Reports were common of a Sino-British agreement for British co-operation in the economic development of South China, including British financing of a railway in Hainan, the establishment of an airdrome on Tungsha Island southeast of Hongkong, an oil depot in the Sesha Islands southwest of Hainan, and the development of mines in South China.
1975 December 12, Shih Ti-tsu, “South China Sea Islands, Chinese Territory Since Ancient Times”, in Peking Review[2], volume 18, number 50, page 13:
After Japanese imperialism occupied the Tungsha Islands in 1907, Chang Jen-chun, Governor of Kwangtung and Kwangsi, made representations to the Japanese Consul in Kwangchow to recover the Tungsha Islands and, in April 1909, sent more than 170 people under Admiral Li Chun and Captains Wu Ching-jung and Liu Yi-kuan to the Hsisha Islands.
Taiwan has also retained control of the Pescadores (Penghu) and Pratas island (Tungsha), and it maintains a garrison on one of the islands in the Spratly gorup (54), where it has rejected claims made by the Philippines.
On 10 February 1999, Taipei took a step forward to clarify the basis of its territorial sea claims by defining and publicising baselines around its land territory and internal water, which included the Tungsha (Pratas Island and Reef) and the Chungsha (Macclesfield Bank) in the northern part of the South China Sea.
2015 December 12, “The ROC Ministry of the Interior released the following press release Dec. 12:ROC Minister of the Interior Chen Wei-zen presides over a ceremony marking the opening of a wharf and lighthouse on Taiping Island, demonstrating the ROC’s commitment to making Taiping Island a peaceful and low-carbon island, as well as an ecological reserve, in accordance with the spirit of the South China Sea Peace Initiative”, in Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Taiwan)[7]:
With regard to disputes in the South China Sea, the Executive Yuan and Ministry of Foreign Affairs have released numerous statements declaring that, whether from the perspective of history, geography, or international law, the Nansha (Spratly) Islands, Shisha (Paracel) Islands, Chungsha Islands (Macclesfield Bank), and Tungsha (Pratas) Islands, as well as their surrounding waters, are an inherent part of ROC territory and waters, and that the ROC enjoys all rights over these islands and their surrounding waters in accordance with international law. . . . In addition, to promote international cooperation in the South China Sea, the EPA has, since 2009, been testing water quality at Taiping Island, and has opened a background monitoring station on Tungsha Island that cooperates with the Aerosol Robotic Network (AERONET) of the US National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). . . . The agency will adapt its Tungsha Island model for conservation science research on Taiping Island.
2018 November 5, John J. Tkacik, Jr., “Stars and Stripes over Pratas Island”, in Taipei Times[8]:
Within minutes, the topside hatches swung open. Emerging crewmen hoisted boxes of ammo, firearms, radio sets and life vests on deck. They assembled folding “fol-boats” and a large rubber equipment boat under the eye of two Australian commando officers assigned to the sub. When all was ready, the commandos boarded a fol-boat alongside in the sea froth, then loaded the gear, explosives and automatic weapons. With their oars, the commandos pushed off from the sub’s steel hull, paddled easily and quietly toward the dimly visible white beaches on a 70-minute trip to low-lying Pratas Island (東沙), also known as Tungsha Island.
2020 May 24, Minnie Chan, “PLA drill in South China Sea about combat readiness, not seizing Taiwanese islands, experts say”, in South China Morning Post[9], archived from the original on 25 May 2020, Military:
While other parts of the naval flotilla would be involved in landing exercises at a training site near Hainan, about 600km (370 miles) to the southwest of the Pratas – also known as the Dongsha or Tungsha Islands – the exercises would not be a rehearsal for seizing them, he said.
2022 June 16, Guermantes Lailari, “CCP Leaked Invasion Plans for Taiwan and the South China Sea: The Threat of Unmanned Warfare”, in Jewish Policy Center[10], archived from the original on 16 June 2022:
The PLA plans to take Taiwan’s islands in the SCS (Pratas and Spratly islands) and in the East China Sea (Penghu, Kinmen, Matsu, Wuqiu, Tungsha/Donsha, and Nansha islands).
