Pratas Islands

'Dongsha' redirects here. For other places by that name, 1 Name

see Dongsha (disambiguation).
The Pratas Islands, also known as the Dongsha Is- The English name of the islands derives from the
Portuguese Ilhas das Pratas (Silver Plate Islands),
which was given to the atoll in the 16th century owing to
its round shape.
Dongsha is the pinyin romanization of the Chinese name
Dngsh Qndo (t , s ), meaning
Eastern Sandy Archipelago. The name distinguishes
it from Xisha, the western archipelago, better known as
the Paracel Islands.

2 History
Stele erected on Pratas Island by the ROC Ministry of the Interior

The Pratas Islands were rst recorded by the Chinese over

1000 years ago in the book Guangzhou Ji()
written by Pei Yuan () during the Jin Dynasty. Chinese shermen shed in the sea around the Pratas by that
time.
The East Indiaman Earl Talbot was wrecked on the Pratas
Islands on or about 22 October 1800 with the loss of all
aboard. At the time the islands were known to British
sailors as the Perates. Then the British screw sloop
HMS Reynard was wrecked in 1851 while going to the aid
of another wrecked vessel; the crew were all saved.* [4]

South China Sea

In 1908-1909 a Japanese businessman named Nishizawa

Yoshizi () established a guano collecting station, destroyed the Dawang Joss House (), and
dug up graves and poured the bone ashes of Chinese
shermen into the sea there, and renamed the atoll
Nishizawa Island,* [5]* [6] but after a diplomatic confrontation, Chinese sovereignty was re-established, and
Nishizawa withdrew, after being compensated by the
Guangdong provincial government, and after paying
compensation for the destruction of a Chinese shermen's shrine.* [7]
Japanese naval personnel occupied Pratas Island during
World War II. The Japanese Navy used the island as a
weather station and listening outpost until 29 May 1945
when a landing party consisting of Australian commandos and US naval personnel from the submarine USS
Bluegill raised the US ag, declared the island a United
States territory, and named it Bluegill Island. The landing party destroyed a radio tower, weather station, fuel,
ammunition dump, and several buildings were destroyed;
no lives were lost during this raid as all of the island's
occupants ed just days prior to Bluegill's raid.* [8]* [9]

lands, are an atoll in the north of the South China Sea

consisting of three islets about 340 kilometers (211 mi)
southeast of Hong Kong. Excluding their associated
EEZ and territorial waters, the islets comprise about 240
ha (590 acres), including 64 ha (160 acres) of lagoon
area.* [2] The People's Republic of China claims the islands, but the Republic of China (ROC) controls them
and has declared them a national park. The main island
of the groupPratas Islandis the largest of the South
China Sea Islands.* [3]
1

4 SETTLEMENT

The islands were later restored to the Republic of China's

Guangdong Province.* [10]

Silver silk tree

Strawberry tung tree
Coconut tree
Little terns
Turnstones
Gullbilled terns
Parrotsh
Starsh
Rock lobsters
Crabs
Sharks

USS Frank Knox aground on Pratas Reef 1965

While underway in the South China Sea on 18 July 1965,

the USS Frank Knox ran aground on Pratas Reef, and
was only freed on 24 August after a very dicult salvage
eort.* [11]
The islands have been uninhabited, yet nations (including
China and Japan) have claimed them to be their overseas
territory. After World War II, the islands and the sea
around them were mandated by United Nations.

There are also some seamount formations nearby which

are not part of the main island:
Jianfeng Seamount ()
Maojia Seamount ()
Beipo Seamount ()

4 Settlement

In the Journal of Science (April 1867) there is a ninepage article entitled The Natural History of Pratas Is- As a disputed island with no permanent inhabitants, it
land in the China Seaby Dr. Cuthbert Collingwood, the is visited only by shermen, military personnel and renaturalist on board HMS Serpent. It describes what was searchers.
observed, especially bird life, during a visit of two days
while the survey ship lay at anchor.

4.1 Pratas Island landmark

The islands are currently administered by the Republic

of China (Taiwan) with the postal code 817. In 2007, the An obelisk erected after 1946.
Taiwan government designated the Pratas as the Dongsha
Atoll National Park, the rst marine national park in Taiwan.* [12]
4.2 Pratas Island stone tablet

Geography

In 1954 the ROC Government personnel stationed on

Pratas erected a stone tablet on the southern side of the
island, facing the ocean.* [13]

The Pratas Islands are located 850 kilometres (530 miles)

southwest of Taipei and 340 kilometres (210 miles) 4.3 Da Wang temple
southeast of Hong Kong in the northern part of the South
China Sea called the Pratas Terrace (2043N 11642E The Da Wang temple is dedicated to 'Kuang Kang' and
/ 20.717N 116.700E).
'The South China Sea Goddess' - Mazu. It is said that the
Pratas Island is 2.8 km (1.7 mi) long and 0.865 km (0.537 statue of Guan Gong came to Pratas Island on a canoe
mi) wide; it is the only feature of the group above sea in 1948. The soldiers on Pratas Island built a temple to
level. The island is made up of coral atolls and reef ats. worship her in 1975. Today, the canoe is still kept in
Brush, vines and bushes cover some of the island - the the temple. The joss sticks and candles are donated by
soldiers, as was the golden sign hung in front of the statue.
rest is white sand.
There is an 'Ever Green' pavilion in front of the temple
North and South Vereker Banks are under water.
which was also built by the soldiers. It is the most verdant
Other ora and fauna on and around Pratas Island include: place on the island.* [13]

4.9

4.4

Fishermen's service station

Symbol of national sovereignty

4.9 Fishermen's service station

The Minister for Internal Aairs of the ROC erected the In 1987 the military and civilian occupants built the
South China Sea Defense stone tablet to declare Republic 'Pratas Fishermen's Service Station'. The station was built
in traditional Chinese courtyard house style, and provides
of China sovereignty in 1989.* [13]
convenient services for shermen and boats in the South
China Sea, insuring the shermen's safety and upholding
ROC sovereignty. The services provided include lodg4.5 Measuring memorial stone tablet
ing, medical rescue, entertainment and supply. The station also provides lodging for the scientists who come to
In July 1991 the Kaohsiung City Government erected the conduct research on the island.* [13]
Pratas Island measuring memorial stone tablet as a symbol that Pratas Island falls within the jurisdiction of Kaohsiung City.* [13] Within Kaohsiung, the islands belong to
5 Government
Qijin District.

4.6

Triangulation bench mark

The ROC Government established this spot as the triangulation point for Pratas Island in December 1991.
There are words on each side of the base of the triangulation point stone tablet. It reads 'The Pratas Triangulation Point' on the front, and 'Longitude: 116* o 43
42.5601'E, Latitude: 20* o 42' 6.2415'N, Height: 2.4875
meters.' The words 'Defend the South China Sea', written by the commander, Lo Ben Li, were also engraved on
the stone tablet. As the National Tsing Hua University
webpage about the island states, In addition to making
it more convenient to survey and draw navigational maps,
and to construct and develop facilities on the island, the
establishment of the triangulation point is also the basis
of our sovereign rights.* [13]

Although there are no long term inhabitants on the island, Pratas is administered by the Kaohsiung City Government under Cijin District.

6 Energy
Diesel-fueled generators are used to power up the island.
In March 2016, solar energy system built by the Coast
Guard Administration went into operation to add to the
generation mix of power for the island. The system covers an area of 310.6 m2 and produces 53,200 kWh of
electricity each year.* [14]

7 Transportation

The Dongsha Island Airport features a runway located on

the north end of Pratas Island with a small airport termi4.7 Library
nal at the eastern end. The airport is used by the ROC
military. A main shack and subordinate shack are loThe library is located on one side of the main plaza, and cated on the southeast end of the island. Two piers on
is the center for soldiers to obtain spiritual nourishment. the southeast shore allow for small watercraft to land.
The library contains more than two thousand books.* [13]

8 See also
4.8

Post oce

List of islands of the Republic of China

The ROC area code for Pratas is 817, and the military
Politics of the Republic of China
post oce is Oce No. 67. The Ministry of Transportation and Communications issued the 'South China
South China Sea Islands
Sea Islands Map Stamps' in 1996, as a set of two stamps.
The inscription 'South China Sea Defense' from the national stone tablet on Pratas Island was printed on the vedollar stamp, and the 'Defend the South China Sea' in- 9 Citations and references
scription from the national stone tablet on Taiping Island
was printed on the seventeen-dollar stamp. The back- Citations
ground was the south China coastline, Taiwan and Hainan
Island with the blue sky and sea. This was the rst time [1] Pratas Islands, vm.nthu.edu.tw
that the ROC had issued stamps with the theme of the
[2] Pratas Island, www.fas.org
South China Sea.* [13]

10

[3] Note that Woody Island in the Paracel Islands has a land
area of 210 ha, which is greater than Pratas Island's 24064=176 ha. Also, the PRC's land reclamation activities
during 2014 & 2015 have created an islandof ~230
ha at Fiery Cross Reef.
[4] HMS Reynard". William Loney website. Retrieved 8
February 2014.
[5] CCVIC News: "

"
[6] , ,
,
[7] Rhoads (1975), pp.140-141.
[8] ISSUU - SS-242_BLUEGILL_Part2 by richard pekelney
[9] Feuer (2005), pp.78-84.
[10] Sovereignty over the Spratly Islands - The China Post 22
June 2009
[11] - US Naval source - accessed 20 January 2016.
[12] " ". .
. 2013-09-11. Retrieved 2016-05-15.
[13] From Taiwan's National Tsing Hua University'sDiscovering the South China Seaarticle. http://vm.nthu.edu.tw/
southsea/english.travel3_3.htm
[14] http://focustaiwan.tw/news/asoc/201603170026.aspx

References
Feuer, A.B. (2005) Australian Commandos: Their
Secret War Against the Japanese in World War II.
(Stackpole Books). ISBN 978-0811732949
Rhoads, Edward (1975) China's Republican Revolution: the case of Kwangtung, 1895-1913 (Harvard
University Press).

10

External links

Satellite image of the Pratas Islands, Google Maps

History, www.laserbase.com.tw
Pratas Island, vm.nthu.edu.tw
Ecological Resources, vm.nthu.edu.tw
Man-made sights, vm.nthu.edu.tw
Republic of China Dongsha Islands National Park
Ocial Site, marine.cpami.gov.tw

EXTERNAL LINKS

11
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