# Tungsha
## English
### Alternative forms

* Tung-sha (also from Wade–Giles)
* Dongsha (Hanyu Pinyin)

### Etymology

From the Wade–Giles romanization of Mandarin Chinese 東沙 (Dōngshā) Wade-Giles romanization: Tung¹-sha¹.

### Pronunciation

* enPR: do͝ongʹshäʹ

### Proper noun

Tungsha
* Synonym of Pratas
** 1940, Irving S. Friedman, British Relations With China: 1931-1939‎, Institute of Pacific Relations, →OCLC, page 81:Reports were common of a Sino-British agreement for British co-operation in the economic development of South China, including British financing of a railway in Hainan, the establishment of an airdrome on Tungsha Island southeast of Hongkong, an oil depot in the Sesha Islands southwest of Hainan, and the development of mines in South China.
** 1975 December 12, Shih Ti-tsu, “South China Sea Islands, Chinese Territory Since Ancient Times”, in Peking Review‎, volume 18, number 50, archived from the original on 28 October 2012, page 13:After Japanese imperialism occupied the Tungsha Islands in 1907, Chang Jen-chun, Governor of Kwangtung and Kwangsi, made representations to the Japanese Consul in Kwangchow to recover the Tungsha Islands and, in April 1909, sent more than 170 people under Admiral Li Chun and Captains Wu Ching-jung and Liu Yi-kuan to the Hsisha Islands.
** 1978 July 24 [1977 February], Ti Tsung-heng, Who Will Control the Taiwan Straits in the Future?‎, United States Joint Publications Research Service, page 27:At present, the Nationalists are using four LSMs to supply troops stationed on Tungsha and Nansha Islands.
** 1987, Andrew Boyd, “Taiwan”, in An Atlas of World Affairs‎, 8th edition, Methuen & Co., →ISBN, →LCCN, →OCLC, →OL, page 152:Taiwan has also retained control of the Pescadores (Penghu) and Pratas island (Tungsha), and it maintains a garrison on one of the islands in the Spratly gorup (54), where it has rejected claims made by the Philippines.
** 2003, Clive Cussler, Golden Buddha‎, Berkley Books, published 2007, →ISBN, →OCLC, page 156:TWO hundred and twenty-seven miles from Macau, in the South China Sea, the burgundy jet was passing over Tungsha Island, inbound for landing.
** 2005 July 28, “President Chen Visits Tungsha Islands”, in 中華民國總統府 [Office of the President, Republic of China (Taiwan)]‎, archived from the original on 09 July 2020‎:President Chen visited the Tungsha Island today and inaugurated the Fifth Maritime Patrol Squad of the Coast Guard Administration. Upon his arrival at the island, President Chen was briefed on the situation of Tungsha and islets of the archipelago.
** 2012 July 24, Stirring up the South China Sea (II): Regional Responses‎, International Crisis Group, page 37:On 10 February 1999, Taipei took a step forward to clarify the basis of its territorial sea claims by defining and publicising baselines around its land territory and internal water, which included the Tungsha (Pratas Island and Reef) and the Chungsha (Macclesfield Bank) in the northern part of the South China Sea.
** 2015 July 7, “MOFA issues statement on South China Sea”, in Taiwan News‎, archived from the original on 04 October 2022‎:In July 2010, the Ministry of the Interior (MOI) formally established the Tungsha (Pratas) Atoll National Park Management Station, which will implement the Tungsha (Pratas) Atoll International Marine Research Station Project, promoting Tungsha (Pratas) as a hub for international marine research. In 2011, the Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA) mapped mining areas around the Tungsha (Pratas) Islands and Taiping Island (Itu Aba), and completed preliminary geological and oceanic surveys. Since 2011, the Ministry of National Defense (MND) and the Coast Guard Administration (CGA) have held study camps regarding the Nansha (Spratly) and Tungsha (Pratas) Islands to enhance awareness among young people of the importance of peacefully resolving regional disputes.
** 2015 December 12, “The ROC Ministry of the Interior released the following press release Dec. 12:ROC Minister of the Interior Chen Wei-zen presides over a ceremony marking the opening of a wharf and lighthouse on Taiping Island, demonstrating the ROC’s commitment to making Taiping Island a peaceful and low-carbon island, as well as an ecological reserve, in accordance with the spirit of the South China Sea Peace Initiative”, in Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Taiwan)‎, archived from the original on 20 June 2017:With regard to disputes in the South China Sea, the Executive Yuan and Ministry of Foreign Affairs have released numerous statements declaring that, whether from the perspective of history, geography, or international law, the Nansha (Spratly) Islands, Shisha (Paracel) Islands, Chungsha Islands (Macclesfield Bank), and Tungsha (Pratas) Islands, as well as their surrounding waters, are an inherent part of ROC territory and waters, and that the ROC enjoys all rights over these islands and their surrounding waters in accordance with international law. . . . In addition, to promote international cooperation in the South China Sea, the EPA has, since 2009, been testing water quality at Taiping Island, and has opened a background monitoring station on Tungsha Island that cooperates with the Aerosol Robotic Network (AERONET) of the US National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). . . . The agency will adapt its Tungsha Island model for conservation science research on Taiping Island.
** 2018 November 5, John J. Tkacik, Jr., “Stars and Stripes over Pratas Island”, in Taipei Times‎, archived from the original on 8 January 2020:Within minutes, the topside hatches swung open. Emerging crewmen hoisted boxes of ammo, firearms, radio sets and life vests on deck. They assembled folding “fol-boats” and a large rubber equipment boat under the eye of two Australian commando officers assigned to the sub. When all was ready, the commandos boarded a fol-boat alongside in the sea froth, then loaded the gear, explosives and automatic weapons. With their oars, the commandos pushed off from the sub’s steel hull, paddled easily and quietly toward the dimly visible white beaches on a 70-minute trip to low-lying Pratas Island (東沙), also known as Tungsha Island.
** 2020 May 24, Minnie Chan, “PLA drill in South China Sea about combat readiness, not seizing Taiwanese islands, experts say”, in South China Morning Post‎, archived from the original on 25 May 2020, Military:While other parts of the naval flotilla would be involved in landing exercises at a training site near Hainan, about 600km (370 miles) to the southwest of the Pratas – also known as the Dongsha or Tungsha Islands – the exercises would not be a rehearsal for seizing them, he said.
** 2021, 2020-2021 Taiwan at a Glance‎, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Republic of China (Taiwan), →ISBN, archived from the original on 14 March 2021, page 41:Since assuming responsibility in 2000 for maintaining the government’s presence on Taiping Island as well as the Tungsha (Pratas) Islands, the Coast Guard Administration under the Cabinet-level Ocean Affairs Council has continued to carry out disaster response and humanitarian aid missions and assisted individuals from home and abroad.
** For more quotations using this term, see Citations:Tungsha.

### Further reading

* Leon E. Seltzer, editor (1952), “South China Sea”, in The Columbia Lippincott Gazetteer of the World‎, Morningside Heights, NY: Columbia University Press, →OCLC, page 1803, column 3: “Pratas (Tungsha) Isl. […]”

### Anagrams

* naughts