Macclesfield Bank

Macclesfield Bank
Disputed islands
Other names: Middle Sand Islands[1]
Macclesfield Bank
Geography
Location South China Sea
Coordinates 16°00′N 114°30′E / 16.000°N 114.500°ECoordinates: 16°00′N 114°30′E / 16.000°N 114.500°E
Total islands 0
Major islands None
Area 6,448 square kilometres (2,490 sq mi) total, 0 km² land surface/islets
Length About 130 kilometres (81 mi)
Width About 70 kilometres (43 mi)
Highest point Unnamed point below sea level
−9.2 metres (−30 ft)
Administered by
People's Republic of China
Prefecture-level city
Province		 Sansha[2]

Hainan
Claimed by
Republic of China (Taiwan)
Municipality Kaohsiung
Demographics
Population None
'Zhongsha' redirects here. For other uses, see Zhongsha (disambiguation).
South China Sea

Macclesfield Bank is an elongated sunken atoll of underwater reefs and shoals in the South China Sea. It lies east of the Paracel Islands, southwest of the Pratas Islands and north of the Spratly Islands. Its length exceeds 130 km (81 mi) southwest-northeast, with a maximal width of more than 70 km (43 mi). With an ocean area of 6,448 km2 (2,490 sq mi) within the outer rim of the reef,[3] although completely submerged without any emergent cays or islets, it is one of the largest atolls of the world.[4] The Macclesfield Bank is part of what the PRC call the Zhongsha Islands, which includes a number of geographically separate submarine features, and also refers to a county-level administrative division.

History

Macclesfield banks were named after the British naval ship, HMS Macclesfield, which ran aground in the vicinity of these shoals in 1804.[5] [6] [7]

Geography

The broken coral reef rim of Macclesfield Bank, with a width of up to 8 km (5 mi), has depths of 11.8 m (39 ft) at Pygmy Shoal on the northeast end of the bank and depths of 11.6 to 18 m (59 ft) elsewhere. Within the lagoon, Walker Shoal marks the least known depth of 9.2 metres (30 ft). In general, the central lagoon is very deep, with depths up to 100 metres (330 ft).[3]

The elongated atoll consists of:

English
Name 		Romanized
Name		Chinese
Name 		Coordinates
Siamese Shoal Simen Ansha 西門暗沙 15°58′N 114°03′E / 15.967°N 114.050°E
Bankok ShoalBengu Ansha 本固暗沙16°00′N 114°06′E / 16.000°N 114.100°E
Magpie ShoalMeibin Ansha 美濱暗沙16°03′N 114°13′E / 16.050°N 114.217°E
Carpenter ShoalLuban Ansha 魯班暗沙16°04′N 114°18′E / 16.067°N 114.300°E
Oliver ShoalZhongbei Ansha 中北暗沙15°57′N 115°24′E / 15.950°N 115.400°E
Pigmy (Pygmy) ShoalBiwei Ansha 比微暗沙16°13′N 114°44′E / 16.217°N 114.733°E
Engeria (Egeria) BankYinji Tan 隱磯灘16°03′N 114°56′E / 16.050°N 114.933°E
Howard ShoalWuyong Ansha 武勇暗沙15°52′N 114°47′E / 15.867°N 114.783°E
Learmonth ShoalJimeng Ansha 濟猛暗沙15°42′N 114°41′E / 15.700°N 114.683°E
Plover Shoal Haijiu Ansha 海鳩暗沙15°36′N 114°28′E / 15.600°N 114.467°E
Addington PatchAnding Lianjiao 安定連礁15°37′N 114°24′E / 15.617°N 114.400°E
Smith Shoal Meixi Ansha 美溪暗沙15°27′N 114°12′E / 15.450°N 114.200°E
Bassett ShoalBude Ansha 布德暗沙15°27′N 114°10′E / 15.450°N 114.167°E
Balfour ShoalBofu Ansha 波洑暗沙 or
伏洑暗沙		15°27′N 114°00′E / 15.450°N 114.000°E
Parry Shoal Paibo Ansha 排波暗沙15°29′N 113°51′E / 15.483°N 113.850°E
Cawston ShoalGuodian Ansha 果淀暗沙15°32′N 113°46′E / 15.533°N 113.767°E
Penguin BankPaihong Tan 排洪灘15°38′N 113°43′E / 15.633°N 113.717°E
Tancred ShoalTaojing Ansha 濤靜暗沙15°41′N 113°54′E / 15.683°N 113.900°E
Combe ShoalKongpai Ansha 控湃暗沙15°48′N 113°54′E / 15.800°N 113.900°E
Cathy (Cathay) ShoalHuaxia Ansha 華夏暗沙15°54′N 113°58′E / 15.900°N 113.967°E
Hardy PatchesShitang Lianjiao 石塘連礁16°02′N 114°46′E / 16.033°N 114.767°E
Hand ShoalZhizhang Ansha 指掌暗沙16°00′N 114°39′E / 16.000°N 114.650°E
Margesson ShoalNanfei Ansha 南扉暗沙15°55′N 114°38′E / 15.917°N 114.633°E
Walker ShoalManbu Ansha 漫步暗沙15°55′N 114°29′E / 15.917°N 114.483°E
Phillip's ShoalLexi Ansha 樂西暗沙15°52′N 114°25′E / 15.867°N 114.417°E
Payne ShoalPingnan Ansha 屏南暗沙15°52′N 114°34′E / 15.867°N 114.567°E

Territorial claims

Macclesfield Bank is claimed, in whole or in part, by China[8] and Taiwan (Republic of China).[9][10]

Some sources[10][11] state that the Philippines claims this underwater feature. However, Jose Zaide, a Philippine diplomat of ambassadorial rank, has written that the Philippines does not claim the Macclesfield Bank.[12]

As the bank is entirely underwater, some scholars have raised questions regarding the legality of territorial claims upon it with regards to the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea.[13][14][15][16]

See also

Notes and references

  1. ↑ Jones, Gareth Wyn (2002). "Provinces". In Boland-Crewe, Tara and Lea, David. The Territories of the People's Republic of China. London: Europa Publications. p. 101. ISBN 978-0-203-40311-2.
  2. ↑ 中华人民共和国民政部 (People's Republic of China Ministry of Civil Affairs) (21 June 2012). "民政部关于国务院批准设立地级三沙市的公告 (Ministry of Civil Affairs on the State Council approved the establishment of the level of Sansha's notice)" (in Chinese). Archived from the original on 23 June 2012.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 List of data for various geographic features (2001), The Geological Society of America.
  4. ↑ "Philippines protests China’s moving in on Macclesfield Bank". Philippine Daily Inquirer. July 6, 2012.
  5. ↑ "Timeline". History of the Spratlys. www.spratlys.org. Retrieved 21 March 2014.
  6. ↑ Chemillier-Gendreau, Monique (2000). Sovereignty Over the Paracel and Spratly Islands. Kluwer Law International. ISBN 9041113819.
  7. ↑ - a strxxxxxxxPUBLICATIONS/Pages/NauticalPubs.aspx China Sea pilot, Volume 1 (8th Edition). Taunton: UKHO - United Kingdom Hydrographic Office. 2010.
  8. ↑ "Vietnam Law on Contested Islands Draws China’s Ire". The New York Times. June 21, 2012. Retrieved June 28, 2012.
  9. ↑ "Taiwan renews sovereignty claim over South China Sea islands". Focus Taiwan. May 5, 2012. Retrieved June 28, 2012.
  10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 "Limits in the Seas - No. 127 Taiwan's Maritime Claims" (PDF). United States Department of State. November 15, 2005. Retrieved July 1, 2012.
  11. ↑ "Philippines protests China’s moving in on Macclesfield Bank". Inquirer.net. July 6, 2012. Retrieved July 6, 2012.
  12. ↑ Zaide, Jose (July 10, 2012). "Saan Siya?". Manila Bulletin. Retrieved 31 October 2012.
  13. ↑ Poling, Gregory (2012-07-05). "Time to End Strategic Ambiguity in the South China Sea". Center for Strategic and International Studies. Retrieved 2012-07-21.
  14. ↑ Seoung-Yong Hong;Jon M. Van Dyke (2009). Maritime Boundary Disputes, Settlement Processes, and the Law of the Sea (Publications on Ocean Development). Brill. p. 149.
  15. ↑ Chi-kin Lo (1989). China's Policy Towards Territorial Disputes: The Case of the South China Sea Islands. Routledge. p. 25.
  16. ↑ Clive Ralph Symmons (1995). Some Problems Relating to the Definition of "insular Formations" in International Law: Islands and Low-tide Elevations. International Boundaries Research Unit. p. 12.

External links