This is a Chinese name; the family name is Su.

Cong Su (simplified Chinese: 苏聪; traditional Chinese: 蘇聰; pinyin: Sū Cōng; born 1957 in Tianjin, China) is a Chinese composer.

He studied at the Central Conservatory of Music in Beijing, then in Germany. He has lectured on music theory, music analysis, film music and ballet music at the Musikhochschule in Munich. Since 1991 he is professor of film and media composition at the newly founded State Film Academy in the Stuttgart area.

Together with Ryuichi Sakamoto and David Byrne, Su won the Best Original Score Academy Award for the Bernardo Bertolucci film The Last Emperor in 1987. He has scored other film soundtracks, mostly for Asian films.

Su divides his time between Beijing, Lake Constance and Lucca, Italy.

External links[link]

• Cong Su official site

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This article on a Chinese musician is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. v t e

Chen Chu 陳菊
Chen Chu in December 2008
1st Mayor of Kaohsiung
Incumbent
Assumed office 25 December 2010
Preceded by	Chen Chu as Mayor of Kaohsiung
27th Mayor of Kaohsiung
In office 25 December 2006 – 25 December 2010
Preceded by	Yeh Chu-lan
Succeeded by	Chen Chu as Mayor of Kaohsiung (Greater Kaohsiung)
Personal details
Born	(1950-06-10) 10 June 1950 (age 62) Yilan County, Taiwan
Political party	Democratic Progressive Party
Alma mater	Shih Hsin University National Sun Yat-sen University
Profession	Politician

Chen Chu or Kiku Chen (traditional Chinese: 陳菊; simplified Chinese: 陈菊; pinyin: Chén Jú; Wade–Giles: Ch'én Chǘ; Pe̍h-ōe-jī: Tân Kiok; born 10 June 1950 in Yilan County, Taiwan) is a Taiwanese politician who is the current mayor of Kaohsiung. She was one of the "Kaohsiung Eight," prominent dissidents arrested after the Kaohsiung Incident in 1979. She spent six years in jail during the martial law period in Taiwan.

Chen, who holds a master's degree from National Sun Yat-sen University, held senior appointed posts in Taipei City and Kaohsiung City governments between 1995 and 2000. She then served as minister of the Council of Labor Affairs between 2000 and 2005. In 2006, Chen Chu won the Kaohsiung mayoral elections and became the city's first elected female mayor. She was re-elected in 2010 with 52% of the vote in a three-way race.

On 30 August 2009, The 14th Dalai Lama accepted an invitation from Chen Chu to visit Taiwan.^[1]

Chen is single, and has never married.

Kaohsiung mayoralty[link]

Chen narrowly won the 2006 Kaohsiung mayoral elections over Kuomintang (KMT) candidate Huang Jun-ying (黃俊英) by just 1,120 votes.^[2] Huang filed two lawsuits against Chen's camp, asking the court to annul Chen's victory. He argued that the airing of a video on the eve of the election resulted in his loss. The Kaohsiung District Court ruled in favor of Huang Jun-ying in one of the cases, thereby nullifying the elections.^[3]

Soon after hearing the news, Chen expressed that she would appeal the case. She said that if she accepted the ruling, it would be political suicide. While her DPP colleague and legislator Kuan Bi-ling advised Chen to give up the appeal and allow a by-election,^[3] Chen nonetheless appealed the case. Some wondered if Kuan, who lost to Chen in the primaries, made the remark out of personal interest.^[3]

The High Court overturned the earlier decision and validated Chen's election victory on 17 November 2007.^[4][5] In December 2007, after her mayoralty was proven indisputable, she announced that her new goal is to focus on improving the city's transportation, public construction, and environmental protection.^[6]

In April 2009, mayor Chen promised to improve the water quality of Chienchen River, a river that the locals called "Heilungchiang" (Chinese: 黑龍江; lit. "Black dragon river"). She said that NT$120 million (approximately US$3.6 million) will be spent to complete the task. She vowed to make Kaohsiung a city that is not just notable for the cleanliness of its Love River.^[7]

World Games 2009[link]

Kaohsiung was the host city of World Games 2009. Chen Chu visited the People's Republic of China (commonly known as "China") to promote the Games. During a meeting with Beijing mayor Guo Jinlong, Chen addressed President Ma Ying-jeou with his formal title, which garnered much support from the DPP and the Kaohsiung City legislature.^[8] Chen's trip to China was criticized by several localization activist groups including the Taiwan Solidarity Union. However, Chen said that the trip was intended to benefit Kaohsiung.^[9] During her trip, she met with not only the mayor of Beijing, but also Shanghai mayor Han Zheng and Chinese Olympic Committee chairman Liu Pong.

The main venue for the Games, the World Games Stadium, was designed by Japanese architect Toyo Ito.^[10] The groundbreaking and completion of the stadium both occurred during Chen's term as mayor.

The closing ceremony was held at the sold-out World Games Stadium, where International World Games Association President Ron Froehlich called it a "fantastic success" and declared it the "best ever."^[11] Kaohsiung's tourism bureau announced that the Games generated almost US$61 million in revenue for the city. The city's department stores reported a 15 percent growth in sales. Mayor Chen said that Kaohsiung would no longer be known only as the second largest city in Taiwan, but also as the city that hosted the best World Games ever.^[12]

Typhoon Fanapi[link]

Chen Chu was criticized for napping in her residence while parts of Kaohsiung flooded when Typhoon Fanapi ripped through Taiwan on 19 September 2010.

Chen tearfully admitted to napping and to feeling guilty for taking a rest. She also stressed that she returned home to change her wet clothes and was also keeping a close eye on the storm. Critics called for Chen to resign from her post, and compared Chen's napping to former Premier Liu Chao-Shiuan's getting a haircut and former Executive Yuan Secretary-General Hsieh Hsiang-chuan's attending a Father's Day dinner during August 2009's Typhoon Morakot.^[13][14]

Chen Chu and the City Government were sued by Benhe borough (本和里) chief Lin Chi-mei (林紀美), a fellow DPP member, in the aftermath of the flooding, alleging that the city government did not maintain proper facilities that might have prevented flooding.^[15][16]

References[link]

v t e Heads local government in Taiwan Special municipalities List of mayors of Kaohsiung－Chen Chu（） · Mayor of New Taipei－Eric Chu Li-luan（） · Mayor of Taichung－Jason Hu Chih-chiang（） · List of mayors of Tainan－William Lai Ching-te（） · List of mayors of Taipei－Hau Lung-pin（） Cities List of mayors of Chiayi－Huang Ming-hui（） · List of mayors of Hsinchu－Hsu Ming-Tzai（） · Mayor of Keelung－Chang Tong-rong（） Counties List of county magistrates of Changhua－Cho Po-yuan（） · List of county magistrates of Chiayi－Helen Chang Hwa-kuan（） · List of county magistrates of Hsinchu－Chiu Ching-chun（） · List of county magistrates of Hualien－Fu Kun-chi（） · List of county magistrates of Kinmen－Li Wo-shi（） · List of county magistrates of Lienchiang－Yang Suisheng （） · List of county magistrates of Miaoli－Liu Cheng-hung（） · List of county magistrates of Nantou－Lee Chao-ching（） · List of county magistrates of Penghu－Wang Chien-fa（） · List of county magistrates of Pingtung－Tsao Chi-hung（） · List of county magistrates of Taitung－Justin Huang Chien-ting（） · List of county magistrates of Yilan－Lin Tsung-hsien（） · List of county magistrates of Yunlin－Su Chih-fen（）

Trịnh Công Sơn (February 28, 1939 – April 1, 2001) was a Vietnamese composer, musician, painter and songwriter. He, along with Pham Duy and Van Cao, is widely considered one of the three salient figures of modern (non-classical) Vietnamese music.^[1] Many of Trinh's songs are love songs. Others are anti-war songs, written during and about the Vietnam War; some of them were censored by the southern Republic of Vietnam and later by the Socialist Republic of Vietnam. Many performing artists, notably Khanh Ly (Vietnamese: Khánh Ly), have interpreted Trinh Cong Son's music.

Biography[link]

Trinh was born in Buôn Ma Thuột, Đắk Lắk Province, Vietnam, but as a child he lived in the village of Minh Huong in Huong Tra in Thừa Thiên-Huế Province.^[2] He grew up in Hue, where he attended the Lycee Francais and the Providence school. Later he went to Saigon and studied western philosophy at the Lycee Jean-Jacques Rousseau, from which he graduated with the baccalaureate degree. In 1961, he studied psychology and pedagogy in a school for teachers in Quy Nhon. After graduation, he taught at an elementary school in Bao Loc, Lam Dong.

Trinh Cong Son wrote over 500 songs, and, during the 1960s and 1970s, Joan Baez dubbed him the Bob Dylan of Vietnam for his antiwar songs. He became one of South Vietnam's notable singer-songwriters, after his first hit, Ướt mi (Tearing Lashes) in 1958. He was frequently under pressure from the government, which was displeased with the pacifist's lyrics of such songs as Ngủ đi con (Lullaby, about a mother grieving for her soldier son).

Before April 30, 1975, he went on the radio in Saigon to sing the song "Joining Hands" ("Nối vòng tay lớn") about the dream of national reconciliation between the North and the South, which he had written in 1968. On the afternoon of April 30, following Duong Van Minh's proclamation of surrender, Trinh went on the radio to say that the national dream had been realized and that liberation had been achieved.

After the reunification in 1975, Trinh Cong Son was sentenced by the new communist government, to "retraining" in a labour camp after his family had fled to Canada. However, he was eventually honoured by the government and many officials sent their respects with floral tributes. His often melancholic songs about love and postwar reconciliation earned new acceptance and popularity in later years. Many of his songs have been re-licensed to Vietnamese music companies such as Thuy Nga and Lang Van and sung by other artists. There are two singers' names often associated with Trinh Cong Son. One is Khanh Ly. The other one is Hong Nhung^{[citation needed]}.

Khanh Ly helped popularize Trinh Cong Son music in the early years. They often performed together in South Vietnam University Campuses.

Later on in his life, Hong Nhung, many years his junior, replaced Khanh Ly's place until his death^{[citation needed]}.

Hundreds of thousands of people gathered at his funeral in Ho Chi Minh city, for a spontaneous ad hoc funeral concert, making such a spectacle the largest in Vietnamese history, next to the funeral procession of Ho Chi Minh.

Songs[link]

List of songs[link]

• Bài ca dành cho những xác người (A song for the human corpses), written in the aftermath of the Hue Massacre
• Ca dao mẹ (A mother's lament)
• Cát bụi (Sand and dust)
• Cho đời chút ơn (Grace onto life)
• Cho một người nằm xuống (To one who lays down)
• Cỏ xót xa đưa (Sway sorrow weeds)
• Cuối cùng cho một tình yêu (The end of a romance)
• Diễm xưa (Diễm of the Past)
• Đại bác ru đêm (A Lullaby of Cannons for the Night)
• Đóa hoa vô thường (Evanescent bloom)
• Em hãy ngủ đi (Love, you should sleep)
• Em là hoa hồng nhỏ (You are a little rose)
• Gia tài của mẹ (A mother's legacy)
• Hạ trắng (White summer)
• Hát trên những xác người (Song about the corpses of people), not to be confused with "Bài ca dành cho những xác người"
• Hoa vàng mấy độ (Bright yellow flower)
• Hoa xuân ca
• Lặng lẽ nơi này (So silent here)
• Mỗi ngày tôi chọn một niềm vui (Each day I choose joy)
• Một cõi đi về (A place for leaving and returning)
• Mưa hồng (Pink rain)
• Nắng thuỷ tinh (Crystal sun)
• Người con gái Việt Nam (A Vietnamese girl)
• Ngày dài trên quê hương (A long day in the Motherland)
• Người già em bé (An old person, a baby)
• Như cánh vạc bay (Like a flying crane)
• Như một lời chia tay (Like words of good-bye)
• Nối vòng tay lớn (Circle of unity)
• Quỳnh hương (Scent of the ephemeral bloom)
• Rồi như đá ngây ngô (Not gone at all)
• Ru đời đi nhé (Lullaby to life)
• Rừng xưa đã khép (Your old woods are closed)
• Ta thấy gì đêm nay (What have we seen tonight?)
• Thương một người (To love someone)
• Tiến thoái lưỡng nan (All ways closed off)
• Tình ca của người mất trí ("Ballad of an insane person" or "Love song of a deranged woman")
• Tôi đang lắng nghe (I am listening)
• Tôi ơi đừng tuyệt vọng (Dear me, don’t despair)
• Tôi sẽ đi thăm (I shall visit)
• Tuổi đá buồn (Stone's age of despair)
• Ướt mi ("Misty eyes" or "Tearing lashes")

Songs about the War[link]

In the song "Mother's Legacy" (Gia tài của mẹ), Trinh sings about the Vietnamese experience of the Vietnam War:^[3] He laments that the 1,000 years of Vietnam's subjugation to Chinese imperial rule, the 100 years of subjugation to French colonial rule, and the ongoing civil war, together have left a sad legacy of graveyards, parched fields and burning houses. He urges the children of Vietnam to remain true to their Vietnamese identity and to put an end to internecine fighting and the destruction of the country.

In The song "Song about the Corpses of People" ("Hát trên những xác người"), written in the aftermath of the Hue Massacre, Trinh sings about the corpses strewn around the city, in the river, on the roads, on the rooftops, even on the porches of the pagodas. The corpses, each one of which he regards as the body of a sibling, will nourrish the farmland.

References[link]

External links[link]

• BBC News article on Trinh Cong Son's funeral
• A tribute to Trinh Cong Son
• An extensive site on Trinh Cong Son, including most of his songs, writings, and articles about him
• Trinh Cong Son songs on writeopenstory, with links to many Vietnamese songs on him

Spratly Islands

Disputed islands
Spratly Islands
Geography
Location	South China Sea
Coordinates	10°N 114°E / 10°N 114°E / 10; 114Coordinates: 10°N 114°E / 10°N 114°E / 10; 114
Total islands	over 750
Major islands	Taiping Island Namyit Island Northeast Cay Sin Cowe Island Southwest Cay Spratly Island Swallow Reef Thitu Island West York Island
Area	less than 5 square kilometres (1.9 sq mi)
Coastline	926 kilometres (575 mi)
Highest point	on Southwest Cay 4 metres (13 ft)
Administered by
Claimed by
Brunei
EEZ	Brunei zone
Malaysia
State	Sabah
Philippines
Municipality	Kalayaan
People's Republic of China
County	Administration Office for Xisha Islands, Zhongsha Islands and Nansha Islands
Republic of China (Taiwan)
Municipality	Kaohsiung
Vietnam
Province	Khanh Hoa
Demographics
Population	no indigenous population
Ethnic groups	various

The Spratly Islands are a group of more than 750 reefs,^[1] 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 contain 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, at least for now, 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[link]

• Coordinates: 10°N 114°E / 10°N 114°E / 10; 114 (Spratly Island)
• 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;^[2]
  • 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.^[3] The islands themselves contain almost no significant arable land and have no indigenous inhabitants, although twenty of the islands, including Taiping Island, 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),^[4] and six to eight airstrips.These islands are strategically located near several primary shipping lanes.

Ecology[link]

Coral reefs[link]

Coral reefs are the predominant structure of these islands; the Spratly group contains over 600 coral reefs in total.^[1]

Vegetation[link]

Little vegetation grows on these islands, which are subject to intense monsoons.^[1] Larger islands are capable of supporting tropical forest, scrub forest, coastal scrub and grasses.^[1] It is difficult to determine which species have been introduced or cultivated by humans.^[1] Taiping Island was reportedly covered with shrubs, coconut, and mangroves in 1938; pineapple was also cultivated here when it was profitable.^[1] Other accounts mention papaya, banana, palm, and even white peach trees growing on one island.^[1] A few islands which have been developed as small tourist resorts have had soil and trees brought in and planted where there were none.^[1]

Wildlife[link]

The islands that do have vegetation provide important habitats for many seabirds and sea turtles.^[1]

Both the Green Turtle (Chelonia mydas, endangered) and the Hawksbill Turtle (Eretmochelys imbricata, critically endangered) formerly occurred in numbers sufficient to support commercial exploitation.^[1] 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.^[1]

Seabirds use the islands for resting, breeding, and wintering sites.^[1] 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).^[1] 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.^[1]

Unfortunately, this ecoregion is still largely a mystery.^[1] Scientists have focused their research on the marine environment, while the ecology of the terrestrial environment remains relatively unknown.^[1]

Ecological hazards[link]

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.^[1] Disruption of nesting areas by human activity or by introduced animals, such as dogs, has reduced the number of turtles nesting on the islands.^[1] Sea turtles are also slaughtered for food on a significant scale.^[1] The sea turtle is a symbol of longevity in Chinese customs and at times the military personnel are given orders to protect the turtles.^[1]

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.^[1] 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.^[1]

Some interest has been taken in regard to conservation of these island ecosystems.^[1] J.W. McManus has explored the possibilities of designating portions of the Spratly Islands as a marine park.^[1] 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.^[1] The 160 km² site is currently managed by the Khanh Hoa Provincial People’s Committee of Vietnam.^[1]

Military groups in the Spratlys have engaged in environmentally damaging activities such as shooting turtles and seabirds, raiding nests, and fishing with explosives.^[1] 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.^[1] Coral habitats are threatened by pollution, over-exploitation of fish and invertebrates, and the use of explosives and poisons as fishing techniques.^[1]

History[link]

Early cartography[link]

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.^[5]

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),^[6] 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. ^[7][8] They are also referenced in the 13th century,^[9] followed by the Ming Dynasty.^[10] When the Ming Dynasty collapsed, the Qing Dynasty continued to include the territory in maps compiled in 1724,^[11] 1755,^[12] 1767,^[13] 1810,^[14] and 1817.^[15] 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".^[16]

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.^[17] 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.^[17]

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.^[17]

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).^[18] However, these nations showed little interest in the islands.

British naval captain James George Meads in the 1870s laid claim to the islands proclaiming a micronation called Republic of Morac-Songhrati-Meads. Descendants of Meads have continued to claim legitimacy over the islands, and continue to attempt to claim ownership of the island's resources.^[19][20][21]

In 1883, German boats surveyed the Spratly and Paracel Islands but withdrew the survey eventually after receiving protests from Guangdong government representing Qing Dynasty. Many European maps before the 20th century do not even make mention of this region.^[22]

Military conflict and diplomatic dialogues[link]

Map depicting China's territory in South China Sea, by Ministry of the Interior, ROC, 1947

A european colonies map depicting Spratly islands as colonial Vietnam's territory

In 1933, France asserted its claims from 1887^[23] to the Spratly and Paracel Islands on behalf of its then-colony Vietnam.^[24] It occupied a number of the Spratly Islands, including Taiping Island, 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.^[25] 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, Taiping 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, Taiping Island is still administered 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 Taiping Island), 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.^[24] ROC quietly withdrew troops from Taiping Island in 1950, but reinstated them in 1956 in response to Tomas Cloma's sudden claim to the island as part of Freedomland.^[26]

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 Taiping Island 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.^{[citation needed]} 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".^{[27][unreliable source?]}

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.^{[verification needed]} In 2004, Vietnam issued a white paper saying, in part,

Vietnam has sufficient historical evidence and legal basis to assert its indisputable sovereignty over the territorial waters and islands of Vietnam in the East Sea, among them the Paracels and Spratlys. Nevertheless, for the common security interests of the parties concerned, Vietnam is ready to enter into peaceful negotiations to settle the problem, first and foremost by reaching an agreement on the "Code of Conduct" pending the final solution.^[28]

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.^[29]

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.^{[verification needed]} This attack by Chinese forces sparked mass protests in Vietnam, especially in the capital Hanoi and Saigon^[30], and in various Vietnamese communities in the West (namely in Westminster, California in the U.S. and Paris, France over attacks on Vietnamese citizens and intrusion into what Vietnam claims as part of their territory. ^[31]

In June 2011, the Philippines renamed the South China Sea and the Reed Bank as the West Philippine Sea and the Recto Bank.^{[32][verification needed]}

Telecommunications[link]

In 2005, a cellular phone base station was erected by the Philippines' Smart Communications on Pag-asa Island.^[33]

On 18 May 2011, China Mobile announced that its mobile phone coverage has expanded to the Spratly Islands. The extended coverage would 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 service network deployment over the islands took nearly one year.^[34]

Gallery[link]

• 

  An ancient Heliotropium foertherianum on Spratly Island

• 

  Spratly Island

• 

  Military cemetery on Central London Reef

• 

  View from Amboyna Cay

• 

  The dock on Pearson Reef

See also[link]

• Administration Office for Xisha Islands, Zhongsha Islands and Nansha Islands
• List of islands in the South China Sea
• Khanh Hoa province, Vietnam
• Johnson South Reef Skirmish
• South China Sea Islands
• Paracel Islands
• Kingdom of Humanity
• Junk Keying
• Zheng He
• Kalayaan, Palawan, Philippines
• SSN, a computer game set during a conflict over the Spratly Islands.

References[link]

Further reading[link]

• Dzurek, Daniel J. and Clive H.Schofield. The Spratly Islands dispute: who's on first?. IBRU; 1996. ISBN 978-1-897643-23-5
• 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[link]

• Spratly Islands travel guide from Wikitravel
• 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
• Vietnamese claimsPDF (1.70 MiB), from Vietnam Ministry of Foreign Affairs
• The Dotted Line on the Chinese Map of the South China Sea: A NotePDF (150 KiB)
• Third Party Summary of the Dispute
• Google Map of Spratly Islands
• Wikimedia Atlas of the Spratly Islands
• Ji Guoxing (October 1995) (PDF), Maritime Jurisdiction in the Three China Seas: Options For Equitable Settlement, Institute on Global Conflict and Cooperation, http://repositories.cdlib.org/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1051&context=igcc. 
• A collection of documents on Spratly and Paracel Islands by Nguyen Thai Hoc Foundation