Fiery Cross Reef, also known as "Northwest Investigator 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 ...
; Kagitingan Reef (); , is a militarized reef controlled and administered 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 of Hainan Province and is also claimed by the
Republic of China
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/Taiwan), 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 ...
and
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 ...
.
The atoll was named after the British
tea clipper ''Fiery Cross'', which was wrecked on the atoll on 4 March
1860
Events
January
* January 2 – The astronomer Urbain Le Verrier announces the discovery of a hypothetical planet Vulcan (hypothetical planet), Vulcan at a meeting of the French Academy of Sciences in Paris, France.
* January 10 &ndas ...
. (A later sister ship was also named ''
Fiery Cross''). The atoll was surveyed by Lieutenant J. W. Reed of , who in
1867
There were only 354 days this year in the newly purchased territory of Alaska. When the territory transferred from the Russian Empire to the United States, the calendric transition from the Julian to the Gregorian Calendar was made with only 1 ...
reported it to be one extensive reef, and found the apparent wrecks of ''Fiery Cross'' and ''Meerschaum''.
In December 1934 the 'Land and Water Maps Inspection Committee' of the government of the
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 ...
copied the English name "Fiery Cross Reef" and translated it as 十字火礁 / Shizi huo jiao (literally Fire Cross Reef). This name was published on an official list of names in January 1935. In 1947, it was renamed "Yongshu Reef" (永暑礁) by the government. At that time, Chinese fishermen called it "Tuwu" (土戊).
The atoll was occupied 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) in early 1988, despite immediate opposition from Vietnam, which led to armed conflict at
Johnson Reef South in March of that year.
In 2014, the PRC commenced reclamation activity in the area, and it has been converted into an
artificial island
An artificial island or man-made island is an island that has been Construction, constructed by humans rather than formed through natural processes. Other definitions may suggest that artificial islands are lands with the characteristics of hum ...
of .
[ There were around 200 Chinese troops on the atoll in late 2014,] though this number was likely to have increased significantly in 2015 with the addition of support personnel for the new airbase
An airbase (stylised air base in American English), sometimes referred to as a military airbase, military airfield, military airport, air station, naval air station, air force station, or air force base, is an aerodrome or airport used as a mi ...
, including a runway and associated early warning radar
An early-warning radar is any radar system used primarily for the long-range detection of its targets, i.e., allowing defences to be alerted as ''early'' as possible before the intruder reaches its target, giving the air defences the maximum tim ...
site.
According to the Center for Strategic and International Studies
The Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) is an American think tank based in Washington, D.C. From its founding in 1962 until 1987, it was an affiliate of Georgetown University, initially named the Center for Strategic and Inte ...
, it is "the most advanced of China's bases" in the South China Sea's disputed areas, with 12 hardened shelters with retractable roofs for mobile missile launchers already completed. It has enough hangars to accommodate 24 combat aircraft and four larger planes Fiery Cross Reef has a runway long enough to land a Chinese Xian H-6N bomber; a bomber like this could perform combat operations within of the reclaimed reef.
Geographical features
On 12 July 2016, the tribunal of the Permanent 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 Fiery Cross Reef contains, within the meaning of Article 121(1) of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea
The United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), also called the Law of the Sea Convention or the Law of the Sea Treaty, is an international treaty that establishes a legal framework for all marine and maritime activities. , 169 sov ...
(UNCLOS), naturally formed areas of land, surrounded by water, which are above water at low tide. However, for purposes of Article 121(3) of UNCLOS, the high-tide features at Fiery Cross Reef are "rocks that cannot sustain human habitation or economic life of their own and accordingly shall be entitled to 12 nautical miles of territorial sea measured from its baseline but have no exclusive economic zone or continental shelf".[ p.259]
GLOSS sea level monitoring station
In March 1987, China submitted the name of 'Yongshu Jiao' to a /Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission
The Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission of UNESCO (IOC/UNESCO) was established by resolution 2.31 adopted by the General Conference of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). It first met in Paris at ...
(UNESCO/IOC) meeting as a possible location for a monitoring station as part of the Global Sea Level Observing System (GLOSS) survey. The scientists, unaware of the location of 'Yongshu Jiao' included the feature on a list of sites for tide gauge
A tide gauge is a device for measuring the change in sea level relative to a vertical datum. It is also known as a mareograph, marigraph, and sea-level recorder.
When applied to freshwater continental water body, water bodies, the instrument may ...
s on what the PRC considered to be its coasts in the East China Sea and on the "''Nansha islands''" in South China Sea. The scientists were unaware of regional political disputes, including Taiwanese territorial claims to, and occupation of, one of the Spratly Islands.
In April 1987, the PRC chose Fiery Cross Reef as the site to build a weather station, as the reef was large enough for the purpose, and it was isolated from other disputed islands and reefs. However, this caused further skirmishes with Vietnam when, in January 1988, some Vietnamese ships with construction materials tried to approach the reef in a bid to establish structures there.
Construction was commenced in February 1988 and completed in August 1988.
Land reclamation
During 2014, the PRC government began land reclamation activities to construct a large artificial island to support an approximately airstrip, a seaport and a military base.
Although the PRC has a runway on Woody Island in the Paracels, it had been at a disadvantage compared with other claimants of areas of the South China Sea as it was the only claimant that did not have an airfield in the Spratly Islands. As of January 2016, the PRC has reclaimed land on seven reefs and built three runways within the Spratly Islands. The runway on Fiery Cross was completed in January 2016 and is the southernmost of the three (the others being at Mischief and Subi reefs). The PRC test-landed two civilian aircraft there in January 2016, one from China Southern Airlines
China Southern Airlines (branded as China Southern) is a major airline in China, headquartered in Guangzhou, Guangdong. It is one of the three major airlines in the country, along with Air China and China Eastern Airlines.
Established on 1 ...
and the other from Hainan Airlines
Hainan Airlines is an airline headquartered in Haikou, Hainan, China. It is the largest civilian-run enterprise, civilian-run and majority State ownership, state-owned air transport company, making it the fourth-largest airline in terms of flee ...
.
The '' People's Liberation Army Daily'' reported that a Chinese military jet had made a public landing there in April 2016. It has been asserted that other PRC military aircraft, including jet fighters, have been observed there since April 2016.
In late 2016, photographs emerged which suggested that Fiery Cross Reef has been armed with anti-aircraft weapons and a CIWS
A close-in weapon system (CIWS ) is a point-defense weapon system for detecting and destroying short-range incoming missiles and enemy aircraft which have penetrated the outer defenses, typically mounted on a naval ship. Nearly all classes of ...
missile-defense system.
Yongshu Airport
See also
* Great wall of sand
* Mischief Reef
Mischief Reef, also known as Meiji Reef (), Vành Khăn Reef (), or Panganiban Reef (), is a low tide elevation (LTE) reef/atoll surrounding a large lagoon in the southeastern region of Dangerous Ground (South China Sea), Dangerous Ground in the ...
* 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 ...
* Subi Reef
References
External links
Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative Island Tracker
{{South China Sea
Atolls of the Spratly Islands
Atolls of China
Atolls of the Philippines
Chinese Air Force bases
People's Liberation Army Navy
Artificial islands of Asia
Disputed atolls