Оңтүстік Қытай теңізіндегі Пратас аралы және атолдары

Island in the northern South China Sea

There are three undersea features in the waters associated with Pratas Island: Pratas Atoll, North Vereker Bank and South Vereker Bank. There are numerous oil wells to the west of the banks. In 2007, the Dongsha Atoll National Park was established on the island. The People's Republic of China claims the island, Pratas Atoll is also called Pratas Reef. Tungsha Island (Tung sha Tao) is the Wade–Giles derived romanization of the Mandarin Chinese name for the island, and Dongsha Island (Dongsha Dao) is the pinyin derived name. A smaller island with the same Chinese character name is located in the Taiwan administered Dongyin Township in the Matsu Islands in the East China Sea. The area including the island, atoll and banks is also called the Pratas Islands ( Despite these names, Pratas Island is the only island; there is no group of islands. Decades later, the boilers and parts of the machinery of the wreckage of HMS Reynard remained visible on the atoll. In 1859–1861, there was a correspondence between the British Colonial Office and the Hong Kong colonial authorities about building a lighthouse on the main island on the atoll. Despite an offer by a British businessman in Xiamen (Amoy) to build it, it was decided that the cost was too great and the matter lapsed. It is clear from the correspondence that no one supposed the atoll to be a part of any known jurisdiction, so negotiations might have been required to ensure that any construction would be legal. One consequence of that initiative was that, in 1858, the Royal Navy survey ship completed the first detailed survey of the atoll, resulting in the Plan of the Pratas Reef and Island, J. Richards and others, April 1858, being published by the British Admiralty. On the resulting chart three positions are proposed for a lighthouse: on Pratas Island, on the north east corner, or on the southern edge near where HMS Reynard had stranded. In the north east corner of the lagoon the chart notes "Anchorage for junks", indicating regular use by fishing and other small vessels taking shelter. The chart's rubric noted that the available safe draft for vessels entering was only 15 feet (5 m), so it was restricted to relatively small vessels only. In 1866, Cuthbert Collingwood (naturalist) visited Pratas Island and later published a description of it. After a diplomatic confrontation, Chinese sovereignty was re established, and Nishizawa withdrew, after being compensated by the Guangdong provincial government, and after paying compensation for the destruction of a Chinese fishermen's shrine. In December 1930, the schooner (Netherlands) ran aground on a coral reef off Pratas Island and was wrecked. On 22 May 1944, the Japanese gunboat Japanese gunboat Hashidate was torpedoed and sunk by the US submarine Picuda, in the South China Sea off Pratas Island at , while towing the disabled passenger cargo ship Tsukuba Maru. Casualties are unknown but her commanding officer was killed. Japanese naval personnel occupied Pratas Island during World War II. The Japanese Navy used the island as a weather station and listening post. On May 29, 1945, at 10:22 AM, a landing party consisting of Australian commandos and US naval personnel from the submarine Bluegill raised the US flag, declared the island a United States territory, and named it Bluegill Island. The landing party destroyed a radio tower, weather station, fuel and ammunition dumps, and several buildings. They encountered no resistance because the Japanese had left the island prior to the arrival of Bluegill. Pratas Island was later restored to Guangdong Province of the Republic of China (ROC). On September 12, 1946, the navy of the Republic of China took over and garrisoned Pratas Island. While underway in the South China Sea on 18 July 1965, the USS Frank Knox ran aground on Pratas Reef, and was only freed on 24 August after a very difficult salvage effort. On 13 April 1996, the jurisdiction of the Taiwan Kaohsiung District Court was extended to include Tungsha Island (Pratas Island). In May 1999, Kaohsiung Mayor Frank Hsieh visited the island and hung an address plate on the island’s fishing service station. In January 2007, the ROC government designated the Pratas atoll as the Dongsha Atoll National Park, the first marine national park in Taiwan. On 8 January 2013, an office of Chunghwa Post was established on Pratas Island. In September 2020, the PRC conducted air drills over the waters between the main island of Taiwan and Pratas Island that intruded into the ROC air defense identification zone (ADIZ). The planes were issued radio warnings by the ROC military until they left. On 15 October 2020, a regular civilian charter flight by Uni Air had to abandon its trip from the main island of Taiwan to Pratas Island when Hong Kong air traffic controllers told the captain of the aircraft that there were "dangerous activities" happening below 26,000 feet (7925 m) and that the Uni Air aircraft could not enter the Hong Kong Flight Information Region (FIR). The transcript of the conversation between the pilot and air traffic control was released by the ROC Civil Aeronautics Administration. The next day, the ROC Minister of National Defense Yen Teh fa called on PRC not to "disrupt the order of international aviation". On 20 October, Deputy Chief of the ROC General Staff, Lieutenant General Li Ting sheng (李廷盛), visited Pratas Island. He made an inspection of the living facilities of the military personnel and gave them instructions. On 26 October, the same Uni Air aircraft made the round trip flight between the main island of Taiwan and Pratas Island. On 27 October 2020, a Y8 PRC military aircraft entered ROC air defense identification zone (ADIZ) between the main island of Taiwan and Pratas Island for the twenty first time that month. On 28 October, Zhu Fenglian of the Taiwan Affairs Office of the PRC was asked whether, in light of PLA military exercises in Fujian and Guangdong, there was or was not a plan to take Pratas Island from the ROC. Feng responded that she did not have to answer hypothetical questions. On 2 November, eight Chinese PLAAF aircraft breached the ROC ADIZ above an area of sea near Pratas Island. On 3 November, Y 8 plane entered the ADIZ of the ROC in the area between the main island of Taiwan and Pratas Island. On 4 November, the ROC Minister of National Defense, Yen Teh fa, stated in a legislative hearing that since January 2020, 276 PRC military planes had entered the airspace between the main island of Taiwan and Pratas Island, activity that Yen associated with plans by the PRC for a creating its own ADIZ in the South China Sea. On 6 December, a PRC air force Y 8 plane entered the Taiwan ADIZ between the main island of Taiwan and Pratas Island, the fifth day in December that PRC military aircraft entered Taiwan's ADIZ.

The People's Republic of China claims the Pratas Islands (东沙群岛) as part of Chengqu, Shanwei (Swabue), Guangdong Province. According to an anonymous PLA source, plans created around 2010 by China for an air defence identification zone in the South China Sea include Pratas Island airspace. The PLA's actions near the southwest corner of the Taiwan ADIZ and Pratas Island in late 2020 led to speculation that the area might be declared part of an ADIZ by China. In the later half of 2020, repeated reports of Chinese military exercises and fly overs near the island were interpreted as an apparent attempt to cut off the supply line between Pratas Island and mainland Taiwan.

As an island with no permanent inhabitants, it is visited largely by fishermen, military personnel and researchers. Amateur radio operators participating in the DXCC and Islands on the Air awards programs also visit occasionally.

An obelisk was erected after 1946. In 1954 the ROC Government personnel stationed on Pratas erected a stone tablet on the southern side of the island, facing the ocean. The Da Wang temple is dedicated to 'Kuang Kang' and 'The South China Sea Goddess' Mazu. It is said that the statue of Guan Gong came to Pratas Island on a canoe in 1948. The soldiers on Pratas Island built a temple to worship her in 1975. Today, the canoe is still kept in the temple. The joss sticks and candles are donated by soldiers, as was the golden sign hung in front of the statue. There is an 'Ever Green' pavilion in front of the temple which was also built by the soldiers. It is the most verdant place on the island.

Diesel fueled generators are used to power the island. In March 2016, a solar energy system built by the Coast Guard Administration went into operation. The system covers an area of 310.6 m2 and produces 53,200 kWh of electricity each year.

The Dongsha Island Airport features a runway located on the north end of Pratas Island with a small airport terminal at the eastern end. The airport is used by the ROC military. A main shack and subordinate shack are located on the southeast end of the island. There are no refueling facilities. Two piers on the southeast shore allow for small watercraft to land. A circle with a radius of centered on Pratas Island, referred to as VHR7, is a prohibited area for aeronautical purposes. The 'VH' in VHR7 denotes 'Hong Kong' and the 'R' denotes a 'Restricted Area'.