Taiping Island

Taiping Island
Disputed island
Taiping Island
class=notpageimage|
Location of Pratas Island, Taiping Island
Legend： Pratas Island Taiping Island Kaohsiung
Taiping Island is located in Spratly Islands
Taiping Island
Taiping Island
Other names
Itu Aba (Malay)[note 1]
Tàipíng Dǎo (太平島/太平岛) (Mandarin Chinese)
Ligao Island (Philippine English)
Pulo ng Ligaw (Filipino)
Đảo Ba Bình (Vietnamese)
Huángshānmǎ Jiāo (黃山馬礁/黄山马礁) (Mandarin Chinese)
Huángshānmǎ Zhì (黃山馬峙/黄山马峙) (Mandarin Chinese)
Nagashima (長島) (Japanese)
Widuabe (Hainanese)
Geography
LocationSouth China Sea
Coordinates10°22′37″N 114°21′57″E / 10.37694°N 114.36583°E / 10.37694; 114.36583
ArchipelagoSpratly Islands
Area51 ha (130 acres)[1]
Length1,430 m (4690 ft)
Width402 m (1319 ft)
Administration
Municipality
District		Kaohsiung
Cijin
Claimed by
 China
CitySansha, Hainan
 Philippines
MunicipalityKalayaan, Palawan
 Republic of China (Taiwan)
Municipality
District		Kaohsiung
Cijin
 Vietnam
DistrictTrường Sa, Khánh Hòa
Demographics
Population220 military, coast guard and support personnel; four civilians[2]

Taiping Island, also known as Itu Aba,[note 1] and various other names, is the largest of the naturally occurring Spratly Islands in the South China Sea.[3][4][5][6][note 2] The island is elliptical in shape being 1.4 kilometres (0.87 mi) in length and 0.4 kilometres (0.25 mi) in width, with an area of 46 hectares (110 acres). It is located on the northern edge of the Tizard Bank (Zheng He Reefs; 鄭和群礁). The runway of the Taiping Island Airport is easily the most prominent feature on the island, running its entire length.

The island is administered by the Republic of China (Taiwan), as part of Cijin, Kaohsiung. It is also claimed by the People's Republic of China (PRC), the Philippines and Vietnam.

In 2016, in the ruling by an arbitral tribunal in the intergovernmental Permanent Court of Arbitration, in the case brought by the Philippines against China, the tribunal classified Itu Aba as a "rock" under United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) (and therefore not entitled to a 200 nautical mile exclusive economic zone (EEZ) and continental shelf). Both Republic of China (Taiwan) and People's Republic of China rejected this ruling.[8][9][10] According to an article from ASPI, a significant portion of international opinions views Itu Aba as an "island," despite the Tribunal's ruling, and that very few experts expected it to be classified as a "rock".[11]

The adjacent unpopulated Zhongzhou Reef (Ban Than Reef) is also under the control of Taiwan.[12][13]


Cite error: There are <ref group=note> tags on this page, but the references will not show without a {{reflist|group=note}} template (see the help page).

  1. ^ "外交部と農業委員会、「太平島陸地生態環境調査団」説明会を開催" (in Japanese). 2016-01-25. Archived from the original on 2016-03-08. Retrieved 2016-02-02.
  2. ^ 護理師設籍南沙　創太平島首例
  3. ^ 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
  4. ^ "Taiping Island". Spratly islands. Marine National Park Headquarters (Republic of China). Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 21 March 2014.
  5. ^ "Itu Aba – Inquirer Global Nation". Philippine Daily Inquirer. Retrieved 19 Aug 2014.
  6. ^ Michael Gold. "Taiwan Considers Permanent Armed Ships For Disputed South China Sea Island". Reuters. Archived from the original on January 10, 2016. Retrieved 16 Oct 2014.
  7. ^ Kristine Kwok; Minnie Chan (2014-06-08). "China plans artificial island in disputed Spratlys chain in South China Sea". South China Morning Post. Retrieved 2014-09-28.
  8. ^ Tiezzi, Shannon (2016-07-13). "Taiwan: South China Sea Ruling 'Completely Unacceptable'". The Diplomat. Retrieved 2016-07-13.
  9. ^ Hsu, Stacy (2016-07-13). "Government rejects South China Sea ruling". The Taipei Times. Retrieved 2016-07-13.
  10. ^ Chow, Jermyn (2016-07-12). "Taiwan rejects South China Sea ruling, says will deploy another navy vessel to Taiping". The Straits Times. Singapore Press Holdings Ltd. Co. Retrieved 2016-07-13.
  11. ^ Zhang, Feng (2016-07-14). "Breathtaking but counterproductive: the South China Sea arbitration award". The Strategist. Retrieved 2024-05-22.
  12. ^ Hsiao, Anne Hsiu-An; Lin, Cheng-Yi (19 May 2017). The South China Sea Dispute. Cambridge University Press. pp. 74–103. ISBN 9789814695565. Retrieved 31 October 2021.
  13. ^ 繆, 宇綸 (12 August 2016). "我在南海佔領中洲礁 太平島官兵定期巡視". Yahoo News. 中國廣播公司. Retrieved 31 October 2021.