Cuarteron Reef on:
[Wikipedia]
[Google]
[Amazon]
Cuarteron Reef, also known as Calderon Reef (
Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative Island Tracker
Reefs of the Spratly Islands London Reefs Artificial islands of Asia Disputed reefs {{Asia-geo-stub
Cuarteron Reef, also known as Calderon Reef (Mandarin
Mandarin or The Mandarin may refer to:
Language
* Mandarin Chinese, branch of Chinese originally spoken in northern parts of the country
** Standard Chinese or Modern Standard Mandarin, the official language of China
** Taiwanese Mandarin, Stand ...
; ; ; ), is a reef
A reef is a ridge or shoal of rock, coral, or similar relatively stable material lying beneath the surface of a natural body of water. Many reefs result from natural, abiotic component, abiotic (non-living) processes such as deposition (geol ...
at the east end of the London Reefs in the Spratly Islands
The Spratly Islands (; zh, s=南沙群岛, t=南沙群島, p=Nánshā Qúndǎo; ; ) are a disputed archipelago in the South China Sea. Composed of islands, islets, cays, and more than 100 reefs, sometimes grouped in submerged old atoll ...
of the South China Sea
The South China Sea is a marginal sea of the Western Pacific Ocean. It is bounded in the north by South China, in the west by the Indochinese Peninsula, in the east by the islands of Taiwan island, Taiwan and northwestern Philippines (mainly Luz ...
. It is occupied and controlled by China
China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...
(PRC) (as part of Sansha), and also claimed by the Philippines
The Philippines, officially the Republic of the Philippines, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. Located in the western Pacific Ocean, it consists of List of islands of the Philippines, 7,641 islands, with a tot ...
(as part of Kalayaan), by Vietnam
Vietnam, officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam (SRV), is a country at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of about and a population of over 100 million, making it the world's List of countries and depende ...
(as part of Truong Sa) and Taiwan
Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia. The main geography of Taiwan, island of Taiwan, also known as ''Formosa'', lies between the East China Sea, East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocea ...
(ROC). The reef is long and has an area of ().
Geographical features
On 12 July 2016, the tribunal of thePermanent Court of Arbitration
The Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA) is an intergovernmental organization headquartered at the Peace Palace, in The Hague, Netherlands. Unlike a judicial court in the traditional sense, the PCA provides administrative support in international ...
concluded that Cuarteron Reef contains, within the meaning of Article 121(1) of the Convention, naturally formed areas of land, surrounded by water, which are above water at high tide. However, for purposes of Article 121(3) of the convention, the high-tide features at Cuarteron Reef is rocks that cannot sustain human habitation or economic life of their own and accordingly shall be entitled to 12 nmi of territorial sea measured from its baseline but have no exclusive economic zone or continental shelf. p.259
Chinese construction projects
Prior to 2016, Carteron reef had a supply platform and a reef fortress. In 2015 the Philippine government released what it claimed were photos of a six-story facility being built by the Chinese government on the reef. Also in 2015, China completed the construction of a high lighthouse on the reef. By late 2015, China had expanded the reef's usable area to , reportedly including in the process two helicopter pads, and possibly gun, radar and missile emplacements. As of 2016, China was reportedly building a high-power radar installation on the reef. In late 2016, photographs emerged which suggested that Cuarteron Reef has been armed with anti-aircraft weapons and a CIWS missile-defence system.See also
* Great wall of sand *Nine-dash line
The nine-dash line, also referred to as the eleven-dash line by Taiwan, is a set of line segments on various maps that accompanied the claims of the China, People's Republic of China (PRC, "Mainland China") and the Taiwan, Republic of China (RO ...
References
External links
Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative Island Tracker
Reefs of the Spratly Islands London Reefs Artificial islands of Asia Disputed reefs {{Asia-geo-stub