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Revision as of 16:44, 23 November 2008 by Estarapapax(talk | contribs)(added googlemap links for all zoomable features)
The thirteenth largest Spratly island. Two parts: East part consists of sand and coral and west part is covered with guano. It has a fringing reef. An obelisk, about 2.7 m high, stands on the SW corner. There is little vegetation. A lighthouse is operational since May 1995. It is heavily fortified.[1]
First Thomas Shoal: Several sources says that this feature is occupied PRC. However, other sources don't support it. PRC may have occupied this feature in the past for a brief period.
McKennan Reef: Several sources says that this feature is occupied PRC. However, other sources don't support it. Occupation is probably confused because it lies very close to PRC-occupied Hughes Reef. If not occupied by PRC, this feature is still virtually occupied by PRC.
Irving Reef: A source says it was occupied by the Philippines. However, other sources don’t support it. Because it lies in the middle of between all Philippine-occupied Spratly islands, Philippines may have effective control of this feature. Philippine naval vessels are always anchored in the region between all Philippine-occupied islands.
Scarborough Shoal: Many sources still say that this feature is not occupied. However, some sources, especially Philippine news articles, say that Philippine Navy has a permanent active presence it this feature resulting to numerous arrests of Chinese fishermen who use illegal fishing methods.
Loaita Cay, Loaita Nan, Sandy Cay and Tieshi Reef: Virtually occupied by the Philippines.
Others: All features located to the east of 116°E meridian are largely controlled by the Philippines. All features here are at most 100 miles (161 km) from Palawan's west coast. Philippine officials often dub this area as an "obvious" part of the Philippines for their close proximity with Palawan. Instead of occupying the features here, the Philippines have just built naval bases and air fields in Palawan. Many Filipino fishermen swarm this region and they closely cooperate with the Philippine Navy and Philippine Coast Guard, further boosting Philippines' control of this region. The Philippines had blasted numerous buoys and markers placed by PRC here. The Malampaya Gas Field and Reed Bank concessions are also located here.
Zero-occupancy: These are the unoccupied features. Some sources say that some of these features are occupied by Vietnam or China but most sources, including the latest, say that they are not occupied. Occupation are probably confused because the said reefs are very close to occupied features. There are many unoccupied features in the Spratly chain. The current Code of Conduct prohibits any country from acquiring new features. Many of these features are actually in between and near two or more occupied features of different countries. Thus, they serve like buffer zones. Example of this is Jones Reef which lies almost exactly between PRC-occupied Hughes Reef and Vietnamese-occupied Higgens Reef.