117-609: The Paracel Islands , also known as the Xisha Islands ( simplified Chinese : 西沙群岛 ; traditional Chinese : 西沙群島 ; pinyin : xīshā qúndǎo ; lit. 'West Sand Archipelago') and the Hoàng Sa Archipelago ( Vietnamese : Quần đảo Hoàng Sa , lit. 'Yellow Sand Archipelago'), are a disputed archipelago in the South China Sea under de facto administration by
234-1106: A 2,400 meters (7,900 ft) long runway, which can handle take-offs and landings of Boeing-737s or planes of similar size. Flight services operate on the Haikou – Xisha route. There are three main roads on Woody Island as well as an 800 meters (2,600 ft) long cement causeway that connects Woody Island and Rocky Island. Extensive port facilities have been constructed on Duncan Island. Paracel Islands' geographical and ecological traits are often likened as "China's Maldives ", however, controversial conflicts between environment conservation and human activities including military operations, developments, and tourism on Paracel Islands have become public concerns in recent years. Local ecosystem include endangered fish such as whale sharks , oceanic birds, marine mammals (at least historically) such as blue whales , fin whales , and Chinese white dolphins , and marine reptile species such as critically endangered green sea turtles , hawksbill sea turtles , and Leatherback sea turtles ; however, direct damaging of
351-628: A Japanese weather station and radio equipment, an administration building, a jetty, and several fishing boats. Following Japan's surrender at the end of the war, the Nationalist Chinese government sent naval expeditions to the South China Sea in 1946 to claim the Spratly and Paracel Islands, and established a permanent presence on Woody Island and Itu Aba . They (re)named Woody Island "Yongxing (Yung-hsing) Island" after one of
468-443: A component—either a character or a sub-component called a radical —usually involves either a reduction in its total number of strokes , or an apparent streamlining of which strokes are chosen in what places—for example, the ⼓ ' WRAP ' radical used in the traditional character 沒 is simplified to ⼏ ' TABLE ' to form the simplified character 没 . By systematically simplifying radicals, large swaths of
585-434: A conversion table. While exercising such derivation, the following rules should be observed: Sample Derivations : The Series One List of Variant Characters reduces the number of total standard characters. First, amongst each set of variant characters sharing identical pronunciation and meaning, one character (usually the simplest in form) is elevated to the standard character set, and the rest are made obsolete. Then amongst
702-891: A diplomatic protest to the French Foreign Ministry and to deny France's claims to the Paracel Islands. On November 30 of the same year, Zhu Zhaoshen , a high-level inspection official of the Chinese Foreign Ministry, issued public correspondence Number 66 to the French Consul in Guangzhou , reiterating that "it is absolutely beyond doubt that the Xisha [Paracel] Islands fall within the boundary of China". Despite repeated Chinese protests, French troops, who had colonized French Indochina in
819-623: A dock warehouse system, may be terminals, to provide gas to the power plant as well as distribute LNG in South-East Asia, supplied presumably by the offshore gas deposit along the coast of Quảng Nam province, discovered by ExxonMobil in October 2011, at 200 nautical miles (roughly 370 km), amid the area disputed by China (PRC), surrounded the Paracel Islands, in Chinese maritime border sovereignty claimed by Beijing (refer to "Battle of
936-407: A few revised forms, and was implemented for official use by China's State Council on 5 June 2013. In Chinese, simplified characters are referred to by their official name 简化字 ; jiǎnhuàzì , or colloquially as 简体字 ; jiǎntǐzì . The latter term refers broadly to all character variants featuring simplifications of character form or structure, a practice which has always been present as
1053-525: A hospital, various shops, hostels, food stations, a post office, small department stores and an aquatic company. A rescue centre was established on 15 July 2006. There are two museums on the island – Xisha Maritime Museum and a Naval Museum. Other monuments include towers left by the Imperial Japanese Army during WWII, a monument erected by the ROC government in 1946, and a monument erected by
1170-545: A lighthouse and radio station in 1937. Northeast of this is Quanfu Dao ("All Wealth Island"). Observation Bank, also named Silver Islet, and the Lesser Silver Islet, are the northernmost of the group and contain a small cay. Just south of them are Yagong Dao (He Duck) and Xianshe Yu (Salty Hut). At the eastern side of the group lies a 12 km (7 mi) long boomerang shaped reef with Stone Islet at its north end and Drummond Island at its south end. Near
1287-489: A maritime area of around 15,000 square kilometers (5,800 sq mi), with a land area of approximately 7.75 square kilometers (2.99 sq mi). The archipelago is located about 220 miles (350 km) southeast of Hainan Island , equidistant from the coastlines of the People's Republic of China (PRC) and Vietnam, and approximately one-third of the way between central Vietnam and the northern Philippines. A feature of
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#17327649186891404-610: A newly coined phono-semantic compound : Removing radicals Only retaining single radicals Replacing with ancient forms or variants : Adopting ancient vulgar variants : Readopting abandoned phonetic-loan characters : Copying and modifying another traditional character : Based on 132 characters and 14 components listed in Chart 2 of the Complete List , the 1,753 derived characters found in Chart 3 can be created by systematically simplifying components using Chart 2 as
1521-626: A noticeable distance of tens or hundreds of kilometers in length. Pracel may not be a suitable place for human residents, but its irregular depth creates an ideal environment inhabited by fish. Pracel often forms a natural bulwark as an outer line of defense for a coast or a land. The Portuguese were later followed by the Dutch, the English, the Spanish, and the French in the waters of the island group. On
1638-567: A number of treaties with the Chinese and Vietnamese governments including the Tientsin Accord , Treaty of Huế (1884) and Treaty of Tientsin (1885) . Articles 2 of the Tientsin Accord in 1884 and Treaty of Tientsin stipulated that China was to give up any of their claims to suzerainty over all of Vietnam. In 1909 the Chinese reacted to Japanese interest in exploiting guano by mapping the islands and Chinese Navy occupation. In
1755-518: A part of the Chinese writing system. The official name tends to refer to the specific, systematic set published by the Chinese government, which includes not only simplifications of individual characters, but also a substantial reduction in the total number of characters through the merger of formerly distinct forms. According to Chinese palaeographer Qiu Xigui , the broadest trend in the evolution of Chinese characters over their history has been simplification, both in graphical shape ( 字形 ; zìxíng ),
1872-576: A set of maps refer to Paracel as Qizhouyang ( Shitang became Spratly, and Changsha became Zhongsha ), while a book Hai Lu (Illustrations of the Sea) refers to Paracel as Changsha and Spratly as Shitang . A sea chart prepared in the Daoguang era , Yiban Lu (Particular Illustrations) by Zheng Guangzu, uses Xisha to refer to Paracel. Xisha became the standard name used in China in the 20th century, and
1989-779: A time of rising tensions between China and Vietnam , Pham receded from this position, stating that the 1958 recognition of China's sovereignty over the Paracels was only made under the pressure of the United States of America's war against Vietnam. After the Battle of the Paracel Islands , in January 1974, the People's Republic of China expelled the South Vietnamese from the Crescent Group and took full control of
2106-440: Is actually more complex than eliminated ones. An example is the character 搾 which is eliminated in favor of the variant form 榨 . The 扌 'HAND' with three strokes on the left of the eliminated 搾 is now seen as more complex, appearing as the ⽊ 'TREE' radical 木 , with four strokes, in the chosen variant 榨 . Not all characters standardised in the simplified set consist of fewer strokes. For instance,
2223-666: Is approximately equidistant from Hainan and the Vietnam coast. The island has been under the control of the People's Republic of China (PRC) since 1956. Sansha City , which administers PRC-controlled territories in Spratly and Paracel Islands, has its administrative seat located on the island. The island is claimed by the Republic of China (ROC, Taiwan) and Vietnam. The Chinese Qing dynasty , France (on behalf of Annam), Japan, and
2340-487: Is capable of treating 1,000 tonnes of seawater per day, bringing the total capacity of desalination equipment on the island to 1,800 tonnes of seawater per day. The island's civilian population generally consists of a small number of long-term fishermen's settlements maintained by a fisherman's village committee, and a larger number of short-term fishermen that visit the island, in addition to small numbers of government workers and tourists. Policemen and soldiers stationed on
2457-454: Is derived. Merging homophonous characters: Adapting cursive shapes ( 草書楷化 ): Replacing a component with a simple arbitrary symbol (such as 又 and 乂 ): Omitting entire components : Omitting components, then applying further alterations : Structural changes that preserve the basic shape Replacing the phonetic component of phono-semantic compounds : Replacing an uncommon phonetic component : Replacing entirely with
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#17327649186892574-473: Is generally tropical, with an abundance of palm trees. There is also a vegetable plantation sized around one-fifteenth of a hectare (~700 sq m). The western portion of the island has a coconut grove. The island's domestic water supply is from rainwater collection. Additional drinking water is shipped from Hainan Island. Supply ships arrive monthly; during this time residents spend two days at the pier unloading materiel. A desalination plant completed in October 2016
2691-813: Is now discouraged. A State Language Commission official cited "oversimplification" as the reason for restoring some characters. The language authority declared an open comment period until 31 August 2009, for feedback from the public. In 2013, the List of Commonly Used Standard Chinese Characters was published as a revision of the 1988 lists; it included a total of 8105 characters. It included 45 newly recognized standard characters that were previously considered variant forms, as well as official approval of 226 characters that had been simplified by analogy and had seen wide use but were not explicitly given in previous lists or documents. Singapore underwent three successive rounds of character simplification , eventually arriving at
2808-623: Is referred to as the " big seal script ". The traditional narrative, as also attested in the Shuowen Jiezi dictionary ( c. 100 AD ), is that the Qin small seal script that would later be imposed across China was originally derived from the Zhou big seal script with few modifications. However, the body of epigraphic evidence comparing the character forms used by scribes gives no indication of any real consolidation in character forms prior to
2925-460: Is simply the translation of the English name. Antelope Reef, submerged at high tide and containing a central lagoon, lies 2.4 km (1.5 mi) east of Money Island. Northeast of this are Robert Island (also named Round Island) and Pattle Island, separated from each other by a 3.5 km (2.2 mi) wide deep channel. A weather station was built on Pattle Island (by the French) in 1932, and
3042-549: Is the largest of the Paracel Islands in the South China Sea (SCS), with an area of 2.1 square kilometres (0.81 sq mi). As of 2014, it has a population of almost 1,500, with roads, banks and an air strip . The Paracel Islands are a group of islands, reefs, banks and atolls in the northwestern part of the South China Sea. Woody Island is part of the Amphitrite Group in the eastern Paracels and
3159-547: Is used instead of 叠 in regions using traditional characters. The Chinese government stated that it wished to keep Chinese orthography stable. The Chart of Generally Utilized Characters of Modern Chinese was published in 1988 and included 7000 simplified and unsimplified characters. Of these, half were also included in the revised List of Commonly Used Characters in Modern Chinese , which specified 2500 common characters and 1000 less common characters. In 2009,
3276-483: The Chengdu J-10AH , Shenyang J-11BH , Xian JH-7A , and Sukhoi Su-30MK2 . Other constructions include three main roads and an 800-metre long concrete causeway connecting to Rocky Island (石岛/đảo Đá). Apart from government buildings and army posts, the island has various establishments. The island's administrative centre is located on Beijing Road, which has an Industrial and Commercial Bank of China branch,
3393-619: The Chinese Civil War , the ROC garrisons on Woody Island and Itu Aba were withdrawn to Taiwan. France had a chance to take over the islands, but decided not to, for fear of compromising its interests with the newly established PRC. The islands were thus unoccupied for six years, except for seasonal inhabitation (occupation) by fishermen from Hainan. In 1956, the PRC established a permanent presence on Woody Island. The Republic of Vietnam (South Vietnam) continued to claim sovereignty over
3510-575: The Chinese Civil War , they occupied Woody Island, the main island of the Amphitrite group and the only island that was still occupied by ROC forces at the time. Pattle Island in the Crescent group, on the other hand, was later taken by French Indochina and then would go on to be administered by South Vietnam following independence in 1956. Tensions over the islands have continued to rise unceasingly since then. However, China has had de facto control of
3627-618: The Chinese language , with the other being traditional characters . Their mass standardization during the 20th century was part of an initiative by the People's Republic of China (PRC) to promote literacy, and their use in ordinary circumstances on the mainland has been encouraged by the Chinese government since the 1950s. They are the official forms used in mainland China and Singapore , while traditional characters are officially used in Hong Kong , Macau , and Taiwan . Simplification of
Paracel Islands - Misplaced Pages Continue
3744-428: The People's Republic of China since its defeat of South Vietnam in the 1974 Battle of the Paracel Islands . The word paracel is of Portuguese origin, meaning placer (a submerged bank or reef), and appears on 16th-century Portuguese maps. The archipelago includes about 130 small coral islands and reefs , most grouped into the northeastern Amphitrite Group or the western Crescent Group. They are distributed over
3861-471: The Republic of China had all established a presence on the island at various points of time in history. Fishing activities in the South China Sea region surrounding the island have been documented in the records of earlier Chinese dynasties. During the Ming dynasty (1368–1644), Zheng He plotted the location of surrounding islands on a map, but never landed on it. In 1909 Zhang Renjun (Chinese: 張人駿 ),
3978-555: The Republic of China Navy warships, ROCS Yung-hsing ( 永興號 ). Yung-hsing was formerly the USS ; Embattle (AM-226) . The ship was transferred to the ROC navy after the war. In January 1947, after making a failed attempt to dislodge the Chinese garrison from Woody Island, France established a permanent presence on Pattle Island in the western Paracels. After the Hainan Island Campaign in 1950 during
4095-655: The Viceroy of Liangguang ordered Guangdong Fleet Admiral Li Zhun to sail to the island. His mission landed in June 1909. In 1932 French Indochina announced its claim to the archipelago. A Franco-Vietnamese garrison was established on Woody Island (from 'île Boisée' in French) in 1938, regularly supplied by the French Navy until 1945. The island was occupied by Japan during World War II. Later, on 4 Feb 1945 USS Pargo (Lt.Cdr. D.B. Bell) would bombard Woody Island destroying
4212-964: The Yuan Shi , the South China Sea islands were within the boundary of the Yuan dynasty. Maps published in the Yuan era invariably included the Changsha (the Paracels) and the Shitang (the Spratlys) within the domain of Yuan. Relevant local annals and other historic materials of the Ming (1368–1644) and the Qing (1644–1912) dynasties continued to make reference to the South China Sea islands as China's territory. The Qiongzhou Prefecture (the highest administrative authority in Hainan), exercised jurisdiction over
4329-450: The Yuan dynasty emperor sent the high-level official and astronomer, Guo Shoujing , to the South China Sea to survey and measure the islands and the surrounding sea area. Guo's base of survey was claimed by China to be located in the Paracel Islands, although this is considered unlikely by many Chinese scholars. His activities were recorded in the Yuan Shi , or History of Yuan . According to
4446-455: The Zheng He 's voyage of the early 15th century, groups of islands were named as Shitang (石塘), Wansheng Shitangyu (萬生石塘嶼), and Shixing Shitang (石星石塘), with Shitang (sometimes including Wansheng Shitangyu ) being taken by some to mean Paracel. Another Ming text, Haiyu (On the Sea), uses Wanli Shitang to refer to Paracel and Wanli Changsha for Spratly. During the Qing dynasty ,
4563-559: The "Dot" stroke : The traditional components ⺥ and 爫 become ⺈ : The traditional component 奐 becomes 奂 : Woody Island (South China Sea) Woody Island , also called Yongxing Island ( simplified Chinese : 永兴岛 ; traditional Chinese : 永興島 ; pinyin : Yǒngxīng Dǎo ; lit. 'Eternal Prosperity Island') by China and Taiwan and Phú Lâm Island ( Vietnamese : Đảo Phú Lâm ) by Vietnam (and formerly French : Île Boisée , lit. 'Wooded Island' by French Indochina ),
4680-527: The "Map of the coast of Tonquin and Cochinchina", made in 1747 by Pierre d'Hondt, the dangerous band of rugged rocks was labeled "Le Paracel", a French phonetic notation. Because of their location on an important seaborne route the Paracel Islands drew much attention from navigators and hydrographers in the Age of Exploration . Disputes in the area since the Second World War have again drawn attention to
4797-459: The "external appearances of individual graphs", and in graphical form ( 字体 ; 字體 ; zìtǐ ), "overall changes in the distinguishing features of graphic[al] shape and calligraphic style, [...] in most cases refer[ring] to rather obvious and rather substantial changes". The initiatives following the founding of the Qin dynasty (221–206 BC) to universalize the use of their small seal script across
Paracel Islands - Misplaced Pages Continue
4914-444: The 14th century Song Dynasty work Zhu fan zhi by Zhao Rugua , the names Qianli Changsha ( 千 里 長 沙 , lit. "Thousand mile-Long Sands") and Wanli Shichuang ( 萬 里 石 床 lit. "Ten-thousand mile -Rock Bed") were given, interpreted by some to refer to Paracel and Spratly respectively, but opinions differed. The Yuan dynasty work Daoyi Zhilüe by Wang Dayuan considers that Shitang (石塘) to be
5031-564: The 16th century. Regarding the likely origin of the term Paracel , the word is a variant of the more common form pracel or parcel , from the Spanish : placer , which was used by the Portuguese and Spanish navigators to designate shallow sandy seas or submerged banks , such as Placer de los Roques . Pracel is a moderately elevated chain of islets, sandbanks, and reefs. These features are continuously distributed and stretched over
5148-509: The 1910s and 20s, the French accepted Chinese sovereignty of the Paracels. Around 1930 the French authorities began to push for a claim on behalf of Annam based on the protectorate's activities in the seventeenth century but were skeptical because Annam had done little to uphold its past claims. In 1932, France formally claimed the Paracel Islands and in 1933 the Spratly Islands. Initially there seems to have been confusion in China at
5265-482: The 1986 General List of Simplified Chinese Characters , hereafter the General List . All characters simplified this way are enumerated in Chart 1 and Chart 2 in the 1986 Complete List . Characters in both charts are structurally simplified based on similar set of principles. They are separated into two charts to clearly mark those in Chart 2 as 'usable as simplified character components', based on which Chart 3
5382-520: The 1986 mainland China revisions. Unlike in mainland China, Singapore parents have the option of registering their children's names in traditional characters. Malaysia also promulgated a set of simplified characters in 1981, though completely identical to the mainland Chinese set. They are used in Chinese-language schools. All characters simplified this way are enumerated in Charts 1 and 2 of
5499-632: The 19th century, invaded and occupied the Paracel Islands on July 3, 1938. This took place shortly after the breakout of the Second Sino-Japanese War , when the armed forces of China and Japan were busy elsewhere. Three days later, on July 6, the Japanese Foreign Ministry also issued a declaration in protest of the French occupation Simplified Chinese characters Simplified Chinese characters are one of two standardized character sets widely used to write
5616-471: The Amphitrite group, at 16°30′N 111°42′E / 16.5°N 111.7°E / 16.5; 111.7 , the Crescent group consists of islands and reefs that form a crescent-like structure from west to east, enclosing a deep central lagoon. The group measures 31 by 15 km (19 by 9 mi) east-west and north–south. All of the islands in the group support vegetation except on their small cays. The islands are named after former senior figures in
5733-612: The Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative reported 20 outposts of the PRC built on reclaimed land in the Paracels, three of which contain small harbours capable of berthing naval and commercial ships. The Amphitrite group was named after the French frigate Amphitrite , which observed the islands while carrying a Jesuit mission to Canton in 1698–1700. Lying in the northeast of the Paracel Islands at 16°53′N 112°17′E / 16.883°N 112.283°E / 16.883; 112.283 ,
5850-811: The British East India Company (EIC). Three were members of the EIC's 'Select Committee' in Canton: James Drummond, Thomas Pattle and John William Roberts. Jonathan Duncan was Governor in Council of Bombay, and William Taylor Money was Superintendent of the Bombay Marine . Money Island lies at the southwest extremity of the group, and has some small cays on the southern side. The Chinese name for Money Island, Jin Yin Dao,
5967-470: The Chinese government published a major revision to the list which included a total of 8300 characters. No new simplifications were introduced. In addition, slight modifications to the orthography of 44 characters to fit traditional calligraphic rules were initially proposed, but were not implemented due to negative public response. Also, the practice of unrestricted simplification of rare and archaic characters by analogy using simplified radicals or components
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#17327649186896084-589: The Chinese government to use floating nuclear power plants. It was reported in October 2020 that an experimental wave power generator was installed off Woody Island. On land, in August 2020, Millennium Energy Viêtnam Co., Ltd, a member of Millennium Petroleum Corporation announced plans to develop a 600 ha, US$ 15 billion LNG project in the south Vân Phong area of the Khánh Hòa province, i.e. Nha Trang , near by Cam Ranh , with capacity of 9,600 MW, project which include
6201-600: The Chinese tourists are being used as 'foot soldiers of China' by Beijing to further China's territorial claims there". The video also states "Vietnam is considered unlikely to send military vessels to stop them". There are two museums on Woody Island; a Naval Museum and a Maritime Museum. In April 2012, the Vice-Mayor and officials from the Haikou Municipal Government made several announcements about developing new docking facilities and hotels within
6318-606: The Crescent Group - on Duncan and Drummond Islands specifically. Promotion of the naturally unspoilt reef system was cited as the driver for new tourism potential with other such reefs, such as the Great Barrier Reef in Australia, now placed under threat of extinction due to human activities. However, according to The China Post , this was denied by a PRC Government official in April 2012, due to sensitivities surrounding
6435-419: The Crescent Group in the western part of the Paracel Islands after assuming control from the departing French colonialists against whom Vietnam fought a bitter independence war, maintaining a military garrison on Pattle Island (Vietnamese: đảo Hoàng Sa) by Ngo Dinh Diem 's executive order from 1956. For the subsequent 20 years, conflicts between the two sides repeatedly erupted within the region. In January 1974,
6552-666: The Guangdong provincial government sent a naval vessel, the Hai-jui ( 海瑞號 ), with an investigation team organized by the provincial government and Sun Yat-Sen University to investigate and survey the islets, after which the investigation team produced a detailed Report of Surveys on the Paracel Islands. On July 27, 1932, the Chinese Foreign Ministry instructed the Chinese Envoy to France to lodge
6669-478: The Hainan Film Company with up-to-date technology, including both 4K resolution and a 3-D perforated screen. In May 2018, based on PLA Air Force defence circulars and Chinese social media posts, the Washington Post and Washington based Asia maritime transparency initiative reported that China had landed long range bombers on the island as part of a defense exercise. In August 2020 the PLA Air Force deployed H-6J bombers to Woody Island. The island's flora
6786-405: The Kingdom of Cauchi China . Due to confusion, the Spratly Islands at times were also referred to as the Paracels. The islands were first scientifically surveyed by Daniel Ross of the British East India Company in 1808. The names of Duncan, Drummond, Money, Pattle and Roberts islands were all chosen in honor of senior figures in the East India Company. China has historically had a presence in
6903-423: The PLA Navy captured Pattle Island during the Battle of the Paracel Islands . The island is located between the equator and the tropic of cancer , and falls in the "tropical marine monsoon climate" category. It experiences abundant rainfall, year-round high temperatures, high humidity and high salt. Coupled with generally clear skies and sunny weather, the annual average temperature is 26.5 °C (79.7 °F);
7020-407: The PRC in 1974. Visitors to the island are required to obtain approval from PRC authorities in Haikou before departure. Hiring a fishing boat from Hainan to the island is possible. On 10 April 2011, China National Radio (CNR) and Hainan People's Broadcasting Station began FM broadcasts on the island. This is in addition to mobile communications and satellite television which are available in
7137-412: The Paracel Islands is Dragon Hole , the second deepest blue hole (underwater sinkhole ) in the world. Sea turtles and seabirds are native to the islands, which have a hot and humid climate, abundant rainfall and may experience annual typhoons . The archipelago is surrounded by productive fishing grounds and a seabed containing potential, but still unexplored, oil and gas reserves. The ownership of
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#17327649186897254-420: The Paracel Islands"). Trung Nam Group also announced in early April 2021, a wind power 900 ha complex US$ 174 million with capacity of 423 GW/h/year, directly connected to the country's grid through Tháp Chàm 220 kV transformer station. The Chinese postal zip code of the island is 572000, and the telephone area code is +86 (898). There is cellphone reception on the island. There is an airport on Woody Island with
7371-403: The Paracel Islands, and administered them via Hainan then under its control. In 1941, the Japanese Empire made the Paracel Islands part of Taiwan, then under its rule. The Paracels and Spratlys were handed over to the Republic of China's control after the 1945 surrender of Japan, since the Allied powers had assigned the Republic of China to accept the Japanese surrender in the area. At the end of
7488-406: The Paracel and Spratly Islands in the Ming and Qing Dynasties. In the 19th century, Europeans found that Chinese fishermen from Hainan annually sojourned on the Paracel and Spratly Islands for part of the year. For three months each year between 1881 and 1884, the German Imperial Navy sent two boats (the ship Freya and the warship Iltis ) to study and map the Paracel Islands without either seeking
7605-416: The Paracel islands dating from the Tang and Song eras, and there is some evidence of Chinese habitation on the islands during these periods, though the relics are more likely washed ashore from shipwrecked junks . According to the Wujing Zongyao , a book published in the Northern Song dynasty in 1044, the Song government then included the Islands in the patrol areas of the Navy of the Court. In 1279,
7722-437: The Paracels in 1946 and post Chinese flags and markers on it; France tried, but failed, to force ROC forces to leave Woody island. The aim of the ROC was to block the French claims. In December 1947, the ROC drew up a map showing its eleven-dotted line U-shaped claim to the entire South China Sea, including the Spratly and Paracel Islands as Chinese territory. After the communists gained control of China in 1949 after victory in
7839-407: The Paracels in 1958. North Vietnam recognised China's claims on the Paracels and Spratlys during the Vietnam War as it was being supported by China. Only after winning the war and conquering South Vietnam did North Vietnam retract its recognition and admitted it recognised them as part of China to receive aid from China in fighting the Americans. In June 1977 discussions with China's Li Xiannan during
7956-522: The Paracels. South Vietnam's claim to the islands was inherited by the Socialist Republic of Vietnam , which has remained in-office since 1976. Initially in 1976, the Communist Party of Vietnam tried to persuade Beijing to acknowledge Vietnam's sovereignty over the Spratly Islands, offering in return to recognize China's claim over the Paracel Islands. However, when this effort failed, Vietnam's government, now under CPV control, asserted its claim over both archipelagos. There are some Chinese cultural relics in
8073-486: The San Francisco Peace Treaty was signed. The USSR motioned for the Paracels and the Spratly to be awarded to China, but the motion was rejected by a vote of 46 to 3, with one abstention. By 1955, South Vietnam had taken possession of the Crescent Group. In 1956, the PRC took control of and established a permanent presence on Woody Island, which (by then) was only seasonally inhabited by fishermen from Hainan. North Vietnam's Phạm Văn Đồng recognized Chinese sovereignty over
8190-561: The Ten-thousand League-long Sandbank. The Chinese name Xisha ( 西沙 ), literally "western sands" or " shoals ", is a name adopted in the 20th century to distinguish it from the "eastern sands" ( Pratas ; also Tungsha/Dongsha), the "southern sands" (the Nansha or Spratlys ), and the "central sands" (the Zhongsha or Macclesfield Bank ). Prior to that, there had been no consistent designation of these islands in early Chinese sources, with names such as Changsha , Shitang , Shichuang and others being used for Paracel and Spratly inconsistently. In
8307-423: The administration of Takao Prefecture in Japanese Taiwan in 1941. After the end of the war, in 1946, the Republic of China sent naval expeditions to the South China Sea and established a garrison on Woody Island. In 1947, Chinese troops occupied Woody Island, while the weather station on Prattle Island continued to be operated by French Indochina and later Vietnam. During the San Francisco Peace Conference of 1951,
8424-479: The center of the Paracel Islands, then the Amphitrite Group is ENE, and the Crescent Group is West. 16°53′N 112°17′E / 16.883°N 112.283°E / 16.883; 112.283 Download coordinates as: The Vietnamese call the islands Hoang Sa, (黃沙 or Yellow Sands), and this name is found in historic Vietnamese documents dating back to 1483, included "An Nam quốc họa đồ" which
8541-576: The centre of the reef is Dragon Hole the deepest known sinkhole in the world. The Duncan Islands ( 16°27′N 111°43′E / 16.450°N 111.717°E / 16.450; 111.717 ), consisting of Duncan Island and Palm Island, lie approximately 3 km (2 mi) west of Drummond Island and about 8 km (5 mi) east of Antelope Reef. Kuangzai Shazhou (Little Basket) lies about halfway between Palm Island and Antelope Reef. Taking 16°40′N 112°20′E / 16.667°N 112.333°E / 16.667; 112.333 as
8658-428: The character set are altered. Some simplifications were based on popular cursive forms that embody graphic or phonetic simplifications of the traditional forms. In addition, variant characters with identical pronunciation and meaning were reduced to a single standardized character, usually the simplest among all variants in form. Finally, many characters were left untouched by simplification and are thus identical between
8775-407: The chosen variants, those that appear in the "Complete List of Simplified Characters" are also simplified in character structure accordingly. Some examples follow: Sample reduction of equivalent variants : Ancient variants with simple structure are preferred : Simpler vulgar forms are also chosen : The chosen variant was already simplified in Chart 1 : In some instances, the chosen variant
8892-483: The coldest average temperature in January is 23 °C (73 °F), the hottest average temperature in June is 29 °C (84 °F). The rainy season lasts for 5 to 6 months every year. Under PRC control, the island is administered by the Yongxingdao Town Government and is the seat of Sansha , a prefecture-level city of Hainan . In June 2014, UK newspaper The Independent stated that
9009-473: The country's writing system as a serious impediment to its modernization. In 1916, a multi-part English-language article entitled "The Problem of the Chinese Language" co-authored by the Chinese linguist Yuen Ren Chao (1892–1982) and poet Hu Shih (1891–1962) has been identified as a turning point in the history of the Chinese script—as it was one of the first clear calls for China to move away from
9126-426: The early 20th century. In 1909, the educator and linguist Lufei Kui formally proposed the use of simplified characters in education for the first time. Over the following years—marked by the 1911 Xinhai Revolution that toppled the Qing dynasty , followed by growing social and political discontent that further erupted into the 1919 May Fourth Movement —many anti-imperialist intellectuals throughout China began to see
9243-473: The ecosystem by military group and tourists has been documented. Governmental actions to cease illegal tourism are ongoing. The islands have been open for tourists since 1997. Chinese tourists can take a 20-hour ferry to the Islands, paying up to US$ 2,000 for a 5-day cruise, and are placed on a long waitlist before being accepted. The BBC article states that "Chinese tourism has strong political implications, as
9360-634: The first official list of simplified forms was published, consisting of 324 characters collated by Peking University professor Qian Xuantong . However, fierce opposition within the KMT resulted in the list being rescinded in 1936. Work throughout the 1950s resulted in the 1956 promulgation of the Chinese Character Simplification Scheme , a draft of 515 simplified characters and 54 simplified components, whose simplifications would be present in most compound characters. Over
9477-463: The first round—but was massively unpopular and never saw consistent use. The second round of simplifications was ultimately retracted officially in 1986, well after they had largely ceased to be used due to their unpopularity and the confusion they caused. In August 2009, China began collecting public comments for a revised list of simplified characters; the resulting List of Commonly Used Standard Chinese Characters lists 8,105 characters, including
9594-548: The fishing villages of the Paracel Islands. China began construction on a school to serve about 40 children whose parents work on the island in June 2014, with construction expected to cost about 36 million yuan and take a year and a half. It opened in December 2015. On 17 February 2016, the New York Times reported that an HQ-9 Surface to Air Missile system had been deployed on the island. In July 2016, it
9711-475: The following decade, the Script Reform Committee deliberated on characters in the 1956 scheme, collecting public input regarding the recognizability of variants, and often approving forms in small batches. Parallel to simplification, there were also initiatives aimed at eliminating the use of characters entirely and replacing them with pinyin as an official Chinese alphabet, but this possibility
9828-406: The founding of the Qin. The Han dynasty (202 BC – 220 AD) that inherited the Qin administration coincided with the perfection of clerical script through the process of libian . Eastward spread of Western learning Though most closely associated with the People's Republic, the idea of a mass simplification of character forms first gained traction in China during
9945-557: The group consists of Woody Island and Rocky Island , approximately 5 km (3 mi) south of the southern tip of the eastern extremity of the northern section. The southwest corner of the group is occupied by the Iltis Bank. The largest island of the Paracels, Woody Island (which has an area of 213 ha (530 acres)), has over 1,000 residents including fishermen and their families, military personnel and civilian administrators. Lying about 70 km (43 mi) southwest of
10062-584: The group consists of low, narrow islands with sand cays and enclosed shallow lagoons connected by reefs of rock. It is about 37 km (23 mi) northwest of Lincoln Island. The group approximately forms an ellipse with a north–south axis of 22 km (14 mi). The northern section of the group comprises West Sand , Tree Island and the Qilian Yu(七连屿) sub-group (The "Seven Sisters": North Island, Middle Island, South Island, North Sand, Middle Sand, South Sand and two small "sands".) The center of
10179-466: The increased usage of 朙 was followed by proliferation of a third variant: 眀 , with 目 'eye' on the left—likely derived as a contraction of 朙 . Ultimately, 明 became the character's standard form. The Book of Han (111 AD) describes an earlier attempt made by King Xuan of Zhou ( d. 782 BC ) to unify character forms across the states of ancient China , with his chief chronicler having "[written] fifteen chapters describing" what
10296-597: The island and the rest of the archipelago since the Battle of the Paracel Islands in January 1974. The Paracel islands are claimed by both China and Vietnam and the majority of those islands lie within 200 NM of both China's and Vietnam's geographic baselines under the Law of the Sea . In 1909, China sent an expedition to the islands, for the first time formally claiming them. In 1932 the colonial government of French Indochina annexed
10413-419: The island had a population of 1,443. As part of the Paracel Islands, the island is also claimed by Taiwan and by Vietnam . Sansha city is located on Woody island. Woody Island has had two or three artificial harbors capable of docking vessels up to 5,000 tonnes. In 2008, the island's main sea transport was the freighter Qiongsha-3 , (2,500 tonnes, 84m x 13.8m, 200 passengers and 750 tonnes of cargo); it
10530-467: The islands "sacred territory of China", which France did not protest. In 1910, the Qing government decided to invite Chinese merchants to contract for the administration of the development affairs of the South China Sea islands, and demanded that officials shall provide protection and maintenance in order to highlight Chinese territory and protect its titles and interests. After the fall of the Qing dynasty ,
10647-426: The islands and set up a weather station on Pattle Island in the Crescent Group. Imperial Japan established a military presence on the Paracel Islands during the Second Sino-Japanese War , Japanese troops lived alongside French troops on Woody Island throughout much of that conflict. Japan , then at war with China , invaded the islands in 1939 on the pretext of their being a Chinese territory and placed them under
10764-428: The islands and, as of 2016, was engaged in major infrastructure development to support its territorial claims over the archipelago, and as a result there has been, and continues to be, a lot of construction activity. In recent years Woody Island has acquired an upgraded airport, an upgraded sea port, and a city hall. There is a post office, hospital and a school on Woody Island. There is limited supply of fresh water on
10881-468: The islands remains hotly contested. The People's Republic of China (PRC) on mainland China, Vietnam , and the Republic of China (ROC) on Taiwan all claim de jure sovereignty, although the PRC has had de facto control of the archipelago since the Battle of the Paracel Islands in January 1974. In July 2012, China (PRC) established Sansha , Hainan Province, as administering the area. In February 2017,
10998-546: The islands. Between 1881 and 1883 the German navy surveyed the islands continuously for three months each year without seeking the permission of either France or China. No protest was issued by either government and the German government published the results of the survey in 1885. After the 1884–1885 Sino-French War , in an international context, France officially gained control of Annam and Tonkin as protectorates and fully established French colonial rule in Vietnam by signing
11115-531: The islands. On the "Map of Europe, Africa and Asia" published in 1598 by Cornelis Claesz , an unnamed band of rocks and sandbanks are shown near the present-day location of the Paracel and Spratly Islands. About two decades later, the names Pracel and Costa de Pracel (Coast of Pracel) appeared on the Chart of Asia and eight city maps published in 1617 by Willem Jansz Blaeu , a Dutch map maker. The coast belonged to
11232-472: The islands. The nation states involved have differing historic perspectives as to sovereignty of the Paracel Islands with the Chinese claiming an interest since their discovery of the islands in the second century BC. A Vietnamese interest was crystallised in the view of one commentator by the planting of their flag in 1816. In 1836, the Vietnamese installed ten 5-meter steles with inscriptions that claimed
11349-423: The islands. In 2012, it was reported that China (PRC) planned to build a solar-energy-powered desalination plant on the islands. In 2016, it was reported that the first desalination plant was activated. This reduces the occupant's reliance on water supply coming in barrels by boat. Both wind and solar powered facilities exist, but most of the electricity is supplied by diesel generators. This led to considerations by
11466-465: The left, with the 月 'Moon' component on the right. Li Si ( d. 208 BC ), the Chancellor of Qin, attempted to universalize the Qin small seal script across China following the wars that had politically unified the country for the first time. Li prescribed the 朙 form of the word for 'bright', but some scribes ignored this and continued to write the character as 明 . However,
11583-402: The most prominent Chinese authors of the 20th century, stated that "if Chinese characters are not destroyed, then China will die" ( 漢字不滅，中國必亡 ). During the 1930s and 1940s, discussions regarding simplification took place within the ruling Kuomintang (KMT) party. Many members of the Chinese intelligentsia maintained that simplification would increase literacy rates throughout the country. In 1935,
11700-680: The new Government of Guangdong Province decided to place the Paracel Islands under the jurisdiction of the Ya Xian County of Hainan Prefecture in 1911. The Southern Military Government in 1921 reaffirmed the 1911 decision. China continued to exercise authority over the South China Sea islands by such means as granting licenses or contracts to private Chinese merchants for the development and exploitation of guano and other resources on those islands and protesting against foreign nations' claims, occupations, and other activities. For example, in May 1928,
11817-573: The permission of or incurring protest by the Chinese government. This mission was finished without any problems and the German Admiralty published the results in 1885 in a document called "Die Paracel-Inseln" (The Paracel Islands). In the period 1884 to 1885 the Tientsin Accord and Treaty of Tientsin were signed by Chinese representatives to attempt to address issues from an undeclared war between France acting on behalf of its protectorate territories in Vietnam and China. During this period between
11934-430: The public and quickly fell out of official use. It was ultimately formally rescinded in 1986. The second-round simplifications were unpopular in large part because most of the forms were completely new, in contrast to the familiar variants comprising the majority of the first round. With the rescission of the second round, work toward further character simplification largely came to an end. In 1986, authorities retracted
12051-465: The recently conquered parts of the empire is generally seen as being the first real attempt at script reform in Chinese history. Before the 20th century, variation in character shape on the part of scribes, which would continue with the later invention of woodblock printing , was ubiquitous. For example, prior to the Qin dynasty (221–206 BC) the character meaning 'bright' was written as either 明 or 朙 —with either 日 'Sun' or 囧 'window' on
12168-469: The same as Wanli Shitang ( 萬 里 石 塘 , lit. "Ten-thousand mile -Rock Embankment"), which starts from Chaozhou and extends to Borneo , west to Côn Sơn Island off Vietnam and down as far as Java . The History of Yuan uses the terms Qizhouyang (七洲洋, "The Ocean of Seven Islands") and Wanli Shitang , which are taken to mean Paracel and Spratly respectively. In the Mao Kun map from
12285-481: The same set of simplified characters as mainland China. The first round was promulgated by the Ministry of Education in 1969, consisting of 498 simplified characters derived from 502 traditional characters. A second round of 2287 simplified characters was promulgated in 1974. The second set contained 49 differences from the mainland China system; these were removed in the final round in 1976. In 1993, Singapore adopted
12402-467: The second round completely, though they had been largely fallen out of use within a year of their initial introduction. That year, the authorities also promulgated a final version of the General List of Simplified Chinese Characters . It was identical to the 1964 list save for 6 changes—including the restoration of 3 characters that had been simplified in the first round: 叠 , 覆 , 像 ; the form 疊
12519-499: The time as the Paracel Islands were not recognised as a separate geographical entity and formal protests did not immediately follow. China and Japan both protested. In 1933, France seized the Paracels and Spratlys, announced their annexation, formally included them in French Indochina, and built a couple of weather stations on them, but did not disturb the numerous Chinese fishermen it found there. In 1939 Japan took control of
12636-497: The traditional and simplified Chinese orthographies. The Chinese government has never officially announced the completion of the simplification process after the bulk of characters were introduced by the 1960s. In the wake of the Cultural Revolution , a second round of simplified characters was promulgated in 1977—largely composed of entirely new variants intended to artificially lower the stroke count, in contrast to
12753-833: The traditional character 強 , with 11 strokes is standardised as 强 , with 12 strokes, which is a variant character. Such characters do not constitute simplified characters. The new standardized character forms shown in the Characters for Publishing and revised through the Common Modern Characters list tend to adopt vulgar variant character forms. Since the new forms take vulgar variants, many characters now appear slightly simpler compared to old forms, and as such are often mistaken as structurally simplified characters. Some examples follow: The traditional component 釆 becomes 米 : The traditional component 囚 becomes 日 : The traditional "Break" stroke becomes
12870-453: The treaties the Chinese did claim the Paracels. In 1909, Zhang Renjun (Chinese: 張人駿 ), the Viceroy of Liangguang , ordered Guangdong Fleet Admiral Li Zhun ( 李準 ) to sail to the Paracel Islands. In June, with over 170 sailors in three warships named Fubo ( 伏波號 ), Guangjin ( 廣金號 ) and Shenhang ( 琛航號 ), he inspected 15 islands, erected stone tablets engraved with each island's name, raised China's flag and fired cannons to declare
12987-522: The use of characters entirely. Instead, Chao proposed that the language be written with an alphabet, which he saw as more logical and efficient. The alphabetization and simplification campaigns would exist alongside one another among the Republican intelligentsia for the next several decades. Recent commentators have echoed some contemporary claims that Chinese characters were blamed for the economic problems in China during that time. Lu Xun , one of
13104-508: The war (Asian-Pacific Region), the ROC formally retook the Paracels, Spratlys, and other islands in the South China Sea in October and November 1946. In the Geneva accord of 1954 Japan formally renounced all of its claims to, inter alia, the South China Sea islands that it had occupied during World War II. After WW2 ended, the Republic of China was consistently the "most active claimant" of the islands. The ROC would go on to garrison Woody Island in
13221-415: Was abandoned, confirmed by a speech given by Zhou Enlai in 1958. In 1965, the PRC published the List of Commonly Used Characters for Printing [ zh ] (hereafter Characters for Printing ), which included standard printed forms for 6196 characters, including all of the forms from the 1956 scheme. A second round of simplified characters was promulgated in 1977, but was poorly received by
13338-603: Was published in 1490. In the modern language system it is written as Hoàng Sa or Cát Vàng. They all have the same meaning — the Yellow Sands or the Yellow Sandbank. Before the early 19th century, the present-day Spratly Islands were treated as features of Hoàng Sa. It was not until the reign of Emperor Minh Mạng (1820–1841) that the Spratlys were distinctly delineated and officially named Vạn Lý Trường Sa (萬里長沙),
13455-464: Was reported that Shenyang J-11 BH fighter aircraft were deployed on the island. In April 2017, the Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative – a US think tank based in Washington – reported that a Shenyang J-11BH fighter aircraft was spotted on the island in satellite photos taken on 29 March 2017. On 22 July 2017, over 200 Chinese moviegoers attended a screening in a theater built on the island by
13572-550: Was the only means of sea transport for non-military personnel such as fishermen and researchers. Each trip from Hainan to Woody island lasted from 13 to 15 hours. In 1990, Chinese authorities built a runway and airport on the island. The Sansha Yongxing Airport was completed in July 1990, with a 2,700-metre runway that is capable of handling any fourth generation fighter aircraft of the PLA Naval Air Force such as
13689-424: Was used in 20th century maps published by the Republic of China , for example in 1935, and the 1947 11-dash line map which claimed Paracel and Spratly as its territories. The name 'Paracel' is found in the first Portuguese maps of the region. The Portuguese, whose vessels frequented the South China Sea as early as at the beginning of the 16th century, were the first to refer to these islands as 'Ilhas do Pracel' in
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