Rocky Island, South China Sea

Rocky Island Shí Dǎo 石岛
Town
Shí Dǎo Island 石岛虚拟镇
Rocky Island (left) connected to Woody Island (right) circa 2010.
Rocky Island
Coordinates: 16°50′40″N 112°20′50″E
Country	China
Province	Hainan
City	Sansha
Government
• Type	Town
• Body	Yongxingdao Neighborhood Committee
Dimensions
• Length	0.4 km (0.2 mi)
• Width	0.22 km (0.14 mi)
Ethnicity
• Chinese	100%
Languages
• Chinese	100%
Time zone	UTC+8 (China)
Post code	572000
Dialing code	+86 0898

Rocky Island (simplified Chinese: 石岛; traditional Chinese: 石島; pinyin: Shí Dǎo; lit. 'stone island'; Vietnamese: Đảo Đá) is one of the Paracel Islands in the South China Sea. It is under the administration of the People's Republic of China and guarded by the PLA Navy. The island is also claimed by Taiwan and Vietnam.

Geography

Until 2016–2017, Rocky Island was connected to Woody Island by an 800-metre concrete causeway. Land reclamation in 2016-2017 has joined the two islands by a larger area of land.[1][2][3] The north part of causeway is now part of an infill construction project while the south end provides protection of the roadway from the sea.

History

A signals intelligence station was built on Rocky Island in 1995, mainly because the island is the highest point in the Paracel Islands.[4][5]

See also

• Sansha
• South China Sea Islands

References

1. "Recent developments surrounding the South China Sea". Star Tribune. Retrieved 31 March 2017.
2. "As US-China tussle, Asean frets". Retrieved 31 March 2017.
3. Woody Island, Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative, Center for Strategic & International Studies
4. Yossef Bodansky. "Beijing's surge for the Strait of Malacca".
5. "Australian expert's opinions on Chinese deployment of air defences on Spratly Islands - News VietNamNet". english.vietnamnet.vn. Retrieved 31 March 2017.

External links

• Satellite image of Rocky Island by Google Maps.