Tai A Chau is an uninhabited

island An island (or isle) is an isolated piece of habitat that is surrounded by a dramatically different habitat, such as water. Very small islands such as emergent land features on atolls can be called islets, skerries, cays or keys. An isla ...

of Hong Kong, part of the

Soko Islands The Soko Islands () are a group of islands in Hong Kong. The group consists of Tai A Chau, Siu A Chau and several smaller nearby islands, in the southwesternmost waters of the territory, to the southwest of Lantau Island. An older name for t ...

group, located south of

Lantau Island Lantau Island (also Lantao Island, Lan Tao) is the largest island in Hong Kong, located West of Hong Kong Island and the Kowloon Peninsula, and is part of the New Territories. Administratively, most of Lantau Island is part of the Islands ...

. It is referred to as South Soko Island in some media articles. Tai A Chau sign

Geography

With an area of 1.2 km², Tai A Chau is the largest of the

. It is located 4.5 km to the south of

and about 2 km north of the boundary of the Hong Kong territorial waters.Islands District Council. Paper No. IDC 107/2008. Draft South Soko Island Outline Zoning Plan No. S/I-SSI/E
/ref> The island has small hills with heights ranging from 85m to 154m. Its coastline is mainly steeply sloped and rocky in nature.

Administration

Tai A Chau is a recognized village under the

New Territories The New Territories is one of the three main regions of Hong Kong, alongside Hong Kong Island and the Kowloon Peninsula. It makes up 86.2% of Hong Kong's territory, and contains around half of the population of Hong Kong. Historically, it ...

Small House Policy The Small House Policy (SHP, ) was introduced in 1972 in Hong Kong. The objective was to improve the then prevailing low standard of housing in the rural areas of the New Territories. The Policy allows an indigenous male villager who is 18 ye ...

History

There were historically two villages on the island: Ha Tsuen and Sheung Tsuen on the west and south sides of the island. The villagers left in the 1980s, when a detention camp for

Vietnamese refugees Vietnamese boat people ( vi, Thuyền nhân Việt Nam), also known simply as boat people, refers to the refugees who fled Vietnam by boat and ship following the end of the Vietnam War in 1975. This migration and humanitarian crisis was at its h ...

was built. In 1937, Walter Schofield, then a Cadet Officer in the

Hong Kong Civil Service The Hong Kong Civil Service is managed by 13 policy bureaux in the Government Secretariat (Hong Kong), Government Secretariat, and 67 departments and agencies, mostly staffed by civil servants. The Secretary for the Civil Service (SCS) is one of t ...

, wrote "There is a shrimp paste factory here which exports to Europe and America". Tai A Chau Detention Centre was home to thousands of Vietnamese refugees from 1991 to 1996. It once held a peak population of almost 9,700 in November 1991. After the announcement of the closure of Tai A Chau refugee facility on 10 June 1996, the transfer of the remaining Vietnamese refugees took place on 10 consecutive days from 16 to 25 September 1996. Each day, one ferry loaded with luggage, and two ferries loaded with a total of about 550 Vietnamese refugees departed Tai A Chau for

HMS Tamar Six ships and a naval station of the Royal Navy have been called HMS ''Tamar'', after the River Tamar in South West England: * was a 16-gun sloop launched at Saltash in 1758 and stationed in Newfoundland from 1763. She was renamed HMS ''Plut ...

naval base at

Stonecutters Island Stonecutters Island or Ngong Shuen Chau is a former island in Victoria Harbour, Hong Kong. Following land reclamation, it is now attached to the Kowloon Peninsula. Fauna The island once boasted at least three mating pairs of sulphur-crested co ...

. They were then moved to the notorious Whitehead Detention Centre in

Wu Kai Sha Wu Kai Sha (), formerly known as Wu Kwai Sha or U Kwai Sha (), is a place at the shore of Tolo Harbour, northwest of Ma On Shan in the New Territories, Hong Kong. Wu Kai Sha is within the Sha Tin District, one of the 18 districts of Hong Kong. ...

, before immigrating to the US under their “Resettlement Opportunity for Vietnamese Returnees Scheme”. This ensured the centre was closed just prior to the handover in 1997 and all the building structures were demolished.

Features

The island has a temple dedicated to Tin Hau and seven earth shrines.Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) Receiving Terminal and Associated Facilities. EIA Report. Section 12 Cultural Heritage Assessment. December 22, 2006
/ref> Two helicopter landing pads and a small jetty remain from the island's former detention centre.

References

External links

Photographs of the Tai A Chau Tin Hau Temple

Location Plan of Identified Cultural Heritage Resources on Tai A Chau

More details about Tai A Chau. From EIA-125/2006. Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) Receiving Terminal and Associated Facilities

Aerial Photo of Tai A Chau in 1989, showing the Detention Centre

Delineation of area of existing village Tai A Chau (South Lantao) for election of resident representative (2019 to 2022)
{{Islands of Hong Kong Islands District Uninhabited islands of Hong Kong Villages in Islands District, Hong Kong