Zhongsha

See also: Zhōngshā

English

Alternative forms

• Chungsha, Chung-sha (Wade–Giles)
• Jhongsha (Tongyong Pinyin)

Etymology

From the Hanyu Pinyin romanization of Mandarin 中沙 (Zhōngshā).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /d͡ʒʊŋˈʃɑː/, enPR: jo͝ongʹshäʹ

Proper noun

Zhongsha

1. A collection of areas in the South China Sea, including Macclesfield Bank, Scarborough Shoal, Truro Shoal, and other areas claimed by China (PRC) and Taiwan (ROC); some of these areas are claimed by the Philippines. [from 20th c.]
   • 1990 August, Paul K.I. Chao, The Changing Geography of China: A Synoptic View‎^[2], Hong Kong: The Commercial Press, →ISBN, →OCLC, page 120:

     3. Zhongsha Island. There are many sandbanks scattered far and wide on Zhongsha Island; they start in the south at latitude 15°24’N and terminate at latitude 16°15’N; in the west they start at longitude 113°40’E and terminate at longitude 114°47’E. Many coral reefs are submerged, some 10-20 m deep. Although the Zhongsha Island is submerged at present, it may come to the surface in a few years’ time and become a proper island and shoal, for the coral is rising with formidable rapidity, sometimes by one metre a year.

   • 2003, Jean-Marc F. Blanchard, “Maritime Issues in Asia: The Problem of Adolescence”, in Muthiah Alagappa, editor, Asian Security Order: Instrumental and Normative Features‎^[3], Stanford, Cali.: Stanford University Press, →ISBN, →LCCN, →OCLC, page 438:

     Scarborough is special because it is the only above-water feature in China’s claimed Zhongsha Islands. The Philippines forced Chinese ships away, tore down Chinese markers, and placed its flag on contested areas.

   • 2011, “Geography”, in The Republic of China Yearbook 2011‎^[4], New Taipei: Government Information Office, →ISBN, →OCLC, pages 24–25:

     In addition, the ROC maintains a historical claim to four groups of islands scattered over a vast area in the South China Sea that is surrounded by rich fishing grounds and gas and oil deposits. These are the Dongsha (Pratas) Islands 東沙群島, the Nansha (Spratly) Islands 南沙群島, the Xisha (Paracel) Islands 西沙群島, and the Zhongsha Islands (Macclesfield Bank) 中沙群島.

   • 2012 July 19, Raissa Robles, quoting Jay Batongbacal, “'1916 court case shows Manila owned shoal'”, in South China Morning Post‎^[5], →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on December 30, 2020‎^[6]:

     A 1916 Philippines Supreme Court decision over a shipwreck on Scarborough Shoal bolsters Manila's territorial claim to the reef, which China also claims, a maritime law expert says. […]
     Furthermore, a 1916 court case in Manila pre-dated China's official inclusion of the shoal as part of what it calls the Zhongsha Islands in 1935, Batongbacal said.
     The 1916 case involved S.S. Nippon, a Swedish cargo ship which ran aground on the shoal on May 8, 1913, as it sailed from Manila to Singapore.

   • 2015, Daniel Schaeffer, “The Legacy of the Nine-Dashed Line: Past, Present, and Future”, in The South China Sea: Challenges and Promises‎^[7], Xlibris, →ISBN, →LCCN, →OCLC, page 107:

     On 19 November 2007, China created the district of Sansha which encompasses the Paracels (Xisha Qundao), the Spratlys (Nansha qundao) and Zhongsha qundao, a fictitious archipelago which gathers the submarine elevation of Macclesfield Bank, the submarine elevation of Truro shoal and Scarborough reef, and the waters these archipelagos are supposed to generate around them.

   • 2015 July 15, Austin Ramzy, “Google Maps Changes Name on Disputed South China Sea Shoal”, in The New York Times‎^[8], →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on May 11, 2024, Sinosphere:

     After Google Maps dropped Scarborough Shoal, a longstanding name taken from a ship that smashed against it in 1784, and described the island as part of the Zhongsha island chain of China, many people in the Philippines complained.

   • 2016 July 12, PCA Case No. 2013-19 in the matter of the South China Sea arbitration before an Arbitral Tribunal constituted under Annex VII to the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea between The Republic of the Philippines and the People's Republic of China : award‎^[9], →OCLC, archived from the original on 29 January 2019, pages 199–200:

     (b) China’s Position on the Status of Scarborough Shoal
     459. China claims sovereignty over Scarborough Shoal, which in China is known as “Huangyan Dao” and treated as part of the Zhongsha Islands.⁵⁰⁰
     460. In China’s 1958 Declaration of the Government of the People’s Republic of China on China’sTerritorial Sea, China declared a twelve mile nautical sea from “all territories . . . including . . .the Zhongsha Islands.”⁵⁰¹ China’s 1992 Law on the Territorial Sea and the Contiguous Zone also included the Zhongsha Islands in China’s territorial land which generated a 12-nautical mile territorial sea.⁵⁰²

   • 2016 December 21, “China returns seized sea drone”, in Taipei Times‎^[10], sourced from AFP, WASHINGTON, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 17 May 2024, World News, page 5‎^[11]:

     Pentagon officials had previously said the drone would be handed over to the crew of a US warship in the vicinity of Scarborough Shoal (Huangyan Island, 黃岩島) in the Macclesfield Bank (Zhongsha Islands, 中沙群島).

   • 2021, Jinming Li, “Geographical overview of China's maritime boundaries in the South China Sea”, in Liao Jing, Fu Rongbao, transl., China's Maritime Boundaries in the South China Sea: Historical and International Law Perspectives‎^[12], Routledge, →ISBN, →OCLC, page 9:

     Huangyan Dao (Scarborough Shoal), also known as Minzhu Jiao (Democracy Reef), is located about 160 nautical miles southeast of the Zhongsha Islands between latitude 15°08'N and 15°14'N and longitude 117°44'E and 117°48'E. In 1748, an English ship named Scarborough grounded here, so the Westerners named it Scarborough Reef.

   • For more quotations using this term, see Citations:Zhongsha.

Usage notes

• The natural feature Macclesfield Bank does not extend to to all the areas of Zhongsha / Chungsha; however, Zhongsha / Chungsha is often explicitly or impliedly equated with Macclesfield Bank.

Synonyms

• (loosely) Macclesfield Bank

Translations

Translations

• Chinese:

  Cantonese: please add this translation if you can

  Mandarin: 中沙 (Zhōngshā)

• Japanese: please add this translation if you can

Further reading

• Saul B. Cohen, editor (1998), “Zhongsha Islands”, in The Columbia Gazetteer of the World‎^[13], volume 3, New York: Columbia University Press, →ISBN, →LCCN, →OCLC, page 3565, column 2