Zhongsha Islands

The Zhongsha Islands is a Chinese term for a collection of entirely submerged banks, seamounts, and shoals in the South China Sea. There are in fact, no islands in the 'Zhongsha'. The area is known in English as the Macclesfield Bank (Chinese: Zhōngshā). The Scarborough Shoal is an entirely separate geological feature, not at all contiguous with Macclesfield Bank but Chinese sources treat them as connected. The whole of the region is claimed by the PRC and the ROC, and various bits of the western parts are claimed by the Philippines. No country has control of the region, and there are constant disputes - for example, see Scarborough Shoal standoff.

The PRC claim to administer the area as Zhongsha District, a county-level area of the Sansha prefecture-level city in Hainan. It has one township-level division, Zhongsha Dao and Jiao Neighborhood Committee. However, the seat of this committee is not within the Zhongsha District.

Aquaculture research has been conducted on Walker Shoal.^[1]

Geography

The Zhongsha "Islands" include:

To the west, near the Paracel Islands:

• Macclesfield Bank (Zhongsha Dao)
  • Walker Shoal

To the east, near the Philippines:

• Scarborough Shoal (Nanyan Dao 南巖島 or Huangyan Dao 黃岩島; 15°11′N 117°46′E / 15.183°N 117.767°E / 15.183; 117.767 (Scarborough Shoal))
• Truro Shoal (Sianfa Ansha or Shianfa Ansha 特魯暗沙; 16°20′N 116°44′E / 16.333°N 116.733°E / 16.333; 116.733 (Truro Shoal))

To the north:

• Helen Shoal (Itung Ansha or Yitong Ansha 一統暗沙; 19°12′N 113°53′E / 19.200°N 113.883°E / 19.200; 113.883 (Helen Shoal)) - It is a few kilometers south of Hong Kong.
• Stewart Shoal (Ssu-ti-wa-erh-t'e Ansha 管事暗灘; 17°20′N 118°50′E / 17.333°N 118.833°E / 17.333; 118.833 (Stewart Shoal))
• Huangyan Seamount (黃岩海山)
• Shixing Seamount (石星海山)
• Xianbei Seamount (憲北海山)
• Xiannan Seamount (憲南海山)
• Zhangzhong Seamount (漲中海山)
• Zhenbei Seamount (珍貝海山)

To the south, near the Spratly Islands:

• Dreyer Shoal (Zhongnan Ansha, 中南暗沙)
• Zhongnan Seamount (中南海山)
• Longnan Seamount (龍南海山)
• Changlong Seamount (長龍海山)

References