copenlu/druid huggingface dataset:
Claim: Pratas Island is a territory of People's Republic of China (Pratas Island, 2024-10-09)
Evidence (2016-06-01): It is noted that "Chinese activities in the South China Sea dates back 2000 years ago". Further, "China was the first country to discover, name, explore and exploit the resources of the South China Sea Islands and the first to continuously exercise sovereign powers over them". Following the end of World War II, stating that China actively resumed its activities over the area and by 1948, after conducting necessary surveys and renaming the islands, it was able to publish "an official map which displayed a dotted line in the South China Sea". The People's Republic of China, founded on 1 October 1949, maintained sovereignty of China over the South China Sea and officially pronounced as part of its 1958 Declaration on the Territorial Sea and 1992 Law of the People's Republic of China on the Territorial Sea and Contiguous Zone that "the territory of People's Republic of China includes, among others, the Dongsha islands, the Xisha islands, the Zhongsha islands, and the Nansha islands". See the Position Paper of the People's Republic of China, http://www.fmprc.gov.cn/mfa_eng/zxxx_662805/t1217147.shtml, para.4. [...] China first expressed its intentions regarding the South China Sea in the international arena in its 4 September 1958 Declaration on China’s Territorial Sea. Although paragraph 1 clearly indicates that China considered the Pratas Islands, Paracel Islands, Macclesfield Bank, and Spratly Islands to belong to its territories, the declaration provided no legal explanation. Its sole purpose was, it seems, to define the limits of its sovereignty as a pure fact.
Claim: Pratas Island is a territory of People's Republic of China (Pratas Island, 2024-10-09)
Evidence (2019-03-14): The Pratas Islands are an atoll in the north of the South China Sea consisting of three islets about 340 km southeast of Hong Kong. Excluding their associated EEZ and territorial waters, the islets comprise about 240 ha, including 64 ha of lagoon area. China claims the islands, but Taiwan controls them and has declared them a national park. The main island of the group, Pratas Island, is the largest of the South China Sea islands. Macclesfield Bank is an elongated sunken atoll of underwater reefs and shoals. It lies east of the Paracel Islands, southwest of the Pratas Islands and north of the Spratly Islands. Its length exceeds 130 km southwest-northeast, with a maximal width of more than 70 km. With an ocean area of 6,448 km2 within the outer rim of the reef, although completely submerged without any emergent cays or islets, it is one of the largest atolls of the world. Macclesfield Bank is claimed, in whole or in part, by China and Taiwan.
Claim: Pratas Island is a territory of People's Republic of China (Pratas Island, 2024-10-09)
Evidence (2024-06-17): Taiwan’s military installations in the South China Sea, Pratas Island and Itu Aba, could complicate the picture and draw China to open a front in the South China Sea. China likely would be able to attack Pratas Island without embroiling Southeast Asian claimant states. Pratas Island is located near to China and far away from any of the features occupied by Southeast Asian claimant states. It is also not a disputed feature between China and Southeast Asian claimant states. Itu Aba, however, is surrounded by features occupied by Southeast Asian claimant states, especially Vietnam and the Philippines. Chinese military actions against Itu Aba could inadvertently pull these states into the conflict, especially if China were to evict their forces and take control of these features in the process of attacking Itu Aba. China would then find itself creating new enemies in the course of action. The cost would be high for China and could outweigh the military value of occupying Itu Aba. Hence, it is more likely that China will be very careful in any operation against Itu Aba and seek not to provoke these states in hopes that they stay out of the fight.
Claim: Pratas Island is a territory of Republic of China (Pratas Island, 2024-10-09)
Evidence (2024-09-19): Pratas Island was later restored to Guangdong Province of the Republic of China (ROC).[58] On September 12, 1946, the navy of the Republic of China took over and garrisoned Pratas Island.[1]: 10, 13, 15, 23 [24] [...] Politics and government [edit]The island is part of the Republic of China (Taiwan) with the postal code 817. Although there are no long-term inhabitants on the island, Pratas is administered by the Kaohsiung City Government under Cijin District (Qijin). The island has been uninhabited, yet nations (including China and Japan) have claimed them to be their overseas territory. [...] Cross-strait relations [edit]The People's Republic of China claims the Pratas Islands (东沙群岛) as part of Chengqu, Shanwei (Swabue), Guangdong Province.[9][10][11]: 10 [12][13]
Claim: Pratas Island is a territory of Republic of China (Pratas Island, 2024-10-09)
Evidence (2024-10-08): - Pratas Island and the Vereker Banks, disputed between the PRC and the ROC, occupied by the ROC. - The Spratly Islands, disputed between the PRC, the ROC and Vietnam (and to a lesser degree by Malaysia, the Philippines and Brunei, claiming various parts of the archipelago).[4][5] [...] In the 19th century, as a part of the occupation of Indochina, France claimed control of the Spratlys until the 1930s, exchanging a few with the British. During World War II, the South China Sea islands were all occupied by Japan. The People's Republic of China, founded in 1949, claimed the islands as part of the province of Canton (Guangdong), and later of the Hainan special administrative region.
Claim: Pratas Island is a territory of Republic of China (Pratas Island, 2024-10-09)
Evidence (2018-11-05): Sadly, if the Pratas atoll was "US territory," its new owners lavished it with neither the dignity nor tender care due sovereign property. The Americans departed on May 29 as quickly as they arrived, carting off canned Japanese vegetables, war souvenirs, neglected codebooks and any naval documents left unburnt. The Australian commandos set explosive charges to the rest of it. The Pratas was a dismal pall of smoke as the Bluegill set sail at 4:40pm that afternoon. [...] Seven decades later, it is tempting for military and naval historians to rue missed opportunities, especially given the unforeseen prominence of the hundreds of atolls, islets, reefs and sandbars of the South China Sea. Pratas Island, occupied for a single day in 1945 by a handful of American sailors, was a mere footnote-of-a-footnote in the military-industrial holocaust that was the War in the Pacific, a war in which the US was the principal victor and the sole occupying power of defeated Japan. Today, by everyone’s common agreement, it belongs to a republic of China, but which one? And so, now, it is simple fun to imagine what the 21st century controversies in the South China Sea would have been like if Pratas had remained "US territory" for more than one day in 1945.
Claim: Pratas Island is a territory of Republic of China (Pratas Island, 2024-10-09)
Evidence (2020-12-24): News: Experts have warned about a possible Chinese attack to capture Pratas Island in the South China Sea. - Pratas Islands also known as Dongsha Island are located in the northern part of the South China Sea under the jurisdiction of the Republic of China (Taiwan), closer to China’s mainland coast than to the island of Taiwan. [...] - If China controlled the Pratas Islands, the islands could function as a gatekeeper to monitor U.S. and other countries’ ships and aircraft entering the South China Sea from the Pacific Ocean.
Claim: Pratas Island is a territory of Republic of China (Pratas Island, 2024-10-09)
Evidence (2017-03-09): ROC Ministry of Foreign Affairs. 2015. ROC government reiterates its position on South China Sea issues, Press Release No. 240 dated 31 October 2015. http://www.mofa.gov.tw/en/News_Content.aspx?n=539A9A50A5F8AF9E&sms=37B41539382B84BA&s=F5170FE043DADE98. Accessed 25 Feb 2017. [...] ROC Ministry of Foreign Affairs. 2016. Position paper on ROC South China Sea policy dated March 21 2016. http://multilingual.mofa.gov.tw/web/web_UTF-8/South/Position%20Paper%20on%20ROC%20South%20China%20Sea%20Policy.pdf. Accessed 25 Feb 2017. [...] Buckley, C. 2016. China suggests it has placed weapons on disputed Spratly Islands in South China Sea. New York Times, 15 December 2016. https://www.nytimes.com/2016/12/15/world/asia/china-spratly-islands.html?action=click&contentCollection=Asia%20Pacific&module=RelatedCoverage&region=EndOfArticle&pgtype=article. Accessed 22 Feb 2017
Claim: Pratas Island is a territory of Republic of China (Pratas Island, 2024-10-09)
Evidence (2018-11-12): Last week in the Taipei Times ("Stars and Stripes over Pratas Island," Nov. 5, page 8), I mulled an historical footnote about a small US Navy force in World War II that once captured Pratas Island (東沙島, now administered by Taipei) and claimed it as "American territory." For readers unfamiliar with Taiwan’s idyllic south sea atolls, Pratas Island is a 1.6km-long jade-green isle with a working lagoon harbor set, jewel-like, into Pratas’ 24km-wide circular atoll, equidistant from Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Luzon whence it commands the deep blue waters of the South China Sea’s northern approaches. A Taiwanese coast guard base on the island is quite modern and can be busy. So, although Pratas is little known, it is neither an isolated nor inconsequential territory. Indeed, China declares that Pratas is its sovereign territory, a laughable assertion of even more questionable validity than any hypothetical American claim (given the phrasing of the peace treaties that ended the Pacific War and the US’ role as both primary victorious power and the sole occupying power of defeated Japan). But set that aside. [...] Indeed, Chinese officials had made several complaints about the Langseth in the run-up to the April 1, 2009, meeting in London between the new American president Barack Obama and Chinese General Secretary Hu Jintao (胡錦濤). This clearly was a Chinese tactic to strong-arm a neophyte US president, who had no idea what "Pratas Island" was, into ordering the US government to restrict its survey activity in the Western Pacific.
Claim: Pratas Island is a territory of Republic of China (Pratas Island, 2024-10-09)
Evidence (2024-09-24): Although not visible on the 2009 map, modern Chinese maps since 1984, including the vertically oriented maps published in 2013 and 2014, have also included a tenth dash to the east of Taiwan.[13] Some were nonetheless surprised when the tenth dash appeared in a 2013 map, even though it was not in the South China Sea.[12] Meanwhile, the ROC (Taiwan) has rejected all rival claims to the Paracel islands, repeating its position that all of the Paracel, Spratly, Zhongsha (Macclesfield Bank grouped with Scarborough Shoal) and Pratas Island belong to the ROC along with "their surrounding waters and respective seabed and subsoil". Taiwan views other claims as illegitimate, releasing a statement through its Ministry of Foreign Affairs stating "there is no doubt that the Republic of China has sovereignty over the archipelagos and waters".[29]
Claim: Pratas Island is a territory of Republic of China (Pratas Island, 2024-10-09)
Evidence (2020-11-01): Pratas Island is located 444 km (276 mi) from the rest of Kaoshiung,[63] 850 kilometres (530 miles) southwest of Taipei, 320 kilometres (200 miles) southeast of Hong Kong[8] and 260 km (160 mi) south of Shantou, Guangdong[31] in the northern part of the South China Sea (20°43′N 116°42′E). An international team of researchers conducted a comprehensive population genetic analysis of 11 marine species sampled from the island. They concluded that Dongsha Atoll is an important regional stepping-stone that promotes genetic connectivity among South China Sea reefs, as marine larvae can potentially reach a large number of reefs in the northern South China Sea.[83] The protection of the island and surrounding reefs by the Taiwanese government as Dongsha Atoll National Park may therefore benefit the entire region. [...] The island is part of the Republic of China (Taiwan) with the postal code 817. Although there are no long-term inhabitants on the island, Pratas is administered by the Kaohsiung City Government under Cijin District (Qijin). The island has been uninhabited, yet nations (including China and Japan) have claimed them to be their overseas territory. [...] The People's Republic of China claims the Pratas Islands (东沙群岛) as part of Chengqu, Shanwei (Swabue), Guangdong Province.[9][10][11]: 10 [12][13]
Claim: Pratas Island is a territory of Republic of China (Pratas Island, 2024-10-09)
Evidence (2022-03-23): - Contested territories - Claimed by China, Taiwan The Pratas Islands, also known as the Dongsha Islands or Tungsha Islands, are a group of atolls, coral reefs and sea banks. There is only one part that is above sea level: Pratas island. The People’s Republic of China claim them but Taiwan controls them and has declared them part of the Dongsha Atoll National Park. On Pratas island there is a small airport, a shrine, a service station for boats and a library with over 2000 books.
Claim: Pratas Island is a territory of Republic of China (Pratas Island, 2024-10-09)
Evidence (2022-05-11): Why a Chinese Invasion of the Pratas Islands Is a Blind Spot in the Controversy over a Taiwan Contingency [...] The Pratas Islands, located in the South China Sea, are controlled by Taiwan but have not been inhabited by civilians. The PLA has intensified activities at the Air Defense Identification Zone (ADIZ) in Southeast of Taiwan beyond the median line of the Taiwan Straits, and some analysts believe that these are rehearsals for invading the islands. For this reason, Taiwan has stationed small-scale marines in the islands since the summer of 2020. If China invades the Pratas Islands, Xi can demonstrate his determination to unify Taiwan both at home and abroad without taking the risky gamble to invade Taiwan mainland. China can also gain an additional military base in the South China Sea. Above all, Beijing can test if the U.S. in willing to defend Taiwan. The focus will become whether the U.S. President can decide to intervene and whether the U.S. Congress will show support to protect a small island the U.S. people have never heard of, with no civilians.
Claim: Pratas Island is a territory of Republic of China (Pratas Island, 2024-10-09)
Evidence (2016-12-23): Pratas is a single, isolated island at 20-42N, 116-43E. A line drawn on the map from Pratas to Hong Kong to Swatow and back to Pratas forms a nearly equi- lateral triangle with sides about 170 nautical miles long. About 220 nautical miles to the northeast is the Chinese [...] Japan. The following year the Chinese raised their flag on Pratas and the island was placed under the administration of the government of Kwangtung Province. In 1926 the Chinese Navy established a weather station there which was provided with radio communications. [...] Since Pratas is over 200 miles from the nearest other Nationalist territory and only about 130 miles from the Communist- held mainland, it must be considered vulnerable to Communist attack.
Claim: Pratas Island is a territory of Republic of China (Pratas Island, 2024-10-09)
Evidence (2022-09-08): Following a Japanese news report on May 12 that the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) will be conducting large-scale beach-landing exercises around Hainan Island in August, reportedly including a simulated invasion of the Taiwan-controlled Dongsha Islands (Pratas Islands, 東沙群島), Taiwan’s government deployed an undisclosed number of Taiwanese marines to the islands to strengthen their defensive capabilities. The move highlighted Taiwan’s oft-forgotten claims in the South China Sea. For Taipei, the dispute with Beijing over the Dongsha Islands is only one of several bilateral and multilateral territorial disputes with other claimants in the South China Sea. Yet, Taiwan’s claims in the South China Sea have often been overshadowed by those of China and other regional countries, and have been further weakened by Taipei’s exclusion from regional and international organizations. [...] The dispute over the Dongsha Islands is unique in the sense that it is limited to the two sides of the Taiwan Strait. No other countries have made claims to them; thus the Pratas Archipelago is often not considered part of the broader South China Sea dispute. Nonetheless, a Chinese military invasion of the Dongsha Islands may be a harbinger to a potential war in the Taiwan Strait, and Taipei may be forced to defend its outer islands.
Claim: Pratas Island is a territory of Republic of China (Pratas Island, 2024-10-09)
Evidence (2019-03-14): The Spratly Islands are a disputed group of 14 islands, islets and cays and more than 100 reefs, sometimes grouped in submerged old atolls. The archipelago lies off the coasts of the Philippines, Malaysia and southern Vietnam. The islands have no indigenous inhabitants, but offer rich fishing grounds and may contain significant oil and natural gas reserves. Some of the islands have civilian settlements, but of the approximately 45 islands, cays, reefs and shoals that are occupied, all contain structures that are occupied by military forces from Malaysia, Taiwan, China, the Philippines and Vietnam. Additionally, Brunei has claimed an exclusive economic zone (EEZ). [...] The Pratas Islands are an atoll in the north of the South China Sea consisting of three islets about 340 km southeast of Hong Kong. Excluding their associated EEZ and territorial waters, the islets comprise about 240 ha, including 64 ha of lagoon area. China claims the islands, but Taiwan controls them and has declared them a national park. The main island of the group, Pratas Island, is the largest of the South China Sea islands.
Claim: Pratas Island is a territory of Republic of China (Pratas Island, 2024-10-09)
Evidence (2024-10-09): Island in the Nansha (Spratly) Islands into a base for humanitarian aid and supplies in the South China Sea. Since assuming responsibility in 2000 for maintaining the government’s presence on Taiping Island as well as the Dongsha (Pratas) Islands, the Coast Guard
Claim: Pratas Island is a territory of Republic of China (Pratas Island, 2024-10-09)
Evidence (2020-12-11): The Pratas Islands are located in the northern part of the South China Sea under the jurisdiction of the Republic of China (Taiwan), closer to China’s mainland coast than to the island of Taiwan. Historically, the Pratas Islands have attracted little attention, but as the importance of the South China Sea has increased, so too has the strategic relevance of the Pratas Islands. If China controlled the Pratas Islands, the islands could function as a gatekeeper to monitor U.S. and other countries’ ships and aircraft entering the South China Sea from the Pacific Ocean. Pratas Island (the other "islands" in the group are essentially rocks) has an airport, but no permanent inhabitants, only a number of civil officials of the Taiwanese Coast Guard and researchers. It is believed that around 500 soldiers of the ROC Marine Corps are also now stationed there. However, because the island is so small and flat, it is almost impossible to defend. [...] As for taking control of the Pratas Islands, China has plenty of options. It could conduct a surprise landing operation, forcing the Taiwanese garrison to surrender. It could blockade the islands by air and sea to exhaust Taiwanese soldiers. Alternatively, it could simply make a preliminary declaration of an attack or blockade, in a bid to force the Taiwanese garrison to retreat. For a longer term approach, it could use acts of tacit interference against Taiwanese ships and aircraft to paralyze the supply line. Or it could normalize military exercises around the islands to create psychological pressure on the Taiwanese people.
Claim: Pratas Island is a territory of Republic of China (Pratas Island, 2024-10-09)
Evidence (2016-03-21): The Nansha (Spratly) Islands, Shisha (Paracel) Islands, Chungsha (Macclesfield Bank) Islands, and Tungsha (Pratas) Islands (together known as the South China Sea Islands) were first discovered, named, and used by the ancient Chinese, and incorporated into national territory and administered by imperial Chinese governments. Whether from the perspective of history, geography, or international law, the South China Sea Islands and their surrounding waters are an inherent part of ROC territory and waters. The ROC enjoys all rights over them in accordance with international law. This is indisputable. Any claim to sovereignty over, or occupation of, these areas by other countries is illegal, irrespective of the reasons put forward or methods used, and the ROC government recognizes no such claim or occupation. [...] Tungsha (Pratas) Islands: Tungsha Island is the only one of this island group that rises above the waterline. It has an area of 1.74 square kilometer. Located at 20°42' north latitude and 116°43' east longitude, it lies about 243 nautical miles southwest of Taiwan’s Kaohsiung Harbor and 170 nautical miles southeast of Hong Kong. The group comprises mainly Tungsha Island, Tungsha Atoll, Beiwei (N. Verker) Bank, and Nanwei (S. Verker) Bank, which surround a lagoon about 300 square kilometers in area. The broad northern rim of Tungsha Atoll is above water at low tide.
Claim: Pratas Island is a territory of Republic of China (Pratas Island, 2024-10-09)
Evidence (2024-06-17): Taiwan’s military installations in the South China Sea, Pratas Island and Itu Aba, could complicate the picture and draw China to open a front in the South China Sea. China likely would be able to attack Pratas Island without embroiling Southeast Asian claimant states. Pratas Island is located near to China and far away from any of the features occupied by Southeast Asian claimant states. It is also not a disputed feature between China and Southeast Asian claimant states. Itu Aba, however, is surrounded by features occupied by Southeast Asian claimant states, especially Vietnam and the Philippines. Chinese military actions against Itu Aba could inadvertently pull these states into the conflict, especially if China were to evict their forces and take control of these features in the process of attacking Itu Aba. China would then find itself creating new enemies in the course of action. The cost would be high for China and could outweigh the military value of occupying Itu Aba. Hence, it is more likely that China will be very careful in any operation against Itu Aba and seek not to provoke these states in hopes that they stay out of the fight.
Claim: Pratas Island is a territory of Republic of China (Pratas Island, 2024-10-09)
Evidence (2016-01-28): Whether from the perspective of history, geography, or international law, the Nansha (Spratly) Islands, Shisha (Paracel) Islands, Chungsha (Macclesfield Bank) Islands, and Tungsha (Pratas) Islands, as well as their surrounding waters, are an inherent part of ROC territory and waters, and the ROC enjoys all rights over these islands and their surrounding waters in accordance with international law. This is indisputable. To resolve disputes in the South China Sea, the ROC government will work to safeguard sovereignty, shelve disputes, pursue peace and reciprocity, and promote joint development. [...] III. Freshwater, agricultural products, and status in international law Taiping Island, an inherent part of the territory of the Republic of China, is, at 0.51 square kilometers, the largest island in the Nanshas, and the only natural island with a supply of freshwater. In December 1946, following World War II, our government dispatched the ROCS Taiping to recover Taiping Island. While our forces were withdrawn from the island starting in June 1950 due to supply issues, they have been on the island now for nearly 60 unbroken years starting in June 1956.