Spratly Islands: photo, history, belonging, rest. Battle of the Spratly Islands (1988)

The Spratly Islands are a small archipelago in the South China Sea. For a long time they have become the subject of contention between several states that have been trying to take control for a long time. The most beautiful places in the world became the point of military action, irreconcilable disputes between several states.

Location

In the South China Sea, more than 400 different rocks, reefs and other formations, about 200 of which are part of the Spratly archipelago. All these islands are originally of coral origin. They are low and small. Height above sea level is not more than 6 meters. Once these island formations were called Coral islands.

Spartley Islands are located in the water area of the South China Sea. This sea is a semi-enclosed space of the Pacific basin, located between the coasts of Asia, the Indochina Peninsula and Malacca, the islands of Sumatra, Kalimantan, Palawan, Mindoro and Taiwan. The South China Sea is rich in islands. Several routes of the largest supertankers of the world pass nearby. According to scientific data, in this area large oil and gas reserves are concentrated. It is the sea that is originally a strategic object, because its waters are washed by the banks of six large states.

Origin of the islands

Most of the islands of the archipelago are flooded with tides, reefs, rocky cliffs, unsuitable for human life, and also a serious problem for sea vessels. But in terms of strategic and political, these small islands are of great importance at the world level. After all, their possession allows the state-owner to claim not only the islands themselves, but also the water adjoining space, including resources. Until the late 70-ies of the last century, to lifeless rocky reefs and islands, there was no interest.

The area of the Spratly Islands is an area of about 180 thousand square kilometers. With such an area, the land area itself is only slightly more than 10 square kilometers. Kilometers, including temporarily appearing above the sea surface of education. The Spratly Islands are located, the photographs of which are presented in an article south of the Paracel archipelago for 500 kilometers. Their number is not constant, it all depends on weather conditions and periods of low tide. All formations are scattered in the sea in the form of an arch with a length of almost 1 thousand kilometers. Distance from the "big earth":

• Kalimantan - 30 km.
• Palawan is 60 km away.
• The Vietnamese seaport of Cam Ranh is 460 km away.
• The Chinese island of Hainan is 970 km.

Pages of History

The history of the Spratly Islands is as follows:

• In the distant year of 59 AD, the first mention was made by Chinese historians of the islands, which then became known to the geographers of the Han dynasty.
• Only in 1211 the archipelago was first recorded on the map of China.
• In 1405, the famous Chinese navigator Zheng He reached and visited a number of islands.
• In 1478, on the reefs of the archipelago, a vessel carrying porcelain dishes crashed.
• In 1530, seafarer Alvarez De Diegos was sent by Albuquerque in search of the Chinese way. At the same time, he visits the western islands of the archipelago.
• In this water area in 1606, the Spaniard Andreas de Pessora calls the island he discovered - Santa Esmeralda Pequana. It was one of the atolls of the Spratly archipelago.
• In the 17th century, in the "Map of the Paths to the Southern Lands," Do Va mentions the Spratly Islands, called the "Yellow Sands", which belonged to the Chinese province of Kuangigai. After this, the ruling dynasty Nguyen begins to send 18 ships each year to the shores of the islands.
• On the basis of Chinese historical notes, data dated 1710 are presented on the declaration of the Spratly Island by the Chinese possession. At the same time on the island of North is built a small temple of East Key.
• In 1714 the Dutch three ships crash off the Spratly. The team is rescued by Vietnamese fishermen. The Dutch are represented to the emperor, and then sent to their homeland.
• The Emperor of the Nguyen Dynasty affirms the "Company of Hoang Sha" for the use of the islands of the South China Sea. Ships participating in the company can visit all islands 6 times a year.
• From 1730 to 1735, pirates used the Spratly Islands as the starting point for attacks against Dutch, British and Portuguese ships passing by. In 1735, the British destroyed pirate nests in the archipelago.
• Between 1758 and 1768, French Admiral Charles Hector Theodus visited Vietnam to use the Spratly archipelago to park its ships. At the same time, he notes the presence of European casting guns, taken from ships that crashed off the coast of the archipelago.
• Historian Le Kee Don in 1784 gives a new description of the Coral islands.
• In 1786 Generalissimo Tai Son gave the order to begin searches on the islands of gold, silver and cannon from wrecks, as well as the preparation of rare fish and shells of turtles. For this purpose 4 ships are allocated.
• In 1791, British captain Henry Spratley opens several island education. He gives them his name officially.
• In 1798, on an island in the Spratly archipelago, the British establish an observational tower. Its ruins have survived to this day.
• In 1816, the emperor Zia Long officially proclaimed the sovereignty of Vietnam and his supremacy over the Spratly Islands.
• Between 1835 and 1847, references to the Paracel Islands and the Spratly Islands were found repeatedly in the documents of Vietnamese rulers. At the same time, there is no evidence that the islands belong to China.
• In 1847, the Emperor of China issued a decree sending warships to study the territory to the Spratly lands.
• In 1848, the ruling Vietnamese King Nam Ha forms a small military garrison to control the work of foreign flotillas on the islands.
• The French historian Dubois de Jaxigny in 1850 testifies to the rule on the islands of the King of Vietnam.
• In the "Essay on the History of Vietnam" Nguyen Chong in 1876 mentions the islands as belonging to the lands of the kingdom.
• On the island of Amboyne, the French build a lighthouse in 1887.
• Near the shores of the archipelago in 1895, two ships with a load of copper crash. The cargo is sought and taken away by the inhabitants of Hainan Island. Great Britain sends a note of protest to the leadership of China. However, it receives an answer that this territory, where the crash happened, does not concern China, and the Chinese government is not responsible for what is happening on the Spratly Islands.
• In 1898, when the Spanish-American treaty was signed, the official borders of the Philippines are indicated, while the Spratly territory is not included.
• In 1901, Japan seized the island of Dongsha by force, and in 1908 sold it to China.
• In 1906, the "Guide to the Geography of China", which clearly defined the country's borders. The Spratly Islands are not included.
• In June 1909, the governor of the Chinese provinces of Guangdong and Guangxi sent military gunboats to the islands for seizure.
• The French expedition in 1925 confirms that the Paracel Islands are part of the state of Vietnam.
• The French on the "De Lanessan" go to the shores of the Spratly archipelago to study atolls and phosphate reserves.
• In 1930, on the orders of the Governor-General of Indochina, the Spratly Islands were declared the territory of France.
• In 1933 there was a military occupation of a number of islands in the South China Sea, including the Spratly.
• In December 1933, the Spratly Archipelago was included in the province of Kohinhin (China). Spratly Island is called Nansha.
• The Japanese Foreign Minister announced in March 1939 that the Spratly Islands were a Japanese territory. In April, France protests, claiming its rights to the land.
• In 1945, Japan renounces its claims to the Spratly. And the Chinese troops land on the archipelago under the pretext of disarming Japanese soldiers.
• In 1947, an official protest was made by France to the Chinese government over the illegal seizure of the Spratly Islands. But already in December, the decree on the appropriation of the names of the islands Paraselskie and Spratly by the Chinese names Sisha and Nansha, respectively, is issued. All of them are included in the composition of China.
• In 1950, Chinese government troops left the island, hiding in Taiwan.
• The Government of the Philippines claims ownership of the islands in 1951. China is protesting. The Vietnamese government of Bao Dai declares his supremacy. At the same time, Japan completely abandoned its claims.
• In 1956, there were political and military clashes between the Philippines, China, and Vietnam. France informs about its legal rights to the island of Spratly.
• Six countries until 1974 argued over the ownership of the archipelago. Different islands have moved to different states.
• In January 1974, the first bombardment of some islands by China took place. The Vietnamese government asked for help from the UN. Then the head of the Vietnamese Ministry of Foreign Affairs asked for help from the United States.
• Until 1988, there were minimal skirmishes about the division of the territory of the islands in the water area of the South China Sea. In 1984, Brunei joined the disputes.
• In 1988 there was an armed conflict. The battle for the Spratly Islands occurred between the military of the PRC and Vietnam in the Johnson reef group of the Spratly Islands group. At the same time, 70 Vietnamese sailors were killed. The Battle of the Spratly Islands in 1988 became the most bloody one for the entire period of disputes and claims. The number of dead Chinese soldiers is not established.
• Until 1996 there were bloodless seizures of lands. In January 1996, there was an artillery battle between Filipino and Chinese warships.
• Until now, territorial disputes have not abated, but have moved to peaceful channels.

Disputes around the Spratly

Territorial disputes, the center of which was the island of Spratly, belonging to a state, were based on various reasons, the main of which:

• Geopolitical motives.
• Control over transport routes.
• Presence in the region.
• Expansion of borders and economic zones.
• Mastering all natural resources of the region.

At the same time, there is no intention to make a voluntary complete waiver of the right to the Spratley by any state claiming them. However, a new state has emerged, claiming its interests with respect to the archipelago. This is the USA, the interest of the country is oil. All the islands are considered promising for hydrocarbons.

Control over the islands

At the moment, a complex situation has developed in the water area of the South China Sea. The alignment of forces and supplies of a number of Spratly Islands is as follows:

• China exercises control over 9 atolls of the archipelago.
• The garrisons of Vietnam are located on 21 islands.
• The Philippines represents itself on 8 islands.
• Malaysia controls 3 islets.
• On the largest island of Taipingdao are the troops of Taiwan.
• The remaining islands remain free (relatively).

Application of the "Law on the Sea"

Now only the "Law on the Sea" is able to determine the position of the islands. Now this is an "effective occupation". That is, according to the law, no state in the world has the right to claim the economic zone of territorial waters or to seize the adjacent shelf. This is possible only with the settlement of islands and the management of economic activities. But most of these islands are so small or periodically flooded that there can not be a question of their settlement.

Settlement of confrontation

That is why in 1994 steps were taken to settle the conflict peacefully. A resolution was adopted on the ratification of the UN Convention. Vietnam and China came to an unspoken consensus, resolving the answers to questions about the sovereignty of the Spratly Islands to be postponed for 50 years. It was decided to jointly develop natural resources on a bilateral basis.

Construction of artificial islands

However, official Beijing since 2002 has stepped up its efforts to develop the shelf. Work began on the construction of artificial islands. These are trump cards in conflict with other states. After populating these islands, China will gain power over them.

Artificial islands in the Spratly archipelago are a paradise for tourists. But so far they are inhabited only by the military. China is slowly expanding the territory of its "own" islands in the South China Sea. These formations can withstand any buildings and structures. China is unsettling the United States, playing in God, doing island-building, turning rocky atolls into beautiful islands with white sandy beaches and green massifs. On one of the former reefs, a landing-take-off strip and a greenhouse were built. On artificial islands there are already 4 airfields.

In addition to political goals, China pursues economic interests in the construction of islands. The creation of artificial islands will allow China to present exclusive claims to territorial waters within 200 miles. The US declares the non-recognition of China's artificial islands in the water area of the South China Sea from 2012, but no force measures.

Now, with the artificial increase in land, China was able to expand its holdings by 1.5 square kilometers. The increase in the area of the islands will eventually allow the addition of neighboring reefs, atolls and islands.

When looking at the results of China's labor there is a feeling that the Spratly Islands holiday for tourists will be able to provide complete bliss. If the construction of the islands reaches its apogee, if all the necessary infrastructure for a comfortable rest is found, the Spratly will become the "Mecca" of world tourism. In addition, the climatic conditions and geo-location of the islands meet all the criteria for a place for a good rest.