Triton Island (; ) is the westernmost and southernmost of the

Paracel Islands The Paracel Islands, also known as the Xisha Islands () and the Hoang Sa Archipelago ( vi, Quần đảo Hoàng Sa, lit=Yellow Sand Archipelago), are a disputed archipelago in the South China Sea. The archipelago includes about 130 small coral ...

in the

South China Sea The South China Sea is a marginal sea of the Western Pacific Ocean. It is bounded in the north by the shores of South China (hence the name), in the west by the Indochinese Peninsula, in the east by the islands of Taiwan and northwestern Phil ...

. It is located on the southwest corner of Triton Reef and has an area of above sea-level. The reef including the island measures about in area. The island is administered by the

People's Republic of China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

, and is also claimed by the

Republic of China (Taiwan) Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the northeast ...

and

Vietnam Vietnam or Viet Nam ( vi, Việt Nam, ), officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam,., group="n" is a country in Southeast Asia, at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of and population of 96 million, making i ...

. The island was historically known by the Chinese as ''Bànlù Zhì'' (), and as ''Luó Dǎo'' () to Chinese fishermen. Other Chinese sources have it named as 南建岛, as it was the southernmost point claimed by China until after 1933. The current Chinese name commemorates the

Republic of China Navy The Republic of China Navy (ROCN; ), also called the ROC Navy and colloquially the Taiwan Navy, is the maritime branch of the Republic of China Armed Forces (ROCAF). The service was formerly commonly just called the Chinese Navy during World Wa ...

warship ''ROCS Chung-chien'' () sent in 1946 to claim the Paracel Islands.吕一燃 (Lu Yiran), 2007. 中国近代边界史 (A modern history of China's borders), Vol. 2. 四川人民出版社 (Sichuan People's Publishing), pp.1092-1093.

History

Lacking a native population, ownership of the Paracel Islands has been disputed since the early 20th century. In the aftermath of the

First Indochina War The First Indochina War (generally known as the Indochina War in France, and as the Anti-French Resistance War in Vietnam) began in French Indochina from 19 December 1946 to 20 July 1954 between France and Việt Minh (Democratic Republic of Vi ...

, until 1974 Vietnam occupied Pattle Island, approximately northeast. Control has been enforced by the People's Republic of China since the

Battle of the Paracel Islands The Battle of the Paracel Islands (Chinese: 西沙海战, Pinyin: Xisha Haizhan；Vietnamese: Hải chiến Hoàng Sa) was a military engagement between the naval forces of China and South Vietnam in the Paracel Islands on January 19, 1974. The ...

. In 1973 the cargo ship USNS ''Sgt. Jack J. Pendleton'' was abandoned on the reef of Triton Island, having run aground there en route from Vietnam to the Philippines. The USS Mt Vernon (LSD 39) with other units, including UDT teams, salvaged cargo from the J.J. Pendleton in fall of 1973. The passage through the reef, in the southwest corner of the island, was to allow amphibious craft access to the beach to offload cargo. This operation continued for about one month. The Pendleton had originally run around on Triton Island during a typhoon in October and was further driven ashore in the midst of three additional typhoons in the following weeks.

Freedom of navigation manoeuvres

On January 30, 2016, the United States warship passed within 12 nautical miles of the island.

The Pentagon The Pentagon is the headquarters building of the United States Department of Defense. It was constructed on an accelerated schedule during World War II. As a symbol of the U.S. military, the phrase ''The Pentagon'' is often used as a metony ...

stated that it had notified none of the three claimants to the island beforehand, and stated the reason for the transit was to protect

freedom of navigation Freedom of navigation (FON) is a principle of law of the sea that ships flying the flag of any sovereign state shall not suffer interference from other states, apart from the exceptions provided for in international law. In the realm of internat ...

, "consistent with international law". The People's Republic of China called the voyage "provocative" and that it "violated relevant Chinese laws by entering Chinese territorial waters without prior permission". In July 2017, the

guided missile destroyer A guided-missile destroyer (DDG) is a destroyer whose primary armament is guided missiles so they can provide anti-aircraft warfare screening for the fleet. The NATO standard designation for these vessels is DDG, while destroyers who have a prim ...

navigated within 12 miles of Triton island as part of a FONOP (Freedom of navigation operation). In May 2018, the

navigated within 12 miles of Triton island as part of a FONOP (Freedom of navigation operation).

External links

Photo

Photo

(2012)

References

{{South China Sea Baselines of the Chinese territorial sea Paracel Islands