Meiji Jiao
| Mischief reef | ||
|---|---|---|
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| Waters | South China Sea | |
| archipelago | Spratly Islands | |
| Geographical location | 9 ° 55 ' N , 115 ° 32' E | |
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| Number of islands | 3 (not counting the lights erected on the reef) | |
| Main island | North Island with Air Force Base | |
| length | 8.7 km | |
| width | 6.1 km | |
| Land area | approx. 6.5–7 km² as of July 24, 2016 | |
| Lagoon area | 33 km² | |
| total area | 46 km² | |
| Residents | 103 (as of 2015) | |
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Meiji Jiao (美 济 礁), also Mischief Reef , is an atoll in the Spratly Islands in the South China Sea . The People's Republic of China has been promoting the construction of an air force base in the north of the atoll since 2015.
geography
The atoll is 105 kilometers east of the Union Bank . It extends over a length of 8.7 km from east to west and is a maximum of 6.1 km wide. The total area is 46 km². The lagoon is a maximum of 27 meters deep and measures around 33 km² in area.
administration
The atoll is under the control of the People's Republic of China ( Sansha City , Hainan Province ) and is also claimed by the Philippines and Vietnam .
history
The atoll has a nearly closed reef rim , which was completely flooded, on which only a few dry coral blocks rested. The reef rim was only interrupted in the southwest by three passages, of which the two eastern ones were only suitable for boats. The western passage is the South Entrance , which was 37 meters wide and 300 meters long, at a depth of 18.3 meters.
In the course of the most recent military expansion by the People's Republic of China, these fairways for ocean-going ships were further dug. The third interruption of the ring is increasingly silted up by the heap of an artificial island and hardly stands out from the rest of the ring.
In February 1995, the People's Republic of China built a number of wooden huts on the reef as shelters for fishermen to support their ownership claims. In 1999 the Philippines made an official protest against this approach. The government of the Philippines suspected that the wooden huts represent a military base because they are near the island of Palawan (about 230 kilometers). In addition, the Philippines raise their own property claims to secure the rich oil reserves that are said to be stored under the islands. Despite the agreement of a status quo on the island with the Philippines, the military expansion of the island base has been carried out by the People's Republic of China since 2000, including the construction of bunkers . An economically used fish and shrimp farm has been operated since 2007 and since 2011 there are 13 multi-storey buildings with a permanent stationing of 50 Chinese marines . On December 5, 2012, 53 fishermen were resettled as permanent civilians and the “ Meiji Village ” (美 济 村) was founded, and nearly a hundred more houses are under construction to provide accommodation for civilians. Meiji Village is subordinate to the Yongshu Jiao Township . China Mobile has connected Meiji Jiao and the surrounding sea area to the Chinese cellular network.
At the beginning of 2015, more and more land was reclaimed by adding sand to the reef, and an air force base was built on the north side as well as another island in the south and a small one in the west of the atoll. The two existing buildings in the north and south were largely silted up.
Web links
- Information about the reef and the Spratly Islands at www.globaldefence.net (German)
- PLA General Advises Building Bases in the South China Sea (June 24, 2009)
Individual evidence
- ↑ Atoll Area, Depth and Rainfall ( page no longer available , search in web archives ) Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ measured with HERE Satellite Image Tiles
- ↑ Meiji Jiao on Google Maps
