Itu Aba Island

Itu Aba Island

Disputed island Native name: Taiping Island, 太平島 Other names: Ligaw, Ligao, Tàipíng Dǎo, Đảo Ba Bình, Huángshānmǎ Jiāo (黃山馬礁), Huángshānmǎ Zhì (黃山馬峙), Nagashima (長島)
Geography
Itu Aba Island (South China Sea)
Location	South China Sea
Coordinates	10°22′30″N 114°22′0″E
Archipelago	Spratly Islands
Length	1,400 metres (4,600 ft)
Width	400 metres (1,300 ft)
Administered by
Republic of China (Taiwan)
Municipality	Cijin, Kaohsiung
Claimed by
People's Republic of China
County	Paracels, Spratlys, and Zhongsha Islands Authority, Hainan
Philippines
Municipality	Kalayaan, Palawan
Republic of China
Municipality	Cijin, Kaohsiung
Vietnam
Province	Khanh Hoa

Itu Aba Island or Taiping Island (Chinese: 太平島; pinyin: Tàipíng Dǎo; Vietnamese: Đảo Ba Bình; Tagalog: Ligaw/Ligao), is the largest of the Spratly Islands in the South China Sea and the only island with a freshwater supply. The island is elliptical in shape being 1.4 km in length and 0.4 km in width. It is part of the Tizard Bank (Zheng He Reefs), one of seven reefs in the Spratly Islands near the centre of the South China Sea.

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, the Philippines and Vietnam. The distance from Kaohsiung to Taiping Island is about 1,600 km (990 mi).

Names

The name most commonly used in English^{[citation needed]} is Itu Aba, which has 3 different origins: one from the Malay for "What's that?" (spelled itu apa in the current orthography); or from Hainanese of Huángshānmǎ (黃山馬) - Widuabe; or said to be named after two Vietnamese maids (Tu and Ba) of a French Indochina official charged with mapping the Spratly Islands.

The Chinese name Taiping Island is named after the Republic of China Navy vessel Taiping (Chinese: 太平號; literally "peace") which sailed to the island to re-claim the Spratlys after the Imperial Japanese Navy abandoned it in 1945. The islands were formerly called Huángshānmǎ Jiāo (黃山馬礁) or Huángshānmǎ Zhì (黃山馬峙) by Chinese fishermen.

The Vietnamese name for the island is đảo Ba Bình (Ba Bình Island), while in Filipino it is called Ligaw ("lost" or "wild") Island.

During the Japanese occupation of the island 1939-45, the name Nagashima (長島, Long Island) was used.

History

Part of a series on the
Spratly Islands
Spratly Islands Spratly Islands dispute Philippines and the Spratly Islands Republic of Morac-Songhrati-Meads Territorial disputes in the South China Sea
Confrontations
Johnson South Reef skirmish Southwest Cay invasion
Islands/Reefs by occupation
Occupied by China (PRC) Johnson South Reef · Chigua Reef Mischief Reef · Meiji Reef Subi Reef · Zhubi Reef Occupied by Malaysia Ardasier Reef · Ubi Reef Dallas Reef · Laya Reef Erica Reef · Siput Reef Investigator Shoal · Peninjau Shoal Louisa Reef · Semarang Barat Kecil Reef Mariveles Reef · Mantanani Reef Swallow Reef · Layang-Layang Island Occupied by the Philippines Thitu Island · Pagasa Island West York Island · Likas Island Northeast Cay · Parola Island Nanshan Island · Lawak Island Loaita Island · Kota Island Flat Island · Patag Island Lankiam Cay · Panata Island Occupied by Taiwan (ROC) Itu Aba Island · Taiping Island Occupied by Vietnam Spratly Island · Truong Sa Island Southwest Cay · Song Tu Tay Island Sincowe Island · Sinh Ton Island Sandcay · Son Ca Island Namyit Island · Nam Yet Island Amboyna Cay · An Bang Island

The island derives its Chinese name from the warship Taiping ("peace") sent to recover the island after Japan's surrender at the end of World War II. On other western navigation maps, the island is named "Itu Aba Island".

It was claimed by the French as part of French Indochina in 1887 who later occupied the island in 1932 as part of their assertion of control over their colonies in Vietnam and in reaction to the 1932 protest by the Republic of China of their sovereignty of the Paracels.

During World War II, it was invaded by Japan and converted to a submarine base. It was administratively attached to the municipality of Takao (Kaohsiung) in the Japanese colony of Taiwan. Japan renounced its control in 1946 and turned over the island to the Republic of China.^{[citation needed]}

On 12 December 1946, the island was placed under the administration of the Republic of China's Guangdong Province. However, during the split between the Chinese communists on mainland China and the Kuomintang as a result of the Chinese Civil War, the Republic of China military which relocated to Taiwan retained control of the garrison.

In 1952, a Philippine civilian began to mine sulfur from Itu Aba and that same year, a note attached to the Treaty of Taipei provided the Republic of China arguments for sovereignty over the island.

From 2000 a detachment of the Coast Guard Administration was stationed at this island, replacing a Republic of China Marine Corps detachment. The ROC's Central Weather Bureau also has employee presence on the island. The total population of the island is about 600 with no civilians.

In 2005 the government of the Republic of China announced its plan to build an airstrip on the island. In 2005 Vietnam's Ministry of Foreign Affairs sent a representative to Taiwan and requested the Republic of China to stop the construction. In early 2006, The Republic of China announced it would continue with its plans and the airstrip was completed in December 2007. A C-130 Hercules transporter airplane first landed on the island on 21 January 2008. On 2 February 2008, The ROC's president Chen Shui-bian personally visited the island accompanied by a significant naval force including two fleets with Kidd class destroyer flagships and two submarines.

On 19 April 2011, it was announced that the ROC Marine Corps will be stationed again on Taiping Island.

Government and politics

The island, along with the rest of the Spratlys, is disputed by four countries on historical, geographic or technical grounds, as well as due to fishing rights, shipping lanes, and the potential of petroleum and natural gas beneath the South China Sea.

Although there are no long term inhabitants on the island, Itu Aba is administered under the Municipality of Kaohsiung City, Qijin District, by the Republic of China. Postal service is provided by Chunghwa Post under the assigned area code "819". The Republic of China military postal service uses the designation "68局" for postage services for the island.

Island conditions

There is plentiful freshwater on the island, however many naturally occurring wells contain chloride salts. There are a few wells on the eastern side of the island with acceptable quality freshwater, whilst the rest are not suitable for drinking. In the 1980s, the ROC Ministry of National Defense drilled various wells 600 metres deep throughout the island. In 1992, a water catchment, reservoirs and other facilities were constructed. In 1993, two complete desalination machines were placed on the island, which operate for four hours each day, generating approximately 6,000 gallons of fresh water.

Facilities on the island are powered mainly by five 200 kW diesel generators; all fuel is shipped from Taiwan island. In December 2001, solar energy devices of 20.3 kW capacity were erected as backup power.

There is a shelter for fishermen, hospital, weather stations, satellite telecommunications facilities, radar surveillance and other communications equipment located on the island.

There are five public telephones on the island, which are connected via satellite communications. There is also internet connectivity on the island.

Mobile phone reception is available for individuals with international roaming; signal from Vietnam Military Electronics and Telecommunications (Viettel Mobile) reaches the island from a GSM base station on Hongxiu Island currently controlled by Vietnam, and signal from China Mobile can be accessed from a GSM base station located on Nanxun Reef controlled by the PRC. Taiwan's Chunghwa Telecom is evaluating feasibility to build satellite-based cellular base stations on the island to provide the coast guard with communication services.

Old bridge piers constructed in 1992 and are damaged have yet to be repaired. Supply material to the island is transported via shipping, where supplies are loaded and unloaded by raft and taken to and from shore from supply vessels anchored about 1.2 nautical miles away from the island. Since there are many reefs around the island and that the surrounding water is too shallow, transportation and supply vessels are unable to dock with the island itself. Supplies are transferred with a safety load of 10 tons, and there is a high degree of difficulty due to the risk of large waves; rubber rafts carrying supplies and maintenance require time-consuming and difficult manual handling. There is a current preparation of three ROC Coast Guard boats of M8 model, designated Nanhai 4, Nanhai 5 and Nanhai 6 (Chinese: 南海四號,南海五號,南海六號, "Nanhai" literally translates to "South Sea" or "South China Sea"); of these, the patrol capacity is insufficient to adequately monitor the island's surroundings, and so in December 2006 rebuilding of a damaged L-shaped pier, the Southern Star Ferry Pier (Chinese: 南星碼頭), next to the park to improve the transportation and supply of materiel for the Coast Guard. Currently a military supply ship services the island during a single voyage in April and November each year, with each wayfare lasting three days and anchoring lasting one day, transporting personnel and supplying military materials. A civil merchant arrives at the island and stays on the island for 1 to 2 days every 20 days for general goods transportation and supply, and stationed personnel are able to ride a one-way trip that lasts for four days.

The island has a helicopter platform that is not used frequently. A take-off and landing airstrip caters for C-130 transport planes of the ROC Air Force, with one sortie arriving every two months. The runway on the island runs for 1200 metres long, 30 metres wide, and can accommodate two C-130 aircraft; there are plans to expand the runway in the future.

Land pricing is managed by the Kaohsiung local government, although there have been no cases of actual transactions being made. In 2007, the announced land value adjustments placed the value of land on Taiping Island at NT$400 per square metre.

Geography

Ecology

The flora and fauna present on the island include swallows, papaya plant, coast oak, terminalia trees, lotus leaf tung tree, goodeniaceae, sea lemon, long stem chrysanthemum, long-saddle rattan, gray grass, coconut tree, banana tree, White-tailed Tropical Bird, Sparrow hawk, tropical fish, jellyfish and other various organisms.

Geology and landform

The island has a long and narrow shape that is low and flat, that is approximately 1289.3m long and 365.7m wide. The area of the north-south coastline is 41.3 hectares, and the coastal vegetation line range is 36.6 hectares. The mean tide water over land area is approximately 0.49 square km, and during low sea tides the water reefs and land area is 0.98 square km, 4-6m above sea level.

Since Taiping island is a coral island, the surface includes fine sand and coral reefs formed by weathering. Around the island are sandy beaches, with narrower beaches on the south and north sides 5 metres wide, on the east side 20 metres wide, and in the southwest side 50 metres wide. The sand accumulated on the beach is rosy coloured, mainly formed from red coral fragments and shell debris.

Natural resources

The island has historically been mined for phosphates to the point of exhaustion, and today has no major natural resources. There is a large number of discovered reserves of oil and natural gas beneath surrounding waters within the South China Sea Basin, however there has yet to be formal exploration and mining conducted.

Weather

Taiping Island has a tropical climate, with the temperature averaging between 21 to 35 degrees Celsius. There is a strong southwest monsoon in summer months in June and July, with strong southwest wind and currents, and during the time typhoons become frequent there is abundant rainfall. The rainy season occurs during November and December.

Tourist attractions

A temple on the island exists as a common visiting place. The southeast side of the island contains old Japanese constructions. The "Taiping Cultural Park" (Chinese: 太平文化公園) is located near the pier. There is also a pillar erected on the island that identifies Taiping Island as territory of the Republic of China.

See also

• South China Sea
• South China Sea Islands
• Dongsha Islands or Pratas Islands
• List of islands of the Republic of China

External links

• Satellite image of Itu Aba by Google Maps
• Putative States in the Spratly Archipelago
• Ecological Resources
• Itu Aba
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