Triton Island

Triton Island (Chinese: 中建岛; pinyin: Zhōngjiàn Dǎo; Vietnamese: đảo Tri Tôn) is one of the islands of Paracel Islands in South China Sea, with an area of 1.2 km². It is also historically known as Bànlù Zhì (Chinese: 半路峙; literally: "halfway tower") or Luó Dǎo (Chinese: 螺岛; literally: "trochus niloticus island") to Chinese fishermen. The current Chinese name of the island is named after the Republic of China Navy warship ROCS Chung-chien (中建號) sent in 1946 to claim the Paracel Islands.[1] The island is administrated by the People's Republic of China but is also claimed by the Republic of China (Taiwan) and Vietnam.

History

The People's Republic of China's claim on the island is defined as per the Declaration of the Government of the People's Republic of China on the Baselines of the Territorial Sea (May 15, 1996). According to the PRC, the seven points on Zhongjiandao (Triton Island) are the baseline points of the Chinese territorial sea:[2]

Triton Island is also the final resting place of the USNS Sgt. Jack J. Pendleton, which ran aground in 1973 while en route to Philippines from Vietnam. Vietnam also claims the island as it was seized from Vietnamese control in January, 1974 in the Battle of the Paracel Islands.

See also

  • Paracel Islands
  • Tree Island (赵述岛/đảo Cây)
  • North Island (北礁/đảo Bắc)
  • Middle Island (中岛/đảo Trung)
  • South Island (南岛/đảo Nam)
  • Rocky Island (石岛/đảo Đá)
  • Lincoln Island (东岛/đảo Linh Côn)
  • Bombay Reef (浪花礁/đá Bông Bay)
  • North Reef (北岛/đá Bắc)

References

  1. ↑ 吕一燃 (Lu Yiran), 2007. 中国近代边界史 (A modern history of China's borders), Vol. 2. 四川人民出版社 (Sichuan People's Publishing), pp.1092-1093. ISBN 7220073313
  2. ↑ "Declaration of the Government of the People's Republic of China on the baselines of the territorial sea (May 15th, 1996))".

External links

Coordinates: 15°47′N 111°12′E / 15.783°N 111.200°E