other resources on those islands and protesting against foreign nations' claims, occupations, and other activities.

On July 27, 1932, the Chinese Foreign Ministry instructed the Chinese Envoy to France to lodge a diplomatic protest to the French Foreign Ministry and to deny France's claims to the Paracel Islands. On November 30 of the same year, Zhu Zhaoshen, a high-level inspection official of the Chinese Foreign Ministry, issued public correspondence Number 66 to the French Consul in Guangzhou, reiterating that "it is absolutely beyond doubt that the Xisha [Paracel] Islands fall within the boundary of China". Despite repeated Chinese protests, French troops, who had colonized Indochina in the 19th century, invaded and occupied the Paracel Islands on July 3, 1938. This took place shortly after the breakout of the Second Sino-Japanese War, when China was fully engaged in resisting Japan's invasion. Three days later, on July 6, the Japanese Foreign Ministry also issued a declaration in protest of the French occupation:

The statement of Great Britain and France made respectively in 1900 and 1921 already declared that the Xisha [Paracel] Islands were part of the Administrative Prefecture of Hainan Island. Therefore, the current claims made by An'nan or France to the Xisha Islands are totally unjustifiable.

During the Second World War, Japanese expelled the French troops and took over the islands in spite of the 1938 declaration. At the end of the war (Asian-Pacific Region), the Government of the Republic of China formally retook the Paracels, Spratlys and other islands in the South China Sea in October and November 1946. In Geneva accord of 1954 Japan formally renounced all of its claims to, ''inter alia'', the South China Sea islands which it had occupied during the World War II.

Vietnam

15th–17th centuries

1460-1497, under the reign of Emperor Lê Thánh Tông, the Vietnamese began conducting commercial activities on and around Hoàng Sa, including harvesting abundant sea-products and conducting salvage operations on shipwrecks. In 1634, under the Lê Dynasty (1527–1786), the ship Grootebroek of the Dutch East India Company sank in the vicinity of the Paracel archipelago. Using a small boat, captain Huijch Jansen and 12 sailors managed to reach Annam, territory of Lord Nguyễn Phước Nguyên (1613–1635), to seek rescue for other castaways remained on the islands. 1680-1705, Lord Trịnh Căn instructed Đỗ Bá Công Đạo to publish ''Thiên Nam Tứ Chí Lộ Đồ'', an encyclopedia consists of 4 series of maps that detail routes from Thăng Long, capital of Đại Việt, to other countries in the Southeast Asia. Part of this work was based on the Hồng Đức Atlas (Hồng Đức Bản Đồ) developed during the time of Emperor Lê Thánh Tông (1460–1497). This encyclopedia was considered one of the oldest and rarely preserved Vietnamese documents regarding the islands. The volume "Đường từ phủ Phụng Thiên đến Chiêm Thành" (The Route to Champa from Phụng Thiên Province), remarkably described the archipelago with maps. For instance, a statement found in the volume read "In the middle of the sea, there is a long sandbank called Bãi Cát Vàng, which is approximately 400-league long and 20-league wide rising up above the sea." Bãi Cát Vàng means Hoàng Sa, Golden Sandbank. In the 18th century, under instructions of the Nguyễn Lords, the salvage operations officially started with the formation of Hoàng Sa and Bắc Hải Companies. Their responsibility was to carry out the mission at Hoàng Sa (Golden Sandbank) and Vạn Lý Trường Sa (Ten-thousand-league Long Sandbank) respectively. This effort was continued thereafter with successive establishments of other naval task units in accordance with strategic policies toward the two archipelagos under the Nguyễn Dynasty. Noticeably, a number of naval battles between the Dutch fleet and the Nguyễn Royal Navy occurred in 1643 and 1644. The Hoàng Sa naval task unit consisted of 70 men recruited from An Vĩnh and An Hải villages of Quảng Ngãi, while the majority of members of the Bắc Hải Company came from Bình Thuận province.

1700–1799

In 1776, the ''Phủ Biên Tạp Lục'', the Miscellaneous Records on the Pacification of the Frontiers, published by Lê Qúi Đôn, a philosopher, an encyclopaedist, and a Minister of Construction of the Lê Dynasty (1527–1786). These six volumes detail the Nguyễn Dynasty's territories, including the exploitation of the Paracel and Spratly Islands from 1702 onwards. 1777-1784, when traveling to Cochin China, Father Jean-Baptiste Grosier recorded his impression about maritime activities of the Vietnamese from Huế, Đà Nẳng, and Quảng Ngãi. The abbot Grosier wrote that the people from those ports were excellent and cleverest navigators in this Kingdom. One of their activities was making long distance sailing every year to the long chain of islands and rocks known as the Paracels to collect debris from shipwrecks.

1800–1899

1802-1820, under the reign of Emperor Gia Long, the territory of his kingdom included Tonkin, Cochin China, part of Cambodia, and "certain islands off the coast including the well known Paracels which bear such an evil reputation as a source of danger to navigation in the China Seas." In 1807, the East India Company sent Captain Daniel Ross to Cochin China to survey the Paracel Islands. Upon arriving to the kingdom, he presented a letter of introduction entrusted by the English company to the reigning king, who was believed to be Emperor Gia Long at that time. Subsequently, Captain Ross completed chartering the south coast of China in 1807, the Paracel Islands in 1808, part of the coast of Cochin China in 1809, and the coast of Palawan in 1810. Most notably, in his surveys published in 1821 under the title "(South) China Sea, Sheet I & II", the Spratly Islands was referred to as The Dangerous Ground, and was later renamed as Storm Island on the 1859 edition of the chart. 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 13 to 17 degrees North, which approximately correspond to the geographic latitudes of the present-day Spratly and Paracel Islands, respectively. It is quite clearly that the captain himself, and probably most navigators of his time, did not differentiate the two archipelagos, but instead had delineated the present-day Spratly Islands as part of the Paracels. Captain Daniel Ross was a well known hydrographer of the Navy of Government of English Bengal and founder of the Bombay Geographical Society. In 1815, Emperor Gia Long ordered Phạm Quang Anh's Hoàng Sa naval task unit to sail to the islands to make surveys and report on maritime routes and draw up maps. In 1816, according to Jean-Baptiste Chaigneau, Emperor Gia Long officially claimed the sovereignty of the Paracel Islands, which would include the present-day Spratly archipelago. These two islands were later delineated distinctly under the reign of his successor, Emperor Minh Mạng. Chaigneau was one of the most respected advisors to Emperor Gia Long. He spent more than 30 years in Cochinchina and became the first French Consul to this kingdom in 1821. In 1821, the ''Lịch Triều Hiến Chương Loại Chí'' published by Phan Huy Chú, a historian, an encyclopaedist, and an officer of the Ministry of Construction in the time of emperor Minh Mạng. This remarkable work was prepared in 10 years (1809–1819) and consisted of 10 volumes. One of them, the ''Địa Dư Chí'' volume, details territories of Dai Nam Kingdom. In 1838, he published the Đại Nam Thống Nhất Toàn Đồ, the Unified Đại Nam Complete Map, that distinctly delineated Vạn Lý Trường Sa (the Ten-thousand-league Long Sandbank) and Hoàng Sa (the Golden Sandbank). In 1833, Emperor Minh Mạng ordered Ministry of Construction to build a temple, erect steles, and plant many trees on the islands for navigation purposes. In 1834, Emperor Minh Mạng ordered Trương Phúc Sĩ, a naval task unit commander, accompanied by 21 men sailing to the islands to survey and draw map of Hoàng Sa. In 1835, Emperor Minh Mạng issued a royal ordinance to order 24 troops to the Paracel Islands. The royal ordinance has been preserved by generations of Đặng family and was publicly disclosed in early 2009. In 1835, the King ordered Phạm Văn Nguyên's naval task unit, accompanied by workers from Bình Định and Quãng Ngãi provinces, to build Hoàng Sa temple with a wind screen and erect steles on Bàn Than Thạch (Bàn Than Rock) of the present-day Woody Island. The mission was completed in 10 days. Notably, about 33m southwest from the erection, there was a little ancient temple where a stele engraved with the words "Vạn Lý Ba Bình" found. This inscription means Ten Thousand Leagues of Calming Waves. The date of the actual erection of the ancient temple remains unknown In 1836, Emperor Minh Mạng received a report from his Ministry of Construction that recommended a comprehensive survey of all the East Sea islands because of their "great strategic importance to our maritime borders." The King ordered Phạm Hữu Nhật, a royal navy commander, to erect a wooden stele on the islands. The post was engraved with the following inscription: ''The 17th of the reign of Minh Mạng by the royal ordinance commander of the navy Phạm Hữu Nhật came here to Hoàng Sa for reconnaissance to make topographical measurements and leave this stele as record thereof.'' In 1838, Bishop Jean-Louis Taberd published the "Latin-Annamese Dictionary". The dictionary contains the "An Nam Đại Quốc Họa Đồ" (The Great Annam Map). In the neighborhood of the present-day coordinate of the islands, words found on the map read "Paracel seu Cát Vàng" (Paracel or Cát Vàng). Cát Vàng means Hoàng Sa, Golden Sands or Golden Sandbank. In 1842, ''Hai Lu Do Chi'', a historical Chinese document was written in the 22nd year of the reign of the Daoguang Emperor (1820–1850) of the Qing Dynasty (1644 to 1912) of China. A statement found in this book read: ''Wang Li Shi Tang (万里石塘) is a sandbank rising above the sea. Several thousand leagues in length, it forms a rampart on the periphery of the Kingdom of Annam''. Wang Li Shi Tang means Ten-thousand-league Long Sandbank.

In 1858, Napoleon III ordered French troops to attack Tourane, the present-day Đà Nẳng city. Subsequently, France launched more attacks and forced Cochin China and some provinces in the South to become her colonies. The French Indochina was formed in 1887 and consisted of Tonkin, Annam, Cochin China, and Cambodia.

1895-1896, German vessel Bellona and Japanese ship Imezi Maru sank at the islands. Chinese fishermen looted and resold them at Hainan. These countries protested but local Chinese authorities, the Governor of Liang Guang, denied any responsibilities on the ground that the Paracels were abandoned and belonged to neither country.

20th century Events

In 1930, France claimed the islands on behalf of her protected state based on the fact that Emperor Gia Long had officially taken possession of the Paracel Islands in 1816, and that Emperor Minh Mạng had sent a mission to build a temple and erect steles there in 1835. In 1932, French Indochina and the Nguyen dynasty of Vietnam annexed the islands and set up a weather station on Pattle Island. In 1939, Empire of Japan invaded and occupied the islands from the French. The official reason for the Japanese invasion was that the islands were Chinese territory and Japan was at war with China.

After World War II, the Republic of China government reaffirmed the Chinese sovereignty over the islands like other islands in the South China Sea, and dispatched patrol force to the islands, but this was challenged by the French.

After the fall of the nationalist regime in China in 1949, the Chinese gained control of the eastern half of the Paracel islands. Several small clashes occurred between the French and the communist Chinese naval forces during this period, but eventually a de facto line of control was established with the Chinese occupying Woody Island and the Macclesfield Bank while the remainder were held by Franco-Vietnamese forces.

In 1951, at the international Treaty of San Francisco conference, Vietnam's representative claimed that both the Paracels and Spratlys are territories of Vietnam, and was met with no challenge from all nations at the event. However, neither the People's Republic of China nor the Republic of China participated at the conference. Separately, the Republic of China negotiated and signed its own treaty with Japan regarding the islands on April 29, 1952. In 1954, according to the Geneva Agreements, which was signed by a number of nations including the People's Republic of China, Vietnam was partitioned into two states, North Vietnam and South Vietnam. The 17th parallel was used as the provisional military demarcation line, which was effectively extended into the territorial waters. The Paracel archipelago lies below this line and belongs to South Vietnam accordingly. In 1956, after the French's withdrawal, South Vietnam replaced the French to have control of the islands. Again, both the People's Republic of China and the Republic of China politically and diplomatically condemned the decision and reaffirmed their control over the islands. Although the South Vietnamese inherited the same French claim over the entire Paracel Islands, the period was marked by the peace and both sides held onto what was in their control without venturing into other's domain. At the same time, maps and other official documents of the North Vietnam government during this period had shown that the islands belong to China, mainly due to the fact that China was the largest backer of North Vietnam during the Vietnam War. On 4 September 1958, the government of the People's Republic of China proclaimed the breadth of its territorial sea to be twelve nautical miles which applied to all territories of the PRC, including the Paracel and Spratly Islands. Ten days later, the prime minister of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam (North Vietnam), Phạm Văn Đồng, in his letter to Zhou Enlai stated that his government had recognized declaration of the Chinese government. Regarding this letter, there have been many arguments on its true meaning and the reason why Phạm Văn Đồng decided to send it to Zhou Enlai. One important fact is that the letter while accepting the 12 nautical mile principal for the limit of territorial waters of China, has never mentioned a word about how the territorial boundary was defined and thus leaving the dispute on South China Sea islands as its status quo for later settlement. In an interview with BBC, Dr. Balazs Szalontai provided an insight into this issue: "The general context of the Chinese declaration was the United Nations Conference on the Law of the Sea, held in 1956, and the resulting treaties signed in 1958, such as the Convention on the Territorial Sea and Contiguous Zone. Understandably, the PRC government, though not being a member of the U.N., also wanted to have a say in how these issues were dealt with. Hence the Chinese declaration of September 1958. In these years, North Vietnam could hardly afford to alienate Communist comrad China. The Soviet Union did not give any substantial support to Vietnamese reunification, and neither South Vietnamese leader Ngo Dinh Diem nor the U.S. government showed readiness to give consent to the holding of all-Vietnamese elections as stipulated by the Geneva Agreements. On the contrary, Diem did his best to suppress the Communist movement in the South. This is why Pham Van Dong felt it necessary to take sides with China, whose tough attitude toward the Asian policies of the U.S. offered some hope. And yet he seems to have been cautious enough to make a statement that supported only the principle that China was entitled for 12-mile territorial seas along its territory but evaded the issue of defining this territory. While the preceding Chinese statement was very specific, enumerating all the islands (including the Paracels and the Spratlys) for which the PRC laid claim, the DRV statement did not say a word about the concrete territories to which this rule was applicable. Still, it is true that in this bilateral territorial dispute between Chinese and Vietnamese interests, the DRV standpoint, more in a diplomatic than a legal sense, was incomparably closer to that of China than to that of South Vietnam". Some international scholars argued that, Pham Van Dong who represented North Vietnam at that time has no legal right to comment on a territorial part which belonged to the South Vietnam (according to Geneva Treaty). Therefore, the letter has no legal value and is considered as a diplomatic document to show the support of the government of North Vietnam to the PRC at that time.

On 19 January 1974, the Battle of the Paracel Islands occurred between the People's Republic of China and South Vietnam. After the Battle, the PRC gained control over the entire Paracel Islands.

Paracel in media

The movie Storm in the South Sea (南海风云) was produced in the People's Republic of China in 1976, showing the Battle of the Paracel Islands in 1974. The movie and its theme songs were hits in China.

See also

Battle of the Paracel Islands

Spratly Islands

South China Sea

South China Sea Islands

Administration Office for Xisha Islands, Zhongsha Islands and Nansha Islands

References

Notes

Sources

(1686) Do Ba Cong Dao (translated by Buu Cam), "Toan Tap Thien Nam Tu Chí Lo Do Thu ", Hong Duc Ban Do, Saigon, 1962.

(1776) Le Quí Don (translated by Le Xuan Giao), "Phu Bien Tap Luc", Saigon, 1972.

(1821) Phan Huy Chu (translated by Nguyen Tho Duc), "Lich Trieu Hien Chuong Loai Chí", Saigon, 1972.

Jean Louis TABERD, "Note on the Geography of Cochinchina", Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society of Bengal, Calcutta, Vol. VI, 9/1837.

(1838) Jean Louis TABERD, "Additional Notice on the Geography of Cochinchina", Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society of Bengal, Calcutta, Vol. VII, 4/1838, pp 317 – 324.

(1849) GUTZLAFF, "Geography of the Cochinchinese Empire", Journal of The Geographical Society of London, vol the 19th, p93.

Vietnamese Claims to the Truong Sa Archipelago.Todd C. Kelly, August 1999.

External links

Sovereignty over the Paracel and Spratly Islands, by Monique Chemillier-Gendreau

Website about Paracels and Spratly

CIA World Factbook for Paracel Islands

Territorial claims in the Spratly and Paracel Islands

A Collection of Documents on Paracel and Spratly Islands by HoangSa.Org

Paracels Islands Dispute

A Collection of Documents on Paracel and Spratly Islands by Nguyen Thai Hoc Foundation

Category:Disputed islands Category:Territorial disputes of the People's Republic of China Category:Territorial disputes of the Republic of China Category:Territorial disputes of Vietnam Category:Disputed territories in Southeast Asia

bg:Параселски острови cs:Paracelské ostrovy da:Paraceløerne de:Paracel-Inseln el:Νησιά Παρασέλ es:Islas Paracelso fr:Îles Paracels ko:파라셀 제도 id:Kepulauan Paracel it:Isole Paracel ms:Kepulauan Paracel nl:Paraceleilanden ja:西沙諸島 no:Paraceløyene pl:Wyspy Paracelskie pt:Ilhas Paracel ro:Insulele Paracel ru:Парасельские острова fi:Paracelsaaret sv:Paracelöarna th:หมู่เกาะแพราเซล tr:Paracel adaları uk:Парацельські острови vi:Hoàng Sa zh:西沙群岛

name	Paracelsus
birth name	Philip von Hohenheim
birth date	November 11, 1493 orDecember 17, 1493
birth place	Egg near Einsiedeln, Old Swiss Confederacy (present-day Switzerland)
death date	September 24, 1541
death place	Salzburg, Archbishopric of Salzburg (present-day Austria)
death cause	Unknown
nationality	Swiss, German
other names	Theophrastus von Hohenheim; Phillipus Areolus; Bombastus
occupation	Alchemist Physician Astrologer ScientistOccultist
title	}}

Paracelsus (born Philippus Aureolus Theophrastus Bombastus von Hohenheim, 11 November or 17 December 1493 – 24 September 1541) was a Swiss Renaissance physician, botanist, alchemist, astrologer, and general occultist.

"Paracelsus," meaning "equal to or greater than Celsus," refers to the Roman encyclopedist Aulus Cornelius Celsus from the 1st century, known for his tract on medicine. He is also credited for giving zinc its name, calling it ''zincum,'' and is regarded as the first systematic botanist.

Biography

Paracelsus was born and raised in the village of Einsiedeln in Switzerland. His father, Wilhelm Bombast von Hohenheim, was a Swabian chemist and physician; his mother was Swiss, she died presumably in his childhood. In 1502 the family moved to Villach, Carinthia where Paracelsus' father worked as a physician. He received a profound humanistic and theological education by his father, local clerics and the convent school of St. Paul's Abbey in the Lavanttal. At the age of 16 he started studying medicine at the University of Basel, later moving to Vienna. He gained his doctorate degree from the University of Ferrara in 15/15/16.

His wanderings as an itinerant physician and sometime journeyman miner took him through Germany, France, Spain, Hungary, the Netherlands, Denmark, Sweden and Russia.

As a physician of the early 16th Century, Paracelsus held a natural affinity with the Hermetic, neoplatonic, and Pythagorean philosophies central to the Renaissance, a world-view exemplified by Marsilio Ficino and Pico della Mirandola. Paracelsus rejected the magic theories of Agrippa and Flamel in his ''Archidoxes of Magic''. Astrology was a very important part of Paracelsus' medicine, and he was a practicing astrologer -- as were many of the university-trained physicians working at this time in Europe. Paracelsus devoted several sections in his writings to the construction of astrological talismans for curing disease, providing talismans for various maladies as well as talismans for each sign of the Zodiac. He also invented an alphabet called the Alphabet of the Magi, for engraving angelic names upon talismans.

Paracelsus pioneered the use of chemicals and minerals in medicine. He used the name "zink" for the element zinc in about 1526, based on the sharp pointed appearance of its crystals after smelting and the old German word "zinke" for pointed. He used experimentation in learning about the human body. Paracelsus was also responsible for the creation of laudanum, an opium tincture very common until the 19th century.

Paracelsus gained a reputation for being arrogant, and soon garnered the anger of other physicians in Europe. He held the chair of medicine at the University of Basel for less than a year; while there his colleagues became angered by allegations that he had publicly burned traditional medical books. He was forced from the city after a legal dispute over a physician's fee he sued to collect.

He then wandered Europe, Africa and Asia Minor, in the pursuit of hidden knowledge. He revised old manuscripts and wrote new ones, but had trouble finding publishers. In 1536, his ''Die grosse Wundartznei'' (The Great Surgery Book) was published and enabled him to regain fame. Paracelsus' life is connected to the birth of Lutheranism, and his opinions on the nature of the universe are better understood within the context of the religious ideas circulating during his lifetime.

He died at the age of 48 of natural causes, and his remains were buried according to his wishes in the cemetery at the church of St Sebastian in Salzburg. His remains are now located in a tomb in the porch of the church.

After his death, the movement of Paracelsianism was seized upon by many wishing to subvert the traditional Galenic physics, and thus did his therapies become more widely known and used.

His motto was "Alterius non sit qui suus esse potest" which means "Let no man belong to another that can belong to himself."

Philosophy

Paracelsus believed in the Greek concept of the four elements, but he also introduced the idea that, on another level, the cosmos is fashioned from three spiritual substances: the ''tria prima'' of mercury, sulfur, and salt. These substances were not the simple substances we recognize today, but were rather broad principles that gave every object both its inner essence and outward form. Mercury represented the transformative agent (fusibility and volatility); sulfur represented the binding agent between substance and transformation (flammability); and salt represented the solidifying/substantiating agent (fixity and noncombustibility). For example, when a piece of wood is burnt, the products reflect its constitution: smoke reflects mercury, flame reflects sulfur, and ash reflects salt.

The ''tria prima'' also defined the human identity. Sulfur embodied the soul, (the emotions and desires); salt represented the body; mercury epitomized the spirit (imagination, moral judgment, and the higher mental faculties). By understanding the chemical nature of the ''tria prima'', a physician could discover the means of curing disease.

Contributions to medicine

align="right"> !

Planet ||	Metal	Organ
Sun	Gold
Moon	Silver
Jupiter	Tin
Venus	Copper
Saturn	Lead
Mars	Iron
Mercury (planet)	Mercury	Mercury (element)>Quicksilver
+ The idea of harmony

Paracelsus pioneered the use of chemicals and minerals in medicine. His hermetical views were that sickness and health in the body relied on the harmony of man (microcosm) and Nature (macrocosm). He took an approach different from those before him, using this analogy not in the manner of soul-purification but in the manner that humans must have certain balances of minerals in their bodies, and that certain illnesses of the body had chemical remedies that could cure them. (Debus & Multhauf, p. 6-12)

As a result of this hermetical idea of harmony, the universe's macrocosm was represented in every person as a microcosm. According to the insights at the time, there were Seven planets on the sky, Seven metals on Earth and Seven centers (or major organs) in Man — seven was a special number. Everything was heavenly and closely interrelated (see table).

Diseases were caused by poisons brought here from the stars. But 'poisons' were not necessarily something negative, in part because related substances interacted, in part because only the dose determined if a substance was poisonous or not. Evil could expel evil. Therefore, poisons could have beneficial medical effects. Because everything in the universe was interrelated, beneficial medical substances could be found in herbs, minerals and various alchemical combinations hereof. Paracelsus viewed the universe as one coherent organism pervaded by a uniting lifegiving spirit, and this in its entirety, Man included, was 'God'. His views put him at odds with the Church, for whom there necessarily had to be a difference between the Creator and the created.

He summarized his own views: "Many have said of Alchemy, that it is for the making of gold and silver. For me such is not the aim, but to consider only what virtue and power may lie in medicines." (Edwardes, p. 47) (also in: Holmyard, Eric John. ''Alchemy''. p. 170)

Hippocrates put forward the theory that illness was caused by an imbalance of the four humours: blood, phlegm, black bile and yellow bile. These ideas were further developed by Galen into an extremely influential and highly persistent set of medical beliefs that were to last until the mid 1850s. The dominant medical treatments at Paracelsus' time were specific diets to help in the "cleansing of the putrefied juices" combined with purging and bloodletting to restore the balance of the four humours. Paracelsus supplemented and challenged this view with his beliefs that illness was the result of the body being attacked by ''outside'' agents.

Paracelsus' major work ''On the Miners' Sickness and Other Diseases of Miners'' documented the occupational hazards of metalworking including treatment and prevention strategies. He also wrote a book on the human body contradicting Galen's ideas.

Contributions to toxicology

Paracelsus, sometimes called the father of toxicology, wrote:

: :"All things are poison, and nothing is without poison; only the dose permits something not to be poisonous." Or, more commonly :"The dose makes the poison."

That is to say, substances considered toxic are harmless in small doses, and conversely an ordinarily harmless substance can be deadly if over-consumed.

Contributions to psychotherapy

Paracelsus is credited as providing the first clinical/scientific mention of the unconscious. In his work ''Von den Krankeiten'' he writes: "Thus, the cause of the disease chorea lasciva is a mere opinion and idea, assumed by imagination, affecting those who believe in such a thing. This opinion and idea are the origin of the disease both in children and adults. In children the case is also imagination, based not on thinking but on perceiving, because they have heard or seen something. The reason is this: their sight and hearing are so strong that unconsciously they have fantasies about what they have seen or heard."

Legend and rumor

Paracelsus is claimed by the Fraternitas Rosae Crucis to be the true identity of the mythical alchemist Christian Rosenkreutz who was the major figure in the Fama Fraternitatis published in 1614 in Germany, which at the time caused excitement throughout Europe by declaring the existence of a secret brotherhood of alchemists and sages who were preparing to transform the arts, sciences, religion, and political and intellectual landscape of Europe while wars of politics and religion ravaged the continent. Divergent views believe Rosenkreuz to be a pseudonym for a more famous historical figure like Francis Bacon.

Paracelsus is also often cited as coining the phrase "the dose makes the poison". Although he did not say this precisely, it seems that Paracelsus was indeed well aware of the principle (see discussion on Toxicology above).

Many books mentioning Paracelsus also cite him as the origin of the word "bombastic" to describe his often arrogant speaking style, which the following passage illustrates:

However, according to the Oxford English Dictionary, the origin of the word "bombastic" is not a play on Paracelsus's middle name, Bombastus. Instead, that dictionary cites "bombast": an old term for cotton stuffing.

Works

Published during his lifetime

''Die große Wundarzney'' Ulm, 1536 (Hans Varnier); Augsburg (Haynrich Stayner (=Steyner)), 1536; Frankfurt/ M. (Georg Raben/ Weygand Hanen), 1536.

''Vom Holz Guaico'', 1529.

''Vonn dem Bad Pfeffers in Oberschwytz gelegen, 1535.

''Prognostications'', 1536.

Posthumous Publications

''Wundt unnd Leibartznei''. Frankfurt/ M., 1549 (Christian Egenolff); 1555 (Christian Egenolff); 1561 (Chr. Egenolff Erben).

''Von der Wundartzney: Ph. Theophrasti von Hohenheim, beyder Artzney Doctoris, 4 Bücher''. (Peter Perna), 1577.

''Von den Krankheiten so die Vernunfft Berauben''. Basel, 1567.

''Kleine Wundartzney''. Basel (Peter Perna), 1579.

''Opus Chirurgicum, Bodenstein'', Basel, 1581.

Huser quart edition (medicinal and philosophical treatises), Basel, 1589.

Chirurgical works (Huser), Basel, 1591 und 1605 (Zetzner).

Straßburg edition (medicinal and philosophical treatises), 1603.

''Kleine Wund-Artzney''. Straßburg (Ledertz) 1608.

''Opera omnia medico-chemico-chirurgica'', Genevae, Vol3, 1658.

''Philosophia magna, tractus aliquot'', Cöln, 1567.

''Philosophiae et Medicinae utriusque compendium'', Basel, 1568.

''Liber de Nymphis, sylphis, pygmaeis et salamandris et de caeteris spiritibus''

Selected English translations

''The Hermetic And Alchemical Writings Of Paracelsus'', Two Volumes, translated by Arthur Edward Waite, London, 1894. (in Google books), see also a revised 2002 edition (preview only) Partial contents: Coelum Philosophorum; The Book Concerning The Tincture Of The Philosophers; The Treasure of Treasures for Alchemists; The Aurora of the Philosophers; Alchemical Catechism.

''The Archidoxes of Magic'' by Theophrastus Paracelsus, translated by Robert Turner. Facsimile reprint of the 1656 edition with introduction by Stephen Skinner, Ibis Publishing, 2004.

Online bibliographies

Digital library, University of Braunschweig

Zürich Paracelsus Project

online editions of the Neo-Latin works of the Renaissance.">Dana F. Sutton, ''An Analytic Bibliography of Online Neo-Latin Texts,'' Philological Museum, University of Birmingham — A collection of "digital photographic reproductions", or online editions of the Neo-Latin works of the Renaissance.

Popular culture

Paracelsus is mentioned in Plate 22 of William Blake's ''The Marriage of Heaven and Hell''.

Paracelsus is the main character of Jorge Luis Borges's short story, ''The Rose of Paracelsus''.

The German drama film ''Paracelsus'' was made in 1943, directed by Georg Wilhelm Pabst. Pabst was later sharply criticized for having produced this film in Nazi Germany, subject – like all German films at the time – to the supervision of Goebbels and the considerations of Nazi propaganda.

The CBS television series ''Beauty and the Beast'' had a recurring villain named Paracelsus who like his historical namesake was adept at creating drugs and medicines.

In the Visual Novel ''Animamundi: Dark Alchemist'', the character Jan van Ruthberg mentions Paracelsus as the creator of the Philosopher's Stone.

He is mentioned as a wizard in the Harry Potter universe, and appears as a Chocolate Frog Card in the protagonist's first train trip to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

He is mentioned in the second chapter of Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley's ''Frankenstein'' along with Cornelius Agrippa and Albertus Magnus.

He is mentioned in the 92nd chapter of Herman Melville's ''Moby Dick''.

In Haunting Ground, "Aureolus" is a reference to Paracelsus.

Paracelsus appears as "Bombastus" in the Facebook game ''Assassin's Creed: Project Legacy''. He is an acquintance of the Assassin Order and helps Giovanni Borgia study a Crystal Skull the latter retrieved from Mexico.

In the Capcom Playstation game Resident Evil 3: Nemesis, the experimental weapon used to destroy the Nemesis at the end of the game is named "Paracelsus' Sword" (hence it being a tool to purge infections such as those created by the T-Virus)

In the anime/Light novel To Aru Majutsu no Index, Paracelsus is the ancestor of the alchemist Aureolus Izzard.

In the anime Maburaho, the main character is informed early on that he is descended from Paracelsus, as well as several other famous figures from history. This explains why his magical abilities are so valuable.

In the Guilty Gear fighting game series, the name given to A.B.A's sentient key-shaped weapon is "Paracelsus."

Hiromu Arakawa, creator of Fullmetal Alchemist, uses his name for her character, Van Hohenheim, in said series

An excerpt from Paracelsus' book, ''Liber de nymphis, sylphis, pygmaeis et salamandris et de caeteris spiritibus'', is read out loud in the first episode of Dantalian no Shoka

Doctor Paracelsus is a character in Jesse Bullington's historical horror-fantasy novel, ''The Enterprise of Death''.

See also

15th century physician writers

References

Further reading

Pagel, Walter (1982). ''Paracelsus: An Introduction to Philosophical Medicine in the Era of the Renaissance''. Karger Publishers, Switzerland. ISBN 380553518X.

The Devil's Doctor, Philip Ball, ISBN 978-0-09-945787-9 (Arrow Books, Random House)

Paracelsus Medicine, Magic and Mission at the End of Time, Charles Webster, ISBN 978-0-30-013911-2 (Yale University Press, 1 Oct 2008)

External links

A section of the e-journal ''Azogue'' with original reproductions of paracelsian texts.

The Zurich Paracelsus Project

History of zinc

Allen G. Debus, "Paracelsus and the medical revolution of the Renaissance" - A 500th Anniversary Celebration from the National Library of Medicine (1993), p. 3.

Theophrastus Paracelsus - Detailed entry from The Catholic Encyclopedia

Biographical notes from The Galileo Project

Paracelsus (from the Mystica)

Paracelsus (from Alchemy Lab)

The uses of enchantment, The Economist, 19 January 2006

Paracelsus – The physician, healer, and philosopher

"After Hippocrates", ''Time'' (Feb. 03, 1941)

Some places and memories of Paracelsus

Category:1493 births Category:1541 deaths Category:16th-century Latin-language writers Category:Christian Kabbalists Category:Natural philosophers Category:Discoverers of chemical elements Category:Hermeticism Category:Inventors of writing systems Category:Swiss alchemists Category:Swiss astrologers Category:Swiss non-fiction writers Category:Swiss occult writers Category:University of Ferrara alumni Category:16th-century Swiss physicians Category:Christian mystics Category:People in the history of medicine

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plural	yes
name	Spratly Islands
image name	Spratly_Islands-CIA_WFB_Map.png
image caption	Spratly Islands
image size	250px
location	South China Sea
coordinates	(Itu Aba Island)
total islands	over 750
major islands	Itu Aba IslandNamyit IslandNortheast CaySin Cowe IslandSouthwest CaySpratly IslandSwallow ReefThitu IslandWest York Island
area	less than
coastline
highest mount	on Southwest Cay
elevation
country claim	Brunei
country claim divisions title	EEZ
country claim divisions	Brunei zone
country 2 claim	Malaysia
country 2 claim divisions title	State
country 2 claim divisions	Sabah
country 3 claim	Philippines
country 3 claim divisions title	Municipality
country 3 claim divisions	Kalayaan
country 4 claim	People's Republic of China
country 4 claim divisions title	County
country 4 claim divisions	Administration Office for Xisha Islands, Zhongsha Islands and Nansha Islands
country 5 claim	Republic of China (Taiwan)
country 5 claim divisions title	Municipality
country 5 claim divisions	Kaohsiung
country 6 claim	Vietnam
country 6 claim divisions title	Province
country 6 claim divisions	Khanh Hoa
country	none
population	no indigenous population
ethnic groups	various
additional info	}}

The Spratly Islands are a group of more than 750 reefs, islets, atolls, cays and islands in the South China Sea. The archipelago lies off the coasts of the Philippines and Malaysia (Sabah), about one third of the way from there to southern Vietnam. They comprise less than four square kilometers of land area spread over more than 425,000 square kilometers of sea. The Spratlys are one of three archipelagos of the South China Sea which comprise more than 30,000 islands and reefs and which complicate governance and economics in that region of Southeast Asia. Such small and remote islands have little economic value in themselves, but are important in establishing international boundaries. There are no native islanders but there are rich fishing grounds and initial surveys indicate the islands may contain significant reserves of oil and natural gas.

About 45 islands are occupied by relatively small numbers of military forces from Vietnam, the People's Republic of China, the Republic of China (Taiwan), Malaysia and the Philippines. Brunei has also claimed an EEZ in the southeastern part of the Spratlys encompassing just one area of small islands above mean high water (on Louisa Reef.)

Geographic and economic overview

Coordinates:

Area (land based): less than 5 km² - includes 148 or so islets, coral reefs, and seamounts.

::(sea surface): 410,000 km² of the central South China Sea

Coastline: 926 km

Political divisions: (in alphabetic order of claimants)

Brunei: Part of Brunei's Exclusive Economic Zone;

* People's Republic of China: Part of Hainan province;

* Malaysia: Part of the state of Sabah;

* Philippines: Part of Palawan province;

* Republic of China (Taiwan): Part of Kaohsiung municipality;

* Vietnam: Part of Khánh Hòa Province.

Climate: tropical

Terrain: flat

Elevation extremes:

*lowest point: South China Sea (0 m)

*highest point: unnamed location on Southwest Cay (4 m)

Natural hazards: serious maritime hazards because of numerous banks, reefs and shoals

The islands are most likely volcanic in origin. The islands themselves contain almost no significant arable land and have no indigenous inhabitants, although twenty of the islands, including Itu Aba, the largest, are considered to be able to sustain human life. Natural resources include fish, guano, undetermined oil and natural gas potential. Economic activity includes commercial fishing, shipping, and tourism. The proximity to nearby oil- and gas-producing sedimentary basins suggests the potential for oil and gas deposits, but the region is largely unexplored, and there are no reliable estimates of potential reserves. Commercial exploitation of hydrocarbons has yet to be developed. The Spratly Islands have at least three fishing ports, several docks and harbors, at least three heliports, at least four territorial rigging style outposts (especially due west of Namyit Island), and six to eight airstrips.These islands are strategically located near several primary shipping lanes.

Ecology

Coral reefs

Coral reefs are the predominant structure of these islands; the Spratly group contains over 600 coral reefs in total.

Vegetation

Little vegetation grows on these islands, which are subject to intense monsoons. Larger islands are capable of supporting tropical forest, scrub forest, coastal scrub and grasses. It is difficult to determine which species have been introduced or cultivated by humans. Itu Aba Island was reportedly covered with shrubs, coconut, and mangroves in 1938; pineapple was also cultivated here when it was profitable. Other accounts mention papaya, banana, palm, and even white peach trees growing on one island. A few islands which have been developed as small tourist resorts have had soil and trees brought in and planted where there were none.

Wildlife

The islands that do have vegetation provide important habitats for many seabirds and sea turtles.

Both the Green Turtle (Chelonia mydas, endangered) and the Hawksbill Turtle (Eretmochelys imbricata, critically endangered) formerly occurred in numbers sufficient to support commercial exploitation. These species reportedly continue to nest even on islands inhabited by military personnel (such as Pratas) to some extent, though it is believed that their numbers have declined.

Seabirds use the islands for resting, breeding, and wintering sites. Species found here include Streaked Shearwater (Calonectris Leucomelas), Brown Booby (Sula Leucogaster), Red-Footed Booby (S. sula), Great Crested Tern (Sterna bergii), and White Tern (Gygis Alba). Little information is available regarding current status of the islands’ seabird populations, though it is likely that birds may divert nesting site to smaller, less disturbed islands. Bird eggs cover the majority of Song Tu, a small island in the eastern Danger Zone.

Unfortunately, this ecoregion is still largely a mystery. Scientists have focused their research on the marine environment, while the ecology of the terrestrial environment remains relatively unknown.

Ecological hazards

Political instability, tourism and the increasing industrialization of neighboring countries has led to serious disruption of native flora and fauna, over-exploitation of natural resources, and environmental pollution. Disruption of nesting areas by human activity or by introduced animals, such as dogs, has reduced the number of turtles nesting on the islands. Sea turtles are also slaughtered for food on a significant scale. The sea turtle is a symbol of longevity in Chinese customs and at times the military personnel are given orders to protect the turtles.

Heavy commercial fishing in the region incurs other problems. Though it has been outlawed, fishing methods continue to include the use of bottom trawls fitted with chain rollers. In addition, during a recent routine patrol, more than 200 kg of Potassium cyanide solution was confiscated from fishermen who had been using it for fish poisoning. These activities have a devastating impact on local marine organisms and coral reefs.

Some interest has been taken in regard to conservation of these island ecosystems. J.W. McManus has explored the possibilities of designating portions of the Spratly Islands as a marine park. One region of the Spratly Archipelago, called Truong Sa, was proposed by Vietnam’s Ministry of Science, Technology and the Environment (MOSTE) as a future protected area. The 160 km² site is currently managed by the Khanh Hoa Provincial People’s Committee of Vietnam.

Military groups in the Spratlys have engaged in environmentally damaging activities such as shooting turtles and seabirds, raiding nests, and fishing with explosives. The collection of rare medicinal plants, collecting of wood and hunting for the wildlife trade are common threats to the biodiversity of the entire region, including these islands. Coral habitats are threatened by pollution, over-exploitation of fish and invertebrates, and the use of explosives and poisons as fishing techniques.

History

Early cartography

The first possible human interaction with the Spratly Islands dates back between 600 BCE to 3 BCE. This is based on the theoretical migration patterns of the people of Nanyue (southern China and northern Vietnam) and Old Champa kingdom who may have migrated from Borneo, which may have led them through the Spratly Islands.

Ancient Chinese maps record the "Thousand Li Stretch of Sands"; ''Qianli Changsha'' (千里長沙) and the "Ten-Thousand Li of Stone Pools"; ''Wanli Shitang'' (萬里石塘), which China today claims refers to the Spratly Islands. The Wanli Shitang have been explored by the Chinese since the Yuan Dynasty and may have been considered by them to have been within their national boundaries. They are also referenced in the 13th century, followed by the Ming Dynasty. When the Ming Dynasty collapsed, the Qing Dynasty continued to include the territory in maps compiled in 1724, 1755, 1767, 1810, and 1817. A Vietnamese map from 1834 also includes the Spratly Islands clumped in with the Paracels (a common occurrence on maps of that time) labeled as "Wanli Changsha".

According to Hanoi, old Vietnamese maps record Bãi Cát Vàng (''Golden Sandbanks'', referring to both Paracels and the Spratly Islands) which lay near the Coast of the central Vietnam as early as 1838. In ''Phủ Biên Tạp Lục'' (Frontier Chronicles) by the scholar Le Quy Don, Hoàng Sa and Trường Sa were defined as belonging to Quảng Ngãi District. He described it as where sea products and shipwrecked cargoes were available to be collected. Vietnamese text written in the 17th century referenced government-sponsored economic activities during the Le Dynasty, 200 years earlier. The Vietnamese government conducted several geographical surveys of the islands in the 18th century.

Despite the fact that China and Vietnam both made a claim to these territories simultaneously, at the time, neither side was aware that their neighbor had already charted and made claims to the same stretch of islands.

The islands were sporadically visited throughout the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries by mariners from different European powers (including Richard Spratly, after whom the island group derives its most recognizable English name). However, these nations showed little interest in the islands. In 1883, German boats surveyed the Spratly and Paracel Islands but withdrew the survey eventually after receiving protests from the Nguyen Dynasty. Many European maps before the 20th century do not even make mention of this region.

Military conflict and diplomatic dialogues

In 1933, France asserted its claims from 1887 to the Spratly and Paracel Islands on behalf of its then-colony Vietnam. It occupied a number of the Spratly Islands, including Itu Aba, built weather stations on two, and administered them as part of French Indochina. This occupation was protested by the Republic of China government because France admitted finding Chinese fishermen there when French warships visited the nine islands. In 1935, the ROC government also announced a sovereignty claim on the Spratly Islands. Japan occupied some of the islands in 1939 during World War II, and used the islands as a submarine base for the occupation of Southeast Asia. During the occupation, these islands were called ''Shinnan Shoto'' (新南諸島), literally the New Southern Islands, and put under the governance of Taiwan together with the Paracel Islands (西沙群岛). In 1945, The Republic of China sent its Naval ships to take control of the islands after the surrender of Japan. It had chosen the largest and perhaps the only inhabitable island, Itu Aba Island, as its base, and renamed the island under the name of the naval vessel as Taiping. The KMT force of Republic Of China briefly abandoned the islands after its defeat in China's civil war in 1949, but re-established the base in 1956. Today, Itu Aba Island is still administrated by the Republic of China,

Following the defeat of Japan at the end of World War II, China re-claimed the entirety of the Spratly Islands (including Itu Aba), accepting the Japanese surrender on the islands based on the Cairo and Potsdam Declarations. The ROC government withdrew from most of the Spratly and Paracel Islands after they retreated to Taiwan from the opposing Communist Party of China, which founded the People's Republic of China in 1949. ROC quietly withdrew troops from Itu Aba in 1950, but reinstated them in 1956 in response to Tomas Cloma's sudden claim to the island as part of Freedomland.

Japan renounced all claims to the islands in the 1951 San Francisco Peace Treaty, together with the Paracels, Pratas & other islands captured from China, upon which China reasserted its claim to the islands.

It was unclear whether France continued its claim to the islands after WWII, since none of the islands other than Itu Aba is habitable. The South Vietnamese government took over the Trường Sa administration after the defeat of the French at the end of the First Indochina War. In 1958, the People's Republic of China issued a declaration defining its territorial waters, which encompassed the Spratly Islands. North Vietnam's prime minister, Pham Van Dong, sent a formal note to Zhou Enlai, stating that the Government of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam respects the decision by China regarding the 12 nautical mile limit of territorial waters. Regarding this letter, there have been many arguments on its true meaning and the reason why Phạm Văn Đồng decided to send it to Zhou Enlai. One important fact is that the letter while accepting the 12 nautical mile principal for the limit of territorial waters of China, has never mentioned a word about how the territorial boundary was defined and thus leaving the dispute on South China Sea islands as its status quo for later settlement. In an interview with BBC, Dr. Balazs Szalontai provided an insight into this issue: "The general context of the Chinese declaration was the United Nations Conference on the Law of the Sea, held in 1956, and the resulting treaties signed in 1958, such as the Convention on the Territorial Sea and Contiguous Zone. Understandably, the PRC government, though not being a member of the U.N., also wanted to have a say in how these issues were dealt with. Hence the Chinese declaration of September 1958. In these years, North Vietnam could hardly afford to alienate Communist comrad China. The Soviet Union did not give any substantial support to Vietnamese reunification, and neither South Vietnamese leader Ngo Dinh Diem nor the U.S. government showed readiness to give consent to the holding of all-Vietnamese elections as stipulated by the Geneva Agreements. On the contrary, Diem did his best to suppress the Communist movement in the South. This is why Pham Van Dong felt it necessary to take sides with China, whose tough attitude toward the Asian policies of the U.S. offered some hope. And yet he seems to have been cautious enough to make a statement that supported only the principle that China was entitled for 12-mile territorial seas along its territory but evaded the issue of defining this territory. While the preceding Chinese statement was very specific, enumerating all the islands (including the Paracels and the Spratlys) for which the PRC laid claim, the DRV statement did not say a word about the concrete territories to which this rule was applicable. Still, it is true that in this bilateral territorial dispute between Chinese and Vietnamese interests, the DRV standpoint, more in a diplomatic than a legal sense, was incomparably closer to that of China than to that of South Vietnam". Some international scholars argued that, Pham Van Dong who represented North Vietnam at that time has no legal right to comment on a territorial part which belonged to the South Vietnam represented by Ngo Dinh Diem. Therefore, the letter has no legal value and is considered as a diplomatic document to show the support of the government of North Vietnam to the PRC at that time. In 2004, Vietnam issued a white paper saying, in part, }}

On May 23, 2011, Philippine President Benigno Aquino III warned the Chinese defense minister of a possible arms race in the region if tensions worsened over disputes in the South China Sea. Aquino said he told visiting Chinese Defense Minister Liang Guanglie in their meeting that such an arms race could result if there were more encounters in the disputed and potentially oil-rich Spratly islands.

In May 2011, Chinese naval vessels opened fire on Vietnamese fishing vessels operating off East London Reef (Da Dong Island). Three military vessels were numbered 989, 27 and 28. They showed up with a small group of Chinese fishing vessels. Another Vietnamese fishing vessel was fired on near Cross (Chu Thap) Island. The Chief Commander of Border Guards in Phu Yen Province, Vietnam reports that a total of four Vietnamese vessels were fired upon by Chinese naval vessels.

In June 2011, the Philippines renamed the South China Sea and the Reed Bank as the West Philippine Sea and the Recto Bank.

Telecommunications

In 2005, a cellular phone base station was erected by the Philippines' Smart Communications on Pag-asa Island.

On 18 May 2011, China Mobile announced that its mobile phone coverage has expanded to the Spratly Islands, under the rationale that it can allow soldiers stationed on the islands, fishermen and merchant vessels within the area to use mobile services, and can also provide assistance during storms and sea rescues. The deployment of China Mobile's support over the islands took roughly one year to fulfil.

Gallery

File:Cây phong ba.JPG|An ancient ''Heliotropium foertherianum'' on Spratly Island File:Truong Sa lon.JPG|Spratly Island File:Truong Sa Đông.JPG|Military cemetery on Central London Reef File:Đảo An Bang.JPG|View from Amboyna Cay File:Đảo Phan Vinh.JPG|The dock on Pearson Reef

See also

Kingdom of Humanity

South China Sea Islands

Paracel Islands

Junk Keying

Policies, activities and history of the Philippines in Spratly Islands

Kalayaan, Palawan, Philippines

Zheng He

Crysis, a computer game set on the Spratly Islands.

SSN, a computer game set during a conflict over the Spratly Islands.

List of islands in the South China Sea

Administration Office for Xisha Islands, Zhongsha Islands and Nansha Islands

References

Further reading

Dzurek, Daniel J. and Clive H.Schofield. ''The Spratly Islands dispute: who's on first?''. IBRU; 1996. ISBN 9781897643235

C.Michael Hogan (2011) ''South China Sea'' Topic ed. P.Saundry. Ed.-in-chief C.J.Cleveland. Encyclopedia of Earth. National Council for Science and the Environment. Washington DC

Mike Spick. ''Dangerous Ground!'', ''Air Forces Monthly'', December 1993

External links

Mariner's page of the Spratly Islands

Taiwanese List with ~170 entries

List of atolls with areas

Satellite images of all islands and reefs of the Spratly Islands.

Flags of the World (FOTW) entry with various micronations on the Spratly Islands.

Map showing the claims

A tabular summary about the Spratly and Paracel Islands

Another overview table of the Spratly Islands

CIA World Factbook for Spratly Islands

, from Vietnam Ministry of Foreign Affairs

Third Party Summary of the Dispute

Google Map of Spratly Islands

A collection of documents on Spratly and Paracel Islands by Nguyen Thai Hoc Foundation

Category:Disputed islands Category:Disputed territories in Asia Category:Spratly Islands Category:Territorial disputes of the People's Republic of China Category:Territorial disputes of Malaysia Category:Territorial disputes of the Philippines Category:Territorial disputes of Vietnam Category:Territorial disputes of the Republic of China

ceb:Kapupud-ang Kagawasan cs:Spratlyovy ostrovy de:Spratly-Inseln es:Islas Spratly fo:Spratly oyggjar fr:Îles Spratleys ga:Oileáin Spratly ko:스프래틀리 군도 hr:Otočje Spratly id:Kepulauan Spratly it:Isole Spratly lt:Spratlio salos mk:Острови Спретли ms:Kepulauan Spratly nl:Spratly-eilanden ja:南沙諸島 no:Spratlyøyene pl:Wyspy Spratly pt:Ilhas Spratly ru:Острова Спратли simple:Spratly Islands sh:Otočje Spratly fi:Spratlysaaret sv:Spratlyöarna tl:Kapuluan ng Kalayaan th:หมู่เกาะสแปรตลีย์ vec:Ìxołe Spratly vi:Quần đảo Trường Sa yo:Spratly Islands zh:南沙群岛

The South China Sea is a marginal sea that is part of the Pacific Ocean, encompassing an area from the Singapore and Malacca Straits to the Strait of Taiwan of around . The area's importance largely results from one-third of the world's shipping transiting through its waters, and that it is believed to hold huge oil and gas reserves beneath its seabed.

It is located

south of mainland China and the island of Taiwan,

west of the Philippines,

north west of Sabah (Malaysia), Sarawak (Malaysia) and Brunei,

north of Indonesia,

north east of the Malay peninsula (Malaysia) and Singapore, and

east of Vietnam.

The minute South China Sea Islands, collectively an archipelago, number in the hundreds. The sea and its mostly uninhabited islands are subject to competing claims of sovereignty by several countries. These claims are also reflected in the variety of names used for the islands and the sea.

Names

''South China Sea'' is the dominant term used in English for the sea, and the name in most European languages is equivalent, but it is sometimes called by different names in neighboring countries, often reflecting historical claims to hegemony over the sea.

The English name is a result of early European interest in the sea as a route from Europe and South Asia to the trading opportunities of China. In the sixteenth century Portuguese sailors called it the China Sea (''Mar da China''); later needs to differentiate it from nearby bodies of water led to calling it the South China Sea. The International Hydrographic Organization refers to the sea as "South China Sea (Nan Hai)".

In Southeast Asia it was once called the ''Champa Sea'' ''Sea of Cham'', after the maritime kingdom of Champa that flourished there before the sixteenth century. The majority of the sea came under Japanese naval control during World War II following the military acquisition of many surrounding South East Asian territories in 1941. Japan calls the sea ''Minami Shina Kai'' "South China Sea". This was written 南支那海 until 2004, when the Japanese Foreign Ministry and other departments switched the spelling 南シナ海, which has become the standard usage in Japan.

In China, it is called the "South Sea", 南海 ''Nánhǎi'', and in Vietnam the "East Sea", ''Biển Đông''. In the Philippines, Malaysia, and Indonesia it was long called the "South China Sea" (''Dagat Timog Tsina'' in Tagalog, ''Laut China Selatan'' in Malay), with the part within Philippine territorial waters often called the "Luzon Sea", ''Dagat Luzon'', by the Philippines. However, following an escalation of the Spratly Islands dispute in 2011, various Philippine government agencies started using the neologism "West Philippine Sea". A Pagasa spokesperson said that the sea to the east of the Philippines will continue to be called the Philippine Sea.

Geography

States and territories with borders on the sea (clockwise from north) include: the People's Republic of China (including Macau and Hong Kong), the Republic of China (Taiwan), the Philippines, Malaysia, Brunei, Indonesia, Singapore, and Vietnam.

Major rivers that flow into the South China Sea include the Pearl, Min, Jiulong, Red, Mekong, Rajang, Pahang, Pampanga, and Pasig Rivers.

Extent

The International Hydrographic Organization defines the limits of the South China Sea as follows:

''On the South.'' The Eastern and Southern limits of Singapore and Malacca Straits [A line joining Tanjong Datok, the Southeast point of Johore () through Horsburgh Reef to Pulo Koko, the Northeastern extreme of Bintan Island (). The Northeastern coast of Sumatra] as far West as Tanjong Kedabu () down the East coast of Sumatra to Lucipara Point () thence to Tanjong Nanka, the Southwest extremity of Banka Island, through this island to Tanjong Berikat the Eastern point (), on to Tanjong Djemang () in Billiton, along the North coast of this island to Tanjong Boeroeng Mandi () and thence a line to Tanjong Sambar () the Southwest extreme of Borneo.

''On the East.'' From Tanjong Sambar through the West coast of Borneo to Tanjong Sampanmangio, the North point, thence a line to West points of Balabac and Secam Reefs, on to the West point of Bancalan Island and to Cape Buliluyan, the Southwest point of Palawan, through this island to Cabuli Point, the Northern point thereof, thence to the Northwest point of Busuanga and to Cape Calavite in the island of Mindoro, to the Northwest point of Lubang Island and to Point Fuego (14°08'N) in Luzon Island, through this island to Cape Engano, the Northeast point of Luzon, along a line joining this cape with the East point of Balintang Island (20°N) and to the East point of Y'Ami Island (21°05'N) thence to Garan Bi, the Southern point of Taiwan (Formosa), through this island to Santyo (25°N) its North Eastern Point.

''On the North.'' From Fuki Kaku the North point of Formosa to Kiushan Tao (Turnabout Island) on to the South point of Haitan Tao (25°25'N) and thence Westward on the parallel of 25°24' North to the coast of Fukien.

''On the West.'' The Mainland, the Southern limit of the Gulf of Thailand and the East coast of the Malay Peninsula.

Geology

The sea lies above a drowned continental shelf; during recent ice ages global sea level was hundreds of metres lower, and Borneo was part of the Asian mainland.

The South China Sea opened after around 45 million years ago when the Dangerous Grounds (Reed Tablemount) were rifted away from southern China. Extension culminated in seafloor spreading around 30 million years ago, a process that propagated to the SW resulting in the V-shaped basin we see today. Extension ceased around 17 million years ago. Arguments have continued about the role of tectonic extrusion in forming the basin. Paul Tapponnier and colleagues have argued that as India collides with Asia it pushes Indochina to the SE. The relative shear between Indochina and China caused the South China Sea to open. This view is disputed by geologists who do not consider Indochina to have moved far relative to mainland Asia. Recent marine geophysical studies by Peter Clift has shown that the Red River Fault was active and causing basin formation at least by 37 million years ago in the NW South China Sea, consistent with extrusion playing a part in the formation of the sea. Since opening the South China Sea has been the repository of large sediment volumes delivered by the Mekong River, Red River and Pearl River. Several of these deltas are rich in oil and gas deposits.

Islands and seamounts

The South China Sea contains over 250 small islands, atolls, cays, shoals, reefs, and sandbars, most of which have no indigenous people, many of which are naturally under water at high tide, and some of which are permanently submerged. The features are grouped into three archipelagos (listed by area size), Macclesfield Bank and Scarborough Shoal:

The Spratly Islands

The Paracel Islands

The Pratas Islands

The Macclesfield Bank

The Scarborough Shoal

The Spratly Islands spread over an 810 by 900 km area covering some 175 identified insular features, the largest being Taiping Island (Itu Aba) at just over 1.3 km long and with its highest elevation at 3.8 metres.

The largest singular feature in the area of the Spratly Islands is a 100 km wide seamount called Reed Tablemount, also known as Reed Bank, in the northeast of the group, separated from Palawan Island of the Philippines by the Palawan Trench. Now completely submerged, with a depth of 20 m, it was an island until it sank about 7,000 years ago due to the increasing sea level after the last ice age. With an area of 8,866 km², it is one of the largest submerged atoll structures of the world.

Resources

It is an extremely significant body of water in a geopolitical sense. It is the second most used sea lane in the world, while in terms of world annual merchant fleet tonnage, over 50% passes through the Strait of Malacca, the Sunda Strait, and the Lombok Strait. Over 1.6 million m³ (10 million barrels) of crude oil a day are shipped through the Strait of Malacca, where there are regular reports of piracy, but much less frequently than before the mid-20th century.

The region has proven oil reserves of around 1.2 km³ (7.7 billion barrels), with an estimate of 4.5 km³ (28 billion barrels) in total. Natural gas reserves are estimated to total around 7,500 km³ (266 trillion cubic feet).

According to studies made by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources, Philippines, this body of water holds one third of the entire world's marine biodiversity, thereby making it a very important area for the ecosystem.

Territorial claims

Several countries have made competing territorial claims over the South China Sea. Such disputes have been regarded as Asia's most potentially dangerous point of conflict. Both People's Republic of China (PRC) and the Republic of China (ROC) claim almost the entire body as their own, demarking their claims within what is known as the nine-dotted line, which claims overlap with virtually every other country in the region. Competing claims include:

Indonesia, China, and Taiwan over waters NE of the Natuna Islands

The Philippines, China, and Taiwan over the Malampaya and Camago gas fields.

The Philippines, China, and Taiwan over Scarborough Shoal.

Vietnam, China, and Taiwan over waters west of the Spratly Islands. Some or all of the islands themselves are also disputed between Vietnam, China, Taiwan, Brunei, Malaysia, and the Philippines.

The Paracel Islands are disputed between the PRC/ROC and Vietnam.

Malaysia, Cambodia, Thailand and Vietnam over areas in the Gulf of Thailand.

Singapore and Malaysia along the Strait of Johore and the Strait of Singapore.

China and Vietnam have both been vigorous in prosecuting their claims. The People's Republic of China and South Vietnam each controlled part of the Paracel Islands before 1974. A brief conflict in 1974 resulted in 18 soldiers being killed, and China has controlled the whole of Paracel since then. The Spratly Islands have been the site of a naval clash, in which over seventy Vietnamese sailors were killed just south of Chigua Reef in March 1988. Disputing claimants regularly report clashes between naval vessels.

ASEAN in general, and Malaysia in particular, has been keen to ensure that the territorial disputes within the South China Sea do not escalate into armed conflict. As such, Joint Development Authorities have been set up in areas of overlapping claims to jointly develop the area and dividing the profits equally without settling the issue of sovereignty over the area. This is true, particularly in the Gulf of Thailand. Generally, China has preferred to resolve competing claims bi-laterally, while ASEAN countries prefer multi-lateral talks, believing that they are disadvantaged in bi-lateral negotiations with the much larger China and that because many countries claim the same territory only multilateral talks could effectively resolve the competing claims.

The overlapping claims over Pedra Branca or Pulau Batu Putih including neighboring Middle Rocks by both Singapore and Malaysia were settled in 2008 by the International Court of Justice, awarding Pedra Branca/Pulau Batu Puteh to Singapore and Middle Rocks to Malaysia.

In July 2010, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton called for the Peoples Republic of China to resolve the territorial dispute. China responded by demanding the US keep out of the issue. This came at a time when both countries have been engaging in naval exercises in a show of force to the opposing side, which increased tensions in the region. The US Military released a statement on August 18 where it opposed the use of force to resolve the dispute, and accused China of assertive behaviour.

South China Sea in astronomy

South China Sea is associated with the star Xi Serpentis in asterism ''Left Wall'', Heavenly Market enclosure (see Chinese constellation).

See also

East China Sea

South China Sea shipwrecks

Territorial disputes in South China Sea

References

Further reading

Clive Schofield et al., From Disputed Waters to Seas of Opportunity: Overcoming Barriers to Maritime Cooperation in East and Southeast Asia (July 2011)

C.Michael Hogan (2011) ''South China Sea'' Topic ed. P.Saundry. Ed.-in-chief C.J.Cleveland. Encyclopedia of Earth. National Council for Science and the Environment. Washington DC

UNEP (2007). ''Review of the Legal Aspects of Environmental Management in the South China Sea and Gulf of Thailand''. UNEP/GEF/SCS Technical Publication No. 9.

Keyan Zou (2005). ''Law of the sea in East Asia: issues and prospects''. London/New York: Rutledge Curzon. ISBN 0-415-35074-3

External links

Rising Tensions in the South China Sea, June 2011 Q&A; with Ian J. Storey

News collections on The South China Sea on China Digital Times

The South China Sea on Google Earth - featured on Google Earth's Official Blog

South China Sea Virtual Library - online resource for students, scholars and policy-makers interested in South China Sea regional development, environment, and security issues.

Energy Information Administration - The South China Sea

Tropical Research and Conservation Centre - The South China Sea

Weekly Piracy Report

Reversing Environmental Degradation Trends in the South China Sea and Gulf of Thailand

UNEP/GEF South China Sea Knowledge Documents

Category:Territorial disputes of the Philippines Category:Territorial disputes of the People's Republic of China Category:Territorial disputes of Malaysia Category:Territorial disputes of Vietnam Category:Territorial disputes of the Republic of China Category:Marginal seas of the Pacific Ocean Category:Disputed territories in Southeast Asia

ar:بحر الصين الجنوبي zh-min-nan:Lâm Tiong-kok Hái be:Паўднёва-Кітайскае мора be-x-old:Паўднёва-Кітайскае мора bs:Južno kinesko more br:Mor Su Sina bg:Южнокитайско море ca:Mar de la Xina Meridional cv:Кăнтăр Китай тинĕсĕ cs:Jihočínské moře cbk-zam:Mar de China cy:Môr De Tsieina da:Sydkinesiske Hav de:Südchinesisches Meer et:Lõuna-Hiina meri es:Mar de la China Meridiоnal eo:Sudĉina Maro eu:Hegoaldeko Txinako itsasoa fa:دریای جنوبی چین hif:South China Sea fr:Mer de Chine méridionale fy:Súd-Sineeske See gl:Mar da China Meridional gan:南海 hak:Nàm Chûng-koet Hói ko:남중국해 hi:दक्षिणी चीन सागर hr:Južno kinesko more ilo:Baybay Abagatan a China id:Laut Cina Selatan os:Хуссар Китайы денджыз is:Suður-Kínahaf it:Mar Cinese meridionale he:ים סין הדרומי jv:Segara Cina Kidul pam:Dayat Malat ning Mauling Tsina ka:სამხრეთ ჩინეთის ზღვა kk:Оңтүстік Қытай теңізі sw:Bahari ya Kusini ya China ku:Deryaya Çîna Başûr lv:Dienvidķīnas jūra lt:Pietų Kinijos jūra hu:Dél-kínai-tenger mk:Јужнокинеско Море mr:दक्षिण चीन समुद्र ms:Laut China Selatan mn:Өмнөд Хятадын тэнгис nl:Zuid-Chinese Zee ja:南シナ海 no:Sørkinahavet nn:Sørkinahavet oc:Mar de China Meridionala km:សមុទ្រចិនខាងត្បូង pl:Morze Południowochińskie pt:Mar da China Meridional ro:Marea Chinei de Sud ru:Южно-Китайское море simple:South China Sea sk:Juhočínske more sr:Јужно кинеско море sh:Južno kinesko more su:Laut Cina Kidul fi:Etelä-Kiinan meri sv:Sydkinesiska havet tl:Dagat Luzon ta:தென்சீனக் கடல் th:ทะเลจีนใต้ tr:Güney Çin Denizi uk:Південно-Китайське море ur:بحیرۂ جنوبی چین vi:Biển Đông zh-classical:南海 war:Dagat han Salatan nga Tsina zh-yue:南中國海 zh:南海

Unit name	Vietnam People's Navy''Quân chủng Hải quân Việt Nam''
Dates	1955 - Present
Country	Vietnam
Command structure	Vietnam People's Armed Forces
Battles	Vietnam WarSino-Vietnamese War
Anniversaries	3 April
Battle honours
Identification symbol 2 label	}}

The Vietnam People's Navy (or, commonly, Vietnamese Navy) is part of the Vietnam People's Armed Forces and is responsible for the protection of national waters, islands, and interests of the maritime economy, as well as for the coordination of maritime police, customs service and the border defense force.

History

Following the Geneva Conference in 1954, the Democratic Republic of Vietnam went about creating its own naval forces. In 1955 the ''Vietnam People's Navy'' was created with the establishment of the General Directorate of Coastal Defence, it formed the basis for the Navy Operational Command. The primary mission of the Navy was to patrol the coastal areas and the inland waterways.

Throughout the Vietnam War the role played by the ''Vietnam People's Navy'' (or North Vietnamese Navy) was largely unknown to the public. However on August 2, 1964, two North Vietnamese Swatow class patrol boats attacked the in what became known as the Tonkin Gulf Incident². The second attack, which the United States claimed to have occurred on August 4, was dismissed by the North Vietnamese as a fabrication.

The North Vietnamese, however, had maintained their own version of the events which took place. According to official VPN accounts the ''Maddox'' penetrated North Vietnamese waters on July 31, 1964, and provoked a battle with the North Vietnamese¹. In response to American provocation, three 123K class torpedo boats from the 135th Torpedo Boat Battalion were dispatched to intercept the American destroyer. The resulting clash became known as the 'Battle of Thanh Hoa' in which North Vietnamese "''torpedo boats succeeded in driving the Maddox out of Vietnam’s territorial waters, shooting down a U.S. aircraft and damaging another''".¹

Apart from patrolling territorial waters, the Navy also had the mission of transporting military supplies to support the Vietnam People's Army and their NLF ally during the Vietnam War. On October 31, 1961, a sea route version of the Ho Chi Minh Trail was established by the North Vietnam Navy, with the 759th Transport Unit responsible for carrying military supplies and other goods for the Communist ground forces in South Vietnam³. In order to avoid detection by the South Vietnamese and U.S navies, North Vietnamese transport ships were often disguised as fishing trawlers. On February 16, 1965, a 100-ton North Vietnamese trawler from the Transportation Group 125 was discovered at Vung Ro Bay. This led to the creation of Operation Market Time by the US Navy to intercept disguised enemy ships.

On April 19, 1972, the North Vietnamese Navy and Air Force participated in the Battle of Dong Hoi off the coast of North Vietnam. During this battle it was believed that the U.S Navy destroyed a Soviet-made cruise missile for the first time. The was damaged after an VPAF MiG-17 dropped a bomb, destroying a 5" aft gun mount.

In the years following the complete withdrawal of U.S and other allied forces, the North Vietnamese went back on the offensive. As part of the Ho Chi Minh Campaign, the North Vietnamese Navy increased the transportation of military supplies, food and uniform to the Communist forces in the South. When the North Vietnamese Army (NVA) occupied the northern provinces of South Vietnam in 1975, captured South Vietnamese vessels were pressed into service with the ''Vietnam People's Navy''. On April 29, 1975, ex-South Vietnamese Navy vessels carried North Vietnamese troops to capture the Spratly Islands. At around the same time the Chinese Navy took over control of the Paracel Islands from the South Vietnamese Navy. These islands are also claimed by Vietnam, however they have no current presence there.

Prior to 1975, the North Vietnamese Navy operated fewer than forty patrol boats along with the coastal junk force. With the collapse of the Republic of Vietnam on April 30, 1975, the ''Vietnam People's Navy'' was expanded with ships from the defunct South Vietnamese Navy. Captured vessels included two patrol frigates, over one hundred patrol craft, and about fifty amphibious warfare ships. In the late 1970s the naval infantry (or marines) was formed to be stationed on the areas claimed by the Socialist Republic of Vietnam in the Spratly Islands. The naval infantry is equipped with PT-76 light tanks, BTR-60 personnel carriers and other weapons.

Fleet

In addition to the VPN Naval Infantry, the Vietnam People's Navy currently operates:

!Class or name	Builder	!Type	!Quantity	!Service Date	!Details	!Ships
	Yantar/Zelenodolsk Design Bureau	Frigate	2	2011		HQ-011 Đinh Tiên Hoàng HQ-012 Lý Thái Tổ
''Petya class frigate''	Yantar	Frigate	5/6?		patrol vessel 3 x Project 159A Petya II, 2/3? x Project 159AE Petya III	HQ-13 HQ-15 HQ-17 HQ-09 HQ-11 HQ-?
	Admiralty Shipyard	Submarine	6	2014-2019	Submarine
			2		to be decommissioned in 2012

Frigates: Gepard class

HQ-011 Đinh Tiên Hoàng

HQ-012 Lý Thái Tổ

Petya class

HQ-09

HQ-11

HQ-13

HQ-15

HQ-17

HQ-?

Corvette: / 1 Pauk BPS-500 (Project1241.2) with 8 (KH-25) Uran SSM / 2 Tarantul V (Project 1241-RE) PGG with 16 (KH-35) Uran SSM, HQ375,376 +(10 more on order ) 7 Tarantul I (Project 1241) with 4 P-15 Rubezh (SS-N-2c)SSM / HQ371,372,373,374,377, 378 and 381

Patrol Craft: 8 Osa II class missile boat (Project 205ME) 5 Turya class torpedo boats (Project 206ME) Turya PTH with 1 twin 57 mm AK-725 DP, 1 twin 25mm 2M-3M AA, 4 fixed 533 mm TT (2xType 53-65 and 2xType 53-56B/K torpedoes) 3 Shershen class torpedo boats (Project 206) PTF with 2 twin 30 mm AK-230, 4 fixed 533 mm TT, 4 Shershen class have been fitted with 1x4 Fasta-M SR-SAM. 2 Svetlyak class gunboat (Project 1041.2) PC with 1x76.2mm AK-176M, 4x4 (16) Ingal-M SR-SAM, 1x30mm AK-630 AA, 1xAGS-17 grenade launcher, +(2 more on order) Inshore Patrol: 8 (+24) HQ-56 class (Stolkraft; 22.4 meter) PB with 1x20mm 4 HQ-37 class (built by Vinashin) 14 Zhuk class patrol boats (Project 1400M)

Riverine Patrol: 22 PBR Mark II and 6 PCF (Swift Boats). These riverine patrol boats are no longer in service.

Mine Warfare: 2 Yurka class fleet minesweepers (Project 266) class MSF 4 Sonya base minesweepers (Project 1265E) class MSC 2 Yevgenya (Project 1258) class MSI

Amphibious Landing Ships: 3 amphibious LST-1/542 class LST 3 Polnocny-B (Project 771) class LSM several LCU-1466 class 10-12 T-4 (Project 1785) class LCM

Transports: 1 HQ-966 class logistics ship AK

2 BD-621 class logistics ship AK

Auxiliaries: 1 Sorum class logistics tug (Project 745) ATA 1 Voda (MTV-6/Project 561) AWT 2 Nyrat-2 (Project 376U) diving tenders (YDT)

2 floating drydocks (YFDL)

2 PO-2 (Project 376) YFL 2 ex-US 53-meter harbor tankers (YO) - lilely ex-USN YOG-5 Class Gasoline Oiler 2+ Chaolocco tugs (YTM)

9 or so harbour tubs (YTL)

Missiles: Coastal Defence: P-500 Bazalt/SS-N-12 Sandbox cruise missile Kh-41 Moskit/SS-N-22 Sunburn supersonic anti-ship cruise missile P-800 Oniks/SS-N-26 Yakhont (Bastion ground system) supersonic anti-ship cruise missile

Missiles: Shipboard: Kh-35 Uran/SS-N-25 Switchblade 3M-24E subsonic cruise missile (poss, Project 11660 KBO-2000 Gepard) P-15 Termit/SS-N-2A/B Styx anti-ship missile (PTG craft and patrol ship)

Missiles: Air-launched: Kh-41 Moskit air-launched P-800 Oniks/Yakhont, air-launched version as Yakhont-M Kh-35 Uran Kh-31 AS-17 'Krypton' Kh-59 Kh-59M 3M-54 Klub

Amphibious aircraft: Viking Air DHC-6 Series 400 Twin-otter

VPN has entered contract with Viking Air Limited (www.vikingair.com) for total of 6 amphibious planes, which first delivery is scheduled for 2012 and completion of this project is before end of December 2014. Package deal cost 5 Million Canadian Dollar per unit with an additional training provide by Pacific Sky Aviation (www.pacificsky.ca).

VPN acquired two Yugoslav-type small submarines from North Korea in 2001 in mediocre conditions, these vessels are primarily designed for covert coastal surveillance, and will be decommissioned once the Kilo-class submarines are present (2011).

Vietnam Marine Police (a.k.a. Vietnam People's Coast Guard) formed in 1998, is currently an independent unit from the Vietnam People's Navy, which was started in November 2008.

Larger transport ships of the Navy include the Truong Sa class ship which was built by the state-owned shipbuilding firm, Vinashin.

All pennant numbers start with the prefix HQ which stands for Hải Quân or Navy in Vietnamese, which inherit from the Republic of (south) Vietnam Navy (hải quân Việt nam Cộng Hòa) nomination.

Sources in Rosoboronexport later confirmed that Russia and Vietnam had been negotiating a $3.1 billion deal on the delivery of six Kilo class submarines to the Vietnamese navy for about a year

Manpower

The current total manpower of the navy is around 42,000 officers and enlisted personnel including naval infantry [i.e. marines] and other specialised units.

See also

Vietnam Marine Police

Republic of Vietnam Navy

Tonkin Gulf Incident

Vung Ro Bay Incident

1988 Spratly Islands naval battle

References

External links

Tonkin Gulf Incident - A decisive battle in the Thanh Hoa Sea

Gulf of Tonkin Incident: Reappraisal 40 Years Later

Tonkin Gulf Incident – Meeting of heroes (continued)

The legendary East Sea trail

Task Force 115

Analysis of the Battle of Dong Hoi

Truong Sa Island celebrates 30th anniversary of liberation

World Navies Vietnam

Category:Vietnam People's Navy Category:Military of Vietnam

de:Vietnamesische Marine ja:ベトナム人民海軍 vi:Quân chủng Hải quân Việt Nam