1908, M. Kennelly, transl., Comprehensive Geography of the Chinese Empire and Dependencies[1], Shanghai: T'usewei Press, pages 277–278:
Islands. - Rocky and bare, they are nearly all inhabited by fishermen whose boats go far out to sea. The most important is the island of Amoy, though it is not the largest. The Samsa or Sansha三沙group, including the upper上三都 (shangsantu) and lower下三部 (hsiasantu) islets, Hait'an海壇island, Quemoy or Kinmên金門 (golden harbour) island, T'ungshan銅山, and White dog island, are largest.
1945 May, Notes on the China Coast[2], volume XIV, number 5, →OCLC, page 22:
Sansha Bay, 62 miles north of Foochow, is one of the good harbors on the China coast. It has deep water and is surrounded on all sides by steep precipices.
SANSHA, on China's eastern coast, Fukien Province, had only a few score small old fishing boats before Liberation.[…] After Liberation, a highway was extended to Sansha.[…] The six fishermen's brigades operating around Sansha have over 200 boats.
In order to receive the Taiwan fishermen compatriots, the Fujian Provincial Revolutionary Committee in early 1978 formally established these reception stations at the four fishing ports of Sansha in Xiapu [Hsiapu],[...]The Sansha reception station in Xiapu received 12 Taiwan fishing boats in 1978 and everytime[sic] helped repair the boats and engines, provided fuel and drinking water and purchased grain, meat, vegetables and other foods before they departed.
It has recently been confirmed that there are reception stations for Taiwanese fishermen in four places (from north to south, there are situated in Sansha of Xiapu County, Pingtan County, Huian County and Dongshan County) and also that berths for Taiwanese vessels have been established at six different locations (Qinyu of Fuding County, Xiaocheng of[...]
Located in Xiapu County in northeastern Fujian Province, Sansha Port is a deep-water port well known for its fine natural fishing grounds and tourist resources.
2015, 高坚辉 [Jianhui Gao], Stories from Fujian, China[9], →ISBN, →OCLC:
I once went to the farther north coast of Fujian Province, our province's northeast part, Sansha Town of Xiapu County, (三沙镇，霞浦县) where, off the coast, the sea water in some place is bluer than it is here. At that time in Sansha Town, after I saw the blue water and an islet which emerges from the blue sea, so bleak, so solitary that I dreamed a fantastic dream at night: I was like a fish in the deep, unfathomable blue.
2019, Jiangyong Liu, The Diaoyu Islands: Facts and Legality[10], →ISBN, →OCLC, page 378:
On July 15, they set sail for Fuzhou. However, they were struck by a storm on July 18 and floated to Sansha, Xiapu County in Fujian Province. There they got the help of local officials.
Boats are moored to take shelter in waters off Sansha town in Xiapu county in southeastern China's Fujian province on Monday.
2021 April 20, Leah MarieAnn Klett, “China's closure of Catholic orphanages for disabled children betrays hope of Vatican Agreement: Priest”, in The Christian Post[13], archived from the original on 20 April 2021[14]:
A church is seen beside a laver farm at the Gutong Village of Sansha Township on October 15, 2007 in Xiapu County of Fujian Province, China.
2009, Security and International Politics in the South China Sea: Towards a Cooperative Management Regime[15], →ISBN, →LCCN, →OCLC, page [16]:
In an apparent move to upgrade the importance o the South China Sea and its islands, a new county-level city, Sansha, was created, with its based in Woody Island, in late 2007. According to the official website of Sansha City, the new administrative unit was setup by China's State Council in November 2007. It covers the Paracels, the Spratlys, and Macclesfield Banks.
In 2007 Beijing established the new Sansha municipality in Hainan Province, which has jurisdiction over three islets that Vietnam claims in the Spratly and Paracel archipelagos. This led to large-scale protest demonstrations outside the Chinese embassy in Hanoi.
2012 July 27, Chris Wang, “Assert sovereignty over disputed islands: DPP”, in Taipei Times[18], →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 28 July 2012, Taiwan News, page 3[19]:
Beijing confirmed on Monday it would establish a military garrison and the government of the newly established city of Sansha (三沙) on Yongxing Island, part of the Paracel Islands (Xisha Islands, 西沙群島). Lin said Ma’s silence about recent development in the South China Sea would likely create a false perception that Taiwan takes the same position as China, or even worse — that Taiwan is part of China. However, Ma, as president, is obligated to reaffirm Taiwan’s sovereignty in the region, in particular since Taiwan-controlled Taiping Island (太平島), the largest of the Spratly Islands, has been included in the administrative zone of Sansha.
As recently as June 2012, Vietnam passed a maritime law reasserting its sovereignty over the Paracel and Spratly Islands and delimiting its maritime claims for both.²²⁰ On the same day, in response to this challenge to its claimed sovereignty, China upgraded the status of Sansha City. Vietnam and the Philippines expectedly protested but, unusually, so did the United States.²²¹
2017 March 17, Christopher Bodeen, “China plans 1st structure on disputed South China Sea shoal”, in AP News[21], archived from the original on 12 August 2022[22]:
The top official in Sansha City that has administered China’s island claims since 2012 was quoted by the official Hainan Daily newspaper as saying that preparations were underway to build an environmental monitoring station on Scarborough Shoal off the northwestern Philippines. The preparatory work on the stations and others on five other islands in the strategically vital waterway was among the government’s top priorities for 2017, Sansha Communist Party Secretary Xiao Jie was quoted as saying in an interview published in the paper’s Monday edition seen online Friday in Beijing.
2017 July 24, Adam Taylor, “On a disputed South China Sea island, Beijing unveils a high-tech cinema”, in The Washington Post[23], archived from the original on 11 November 2017[24]:
In 2012, China set up a prefecture-level city named Sansha on Woody Island, soon unveiling structures such as a school and a hospital and even setting up a 4G mobile signal network.
2017 December 25, “China island expansion moves ahead in South China Sea”, in France 24[25], archived from the original on 25 December 2017[26]:
China is also building a floating nuclear power plant, the report said, to provide power for those living in the Sansha city area. Sansha lies on Woody Island in the Paracel chain -- which is also claimed by Vietnam and Taiwan -- and administers much of China's claims in the South China Sea. China established Sansha in 2012 by unilaterally awarding it two million square kilometres of sea and declaring it the country's largest city.
The PRC has also used lawfare to bolster its territorial claims in the South China Sea by designating the village of Sansha, located on the disputed Paracel Islands, as a Hainan Prefecture in an attempt to extend PRC control far into the region.
2020 April 19, “Vietnam protests Beijing's expansion in disputed South China Sea”, in Reuters[28], archived from the original on 20 April 2020[29]:
On Saturday it said it had established an administrative district on the Paracel islands and another on the Spratly islands. The two districts are under the control of China’s Sansha city, according to China Global Television Network. “The establishment of the so-called Sansha City and related activities seriously violated Vietnam’s sovereignty,” Vietnam’s Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Le Thi Thu Hang said in a statement.
Only last month, China established Xisha District (西沙) on Woody Island (Yongxing Island, 永興島) and Nansha District (南沙) on the reef, both of which fall under Sansha, a prefecture-level city established in 2012.
2022 May 6, Sebastian Strangio, “Vietnam Protests China’s Imposition of Annual South China Sea Fishing Ban”, in The Diplomat[32], archived from the original on 06 May 2022[33]:
An aerial view of the Sansha city on the Chinese-occupied Woody Island, part of the Paracel Islands in the South China Sea.
