Disputed atoll | |
---|---|
Other names |
|
Geography | |
Location | South China Sea |
Coordinates | 15°11′N 117°46′E / 15.183°N 117.767°E |
Total islands | 2 islets with many reefs |
Major islands | 1 |
Highest elevation | 1.8 m (5.9 ft) |
Highest point | South Rock |
Administration | |
Province | Hainan |
Prefecture-level city | Sansha |
District | Xisha |
Claimed by | |
Municipality District | Kaohsiung Cijin[1][2] |
Province | Zambales |
Municipality | Masinloc |
Demographics | |
Population | 0 |
Scarborough Shoal, also known as Bajo de Masinloc ("Masinloc shoal" in Spanish),[3][4] Huangyan Island (Mandarin Chinese: 黄岩岛; pinyin: Huáng Yán Dǎo; lit. 'yellow rock island'),[5] Minzhu Jiao (Mandarin Chinese: 民主礁; lit. 'Democracy Reef') and Panatag Shoal (Filipino: Buhanginan ng Panatag, lit. 'serene sandbank'),[6] are two skerries (rocks[a]) located between Macclesfield Bank to the west and Luzon to the east. Luzon is 220 kilometres (119 nmi) away and the nearest landmass.[7] The atoll is a disputed territory claimed by the Republic of the Philippines through the 1734 Velarde map, while the People's Republic of China and the Republic of China (Taiwan) claim it through the disputed[8] nine-dash line (referred to as the eleven-dash line by Taiwan, which includes waters in the Gulf of Tonkin[9]). The atoll's status is often discussed in conjunction with other territorial disputes in the South China Sea such as those involving the Spratly Islands, and the 2012 Scarborough Shoal standoff. It was administered by the Philippines as part of its Zambales province, until 2012, when a standoff was initiated by China through the use of warships against fishing boats, resulting in effective capture by the Chinese maritime forces.[10][11]
In 2013, the Philippines solely filed an international case against China in the non-UN arbitration court in The Hague, Netherlands. In 2016, the court declared that China's so-called nine-dash line claim in the entire South China Sea was invalid,[8] while upholding the sovereign rights of the Philippines in the area.[12] China rejected the court's decision, sending more warships to the Scarborough Shoal and the Spratly Islands,[13] while a multitude of nations backed the Tribunal's ruling including the claimants to the area such as Malaysia, the Philippines, and Vietnam.[14][15]
The atoll was named by Captain Philip D'Auvergne, whose East India Company East Indiaman Scarborough grounded on one of the rocks on 12 September 1784, before sailing on to China,[16][17] although it already had a Spanish name recorded in the 1734 Velarde map of Spanish Philippines.[18]
The name Bajo de Masinloc (translated as "under Masinloc") itself identifies the shoal as a particular political subdivision of the Philippine province of Zambales, known as Masinloc.
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