copenlu/druid huggingface dataset:
Claim: Macclesfield Bank is a territory of People's Republic of China (Macclesfield Bank, 2024-10-09)
Evidence (2022-09-08): The Republic of China (ROC) proclaims that the Nansha Islands (Spratly Islands, 南沙群島), Xisha Islands (Paracel Islands, 西沙群島), Zhongsha Islands (Macclesfield Bank, 中沙群島), and Dongsha Islands, as well as their surrounding waters, are an "inherent part of ROC territory and waters." The ROC argues that its rights over these territories are based on history, geography, and international law. Its historical claims in the South China Sea date back to 1947, when Chiang Kai-shek (蔣中正) drew a U-shaped, "eleven-dash line" (十一段線) on a map around the territory in the South China Sea that he claimed as encompassing ROC territory. After coming to power in 1949, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) changed the "eleven-dash line" to a "nine-dash line" (九段線), though neither concepts are considered legal terminology. Therein lies Taiwan’s dilemma: changing the ROC’s historical claims would indicate—especially to Beijing—that the island democracy was abandoning its historical political identity and moving towards an inherently Taiwanese national identity, or even independence.
Claim: Macclesfield Bank is a territory of People's Republic of China (Macclesfield Bank, 2024-10-09)
Evidence (2016-06-01): The dotted line encloses the main island features of the South China Sea: the Pratas Islands, the Paracel Islands, the Macclesfield Bank, and the Spratly Islands. The dotted line also captures James Shoal which is as far south as 4 degrees north latitude. On its significance, it is noted in an essay that, [...] For the purpose of the case between the Philippines and China, the Award lists some geographic features indicating their names in English, Chinese and the Filipino languages. These are in English: Cuarteron Reef, Fiery Cross Reef, Gaven Reef, Johnson (south) Reef, Macclesfield Bank, McKennan Reef (incl. Hughes Reef), Mischief Reef, Namyit Island, Reed Bank, Scarborough Shoal, Second Thomas Shoal, Sin Cowe Island and Subi Reef. All these are part of Spratly Island group (Nansha Quando, in Chinese or, in part, Kalayaan Islands in Filipino). [...] 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: Macclesfield Bank is a territory of People's Republic of China (Macclesfield Bank, 2024-10-09)
Evidence (2024-04-22): The two main areas of contestation are the Paracel and the Spratly islands groups, in the North-West and Southeast parts of the South China Sea respectively. The Peoples Republic of China is the most ambitious claimant, asserting that over 80 per cent of the South China Sea is its sovereign territory,[3] which encompasses both the Paracel and Spratly islands, as well as Macclesfield Bank and Scarborough Shoal. The notorious ‘nine-dash line’, which the PRC cites to demonstrate the historic nature of its claim, also cuts through the internationally recognised territory of several Southeast Asian nations, namely Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei, Indonesia, and the Philippines. [...] The PRC’s Parliament passed its ‘Declaration of the Government of the Peoples Republic of China on China’s Territorial Sea’, which asserted the PRC’s sovereignty over the Paracel and Spratly Islands, and claimed that its territorial sea extended to 12 nautical miles from baselines ‘composed of the straight lines connecting base-points on the mainland coast and on the outermost coastal islands.’ The United States denounced the move, describing it as an ‘attempt to cloak aggressive purposes.’ [...] The PRC announced the creation of two new administrative districts under the authority of Sansha city: Xisha, which covers the Paracel Islands, Macclesfield Bank and Scarborough Shoal, and Nansha, which covers the Spratly Islands. The move was denounced by Vietnam and the Philippines.
Claim: Macclesfield Bank is a territory of People's Republic of China (Macclesfield Bank, 2024-10-09)
Evidence (2013-01-15): In all, the map includes 130 disputed areas, including Taiwan, islets and coral reefs in the Spratlys (Nansha Islands, 南沙群島), the Paracels (Xisha Islands, 西沙群島), the Pratas (Dongshan Islands, 東沙群島), the Macclesfield Bank (Zhongsha Islands, 中沙群島) and the Scarborough Shoal (Huangyan Island (黃岩島), which are the object of disputes between Taiwan, China, the Philippines, Vietnam, Brunei and Malaysia. It also includes the Diaoyutais, in the East China Sea.
Claim: Macclesfield Bank is a territory of People's Republic of China (Macclesfield Bank, 2024-10-09)
Evidence (2019-03-14): The Paracel Islands are a group of islands, reefs, banks and other maritime features. They are controlled (and occupied) by China, and also claimed by Taiwan and Vietnam. The archipelago is surrounded by productive fishing grounds and a seabed with potential, but as yet unexplored, oil and gas reserves. [...] 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: Macclesfield Bank is a territory of People's Republic of China (Macclesfield Bank, 2024-10-09)
Evidence (2014-04-23): In 2002 China and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) signed a "Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea," seeking to reduce the tension between them in these waters. Since then, however, the two sides have failed to make substantive progress toward elevating the status of this document to a legally binding code of conduct. Some of the details are clouded, but in recent years the Chinese have taken to referring to their claims in the East China and South China Seas as "core interests." Meanwhile, in 2012 Vietnam adopted a maritime law defining its own territory as including the Paracels, Spratlys, and the Macclesfield Bank in their entirety. China countered this by establishing a local government for the three groups of islands under the city of Sansha, sited on Yongxing Island (Woody Island) in the Paracels, and by setting up a military security district for this city.
Claim: Macclesfield Bank is a territory of People's Republic of China (Macclesfield Bank, 2024-10-09)
Evidence (2012-05-15): The prevailing basis for China’s historic claims to the SCS （South China Sea） is the U-shaped line (also called nine-dotted line, or nine-dash line) officially drawn on the Chinese map in 1947 by the then–Chinese Nationalist Government, which was originally an "eleven-dotted-line" . After the Communist Party of China took over mainland China and formed the People's Republic of China in 1949, the line was adopted and revised to nine as endorsed by Zhou Enlai. The line, which has been called a "traditional maritime boundary line", encloses the main island features of the SCS: the Pratas Islands, the Paracel Islands, the Macclesfield Bank, and the Spratly Islands. No country, including Southeast Asian countries or their past rulers, protested or challenged the validity of the 9-dash line from 1947 to 1970s.
Claim: Macclesfield Bank is a territory of People's Republic of China (Macclesfield Bank, 2024-10-09)
Evidence (2016-02-12): Yet, origins of the dispute predate WWII, and goes back to Sino-French dispute over the control of Paracel and Spratly Islands that started in early 1930s. For the current debate on the SCS dispute, it is important to note Chinese efforts to map its claim. Land and Water Maps Inspection Committee formed by the ROC government in 1933 produced two maps (in 1935 and 1936) that included Paracel, Pratas and Spratly Islands and Macclesfield Bank as part of the Chinese territory. The efforts to define claim continued after WWII and in 1947 and 1948 so called 11-dotted/U-shaped line maps were produced (see Map of South China Sea claims), the publication of the map in 1948 by the ROC Ministry of Interior was the first time that dotted map was issued by the Kuomintang (KMT) government.
Claim: Macclesfield Bank is a territory of People's Republic of China (Macclesfield Bank, 2024-10-09)
Evidence (2019-05-02): China has made no secret of its intention to eventually declare straight baselines around the rest of its claimed features in the South China Sea, including the Spratly Islands. The 1996 baselines declaration ended with, "The Government of the People’s Republic of China will announce the remaining baselines of the territorial sea of the People’s Republic of China at another time." In its July 2016 White Paper rejecting the South China Sea arbitral ruling, China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs reiterated that since 1958, its official policy has been to apply straight baselines to the "Dongsha Qundao [Pratas], Xisha Qundao [Paracels], Zhongsha Qundao [Scarborough Shoal and Macclesfield Bank], Nansha Qundao [Spratlys] and all the other islands belonging to China."
Claim: Macclesfield Bank is a territory of People's Republic of China (Macclesfield Bank, 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: Macclesfield Bank is a territory of People's Republic of China (Macclesfield Bank, 2024-10-09)
Evidence (2024-06-04): - Gradual encirclement and establishment of effective control over disputed island territories (viz., Taiwan, Senkaku/Diaoyu Islands, Spratly Islands, Macclesfield Bank features)
Claim: Macclesfield Bank is a territory of People's Republic of China (Macclesfield Bank, 2024-10-09)
Evidence (2024-09-20): Scarborough Shoal, also known as Panacot, Bajo de Masinloc ("Masinloc Shoal" in Spanish),[3][4] Huangyan Island (Mandarin Chinese: 黄岩岛; pinyin: Huáng Yán Dǎo; lit. 'yellow rock island'),[5] Minzhu Jiao (Mandarin Chinese: 民主礁; lit. 'Democracy Reef'), and Panatag Shoal (Filipino: Buhanginan ng Panatag, lit. 'serene sandbank'),[6] are two skerries located between Macclesfield Bank to the west and Luzon to the east. Luzon is 220 kilometres (119 nmi) away and the nearest landmass.[7] The atoll is a disputed territory claimed by the Republic of the Philippines through the Treaty of Washington in 1900 via the 1734 Velarde map, as well as the People's Republic of China and the Republic of China (Taiwan). The atoll's status is often discussed in conjunction with other territorial disputes in the South China Sea, such as those involving the Spratly Islands, and the 2012 Scarborough Shoal standoff. In 2013, the Philippines initiated arbitration against China under UNCLOS. In 2016, the tribunal ruled that China's historic title within the nine-dash line was invalid but did not rule on sovereignty.[8][9]
Claim: Macclesfield Bank is a territory of People's Republic of China (Macclesfield Bank, 2024-10-09)
Evidence (2016-12-23): Macclesfield Bank is a submarine feature, about 80 nautical miles long and 25 nautical miles wide, southeast of the Paracels. Water depths range from about 4 to 45 fathoms. [...] The People's Republic of China has frequently asserted sovereignty not only over the Paracel and Spratly Islands, but also over Macclesfield Bank, a feature entirely under water at all times. The PRC responded to the start of [...] --These islands, as well as the entire Spratly Islands and Macclesfield Bank, "have always been China's territory."
Claim: Macclesfield Bank is a territory of People's Republic of China (Macclesfield Bank, 2024-10-09)
Evidence (2023-08-15): China is clearly intent upon coercing the Philippines out of its position in the Spratlys, regardless of the Philippines’ formal legal rights and claims. Indeed, it is quite likely that the PCA findings have only strengthened the PRC’s resolve to secure the Spratlys (as well as the separate Scarborough Shoal and Macclesfield Bank territories). At the same time, the PRC is likely trying to signal to the region that American support is both escalatory and counterproductive.
Claim: Macclesfield Bank is a territory of Republic of China (Macclesfield Bank, 2024-10-09)
Evidence (2024-09-22): Macclesfield Bank is an elongated sunken atoll of underwater reefs and shoals in the South China Sea. It lies east of the Paracel Islands, southwest of Pratas Island and north of the Spratly Islands. It is about 130 km (81 mi) long from southwest to northeast, and about 70 km (43 mi) wide at its broadest part. [3] With an ocean area of 6,448 km2 (2,490 sq mi) it is one of the largest atolls in the world.[4] The Macclesfield Bank is part of what China calls the Zhongsha Islands, which includes a number of geographically separate submarine features, and also refers to a county-level administrative division. [...] Territorial claims [edit]Macclesfield Bank is claimed, in whole or in part, by China[16] and Taiwan (Republic of China).[17][18] Jose Zaide, a Filipino diplomat of ambassadorial rank, has written that the Philippines does not claim the Macclesfield Bank.[19] Moreover, Macclesfield Bank is not within UNCLOS 200 or Philippines EEZ.[20]
Claim: Macclesfield Bank is a territory of Republic of China (Macclesfield Bank, 2024-10-09)
Evidence (2018-03-22): The Tsai administration has stated that "the ROC is entitled to all rights over the South China Sea Islands and their relevant waters in accordance with international law and the law of the sea." Two points are important in this formulation. First, the phrase "the law of the sea" is inclusive of both UNCLOS and customary international law. Second, the administration has made its claim more ambiguous by using the formulation "South China Sea Islands," which is a departure from previous governments’ practice of listing the four island groups (the Spratly Islands, Paracel Islands, Macclesfield Bank, and Pratas Islands). This ambiguity opens the door to future adjustments of the claim. One such adjustment might be to bring the claim into better alignment with international law. For example, because Macclesfield Bank is a low-tide elevation, it cannot be separately claimed as the territory of any state. Instead, the Tsai administration has stated that the South China Sea Islands are claimed in accordance with international law.
Claim: Macclesfield Bank is a territory of Republic of China (Macclesfield Bank, 2024-10-09)
Evidence (2012-06-21): Macclesfield Bank is an elongated sunken atoll of underwater reefs and shoals in the South China Sea. It lies east of the Paracel Islands, southwest of Pratas Island and north of the Spratly Islands. It is about 130 km (81 mi) long from southwest to northeast, and about 70 km (43 mi) wide at its broadest part. [3] With an ocean area of 6,448 km2 (2,490 sq mi) it is one of the largest atolls in the world.[4] The Macclesfield Bank is part of what China calls the Zhongsha Islands, which includes a number of geographically separate submarine features, and also refers to a county-level administrative division. [...] Macclesfield Bank is claimed, in whole or in part, by China[16] and Taiwan (Republic of China).[17][18] Jose Zaide, a Filipino diplomat of ambassadorial rank, has written that the Philippines does not claim the Macclesfield Bank.[19] Moreover, Macclesfield Bank is not within UNCLOS 200 or Philippines EEZ.[20]
Claim: Macclesfield Bank is a territory of Republic of China (Macclesfield Bank, 2024-10-09)
Evidence (2021-02-12): China refers to the Macclesfield Bank as part of the Zhongsha Islands and claims it as part of its territory. It's worth noting that the Zhongsha Islands include several other submarine features in the area. The Macclesfield Bank is also included as part of a county-level administrative division. [...] The Macclesfield Bank is an underwater feature located in the South China Sea, which has been a subject of territorial disputes between several countries, including China, Taiwan, and the Philippines. Despite its submerged status, the bank has become a hotbed of conflicts and tensions, with various countries claiming ownership of this obscure underwater terrain. The claims over the Macclesfield Bank have been a source of friction between China and its neighboring countries. While China has maintained its right to claim the entire South China Sea, it has also claimed that the Macclesfield Bank is within its sovereign territory. Taiwan, on the other hand, has asserted its claim over the bank, citing its historical ties to the region. The Philippines, too, has claimed the Macclesfield Bank, despite not being within its EEZ (Exclusive Economic Zone).
Claim: Macclesfield Bank is a territory of Republic of China (Macclesfield Bank, 2024-10-09)
Evidence (2023-08-15): China is clearly intent upon coercing the Philippines out of its position in the Spratlys, regardless of the Philippines’ formal legal rights and claims. Indeed, it is quite likely that the PCA findings have only strengthened the PRC’s resolve to secure the Spratlys (as well as the separate Scarborough Shoal and Macclesfield Bank territories). At the same time, the PRC is likely trying to signal to the region that American support is both escalatory and counterproductive.
Claim: Macclesfield Bank is a territory of Republic of China (Macclesfield Bank, 2024-10-09)
Evidence (2015-11-07): China’s claims in the South China Sea include claims to territorial sovereignty over island groups as well as claims to maritime jurisdiction. As with the claim made by Taiwan, the People’s Republic of China claims sovereignty over the Spratly Islands (Nansha), Paracel Islands (Xisha), and Macclesfield Bank (Zhongsha). Vietnam also claims the Paracel Islands and Spratly Islands, while Malaysia, the Philippines, and Brunei claim some of the Spratly Islands. China has controlled part of the Paracels since the 1950s and the entire Paracel Islands archipelago since 1974, and also currently occupies seven reefs in the Spratly Islands. [...] August 1951: In a statement during the Peace Treaty Negotiations in Japan, Premier Zhou Enlai affirms the PRC’s claims to sovereignty over the Paracel Island, Spratly Islands and Macclesfield Bank. [...] February 1992: China issues a Law on the Territorial Sea and the Contiguous Zone, which affirms China’s claims to sovereignty over the Paracel Island, Spratly Islands and Macclesfield Bank.
Claim: Macclesfield Bank is a territory of Republic of China (Macclesfield Bank, 2024-10-09)
Evidence (2016-01-03): Macclesfield Bank is an elongated sunken atoll of underwater reefs and shoals in the South China Sea. It lies east of the Paracel Islands, southwest of the Pratas Islands and north of the Spratly Islands. Its length exceeds 130 km (81 mi) southwest-northeast, with a maximal width of more than 70 km (43 mi). With an ocean area of 6,448 km2 (2,490 sq mi) within the outer rim of the reef,[3] although completely submerged without any emergent cays or islets, it is one of the largest atolls of the world.[4] The Macclesfield Bank is part of what the PRC call the Zhongsha Islands, which includes a number of geographically separate submarine features, and also refers to a county-level administrative division. [...] The broken coral reef rim of Macclesfield Bank, with a width of up to 8 km (5 mi), has depths of 11.8 m (39 ft) at Pygmy Shoal on the northeast end of the bank and depths of 11.6 to 18 m (59 ft) elsewhere. Within the lagoon, Walker Shoal marks the least known depth of 9.2 metres (30 ft). In general, the central lagoon is very deep, with depths up to 100 metres (330 ft).[3] [...] Macclesfield Bank is claimed, in whole or in part, by China[8] and Taiwan (Republic of China).[9][10]
Claim: Macclesfield Bank is a territory of Republic of China (Macclesfield Bank, 2024-10-09)
Evidence (2016-12-22): Among the submerged banks, shoals and reefs, the Macclesfield Bank located east of the Paracel Islands is ?a submerged atoll, 75 miles long in a north- easterly and southeasterly direction. At the edge of the bank is a coral rim about 3 miles wide and from 42 to 60 feet deep. In the dangerous area of the [...] Itu-aba and Searborough Shoal located east of Macclesfield Bank. Here there are also dumping grounds.
Claim: Macclesfield Bank is a territory of Republic of China (Macclesfield Bank, 2024-10-09)
Evidence (2022-09-08): The Republic of China (ROC) proclaims that the Nansha Islands (Spratly Islands, 南沙群島), Xisha Islands (Paracel Islands, 西沙群島), Zhongsha Islands (Macclesfield Bank, 中沙群島), and Dongsha Islands, as well as their surrounding waters, are an "inherent part of ROC territory and waters." The ROC argues that its rights over these territories are based on history, geography, and international law. Its historical claims in the South China Sea date back to 1947, when Chiang Kai-shek (蔣中正) drew a U-shaped, "eleven-dash line" (十一段線) on a map around the territory in the South China Sea that he claimed as encompassing ROC territory. After coming to power in 1949, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) changed the "eleven-dash line" to a "nine-dash line" (九段線), though neither concepts are considered legal terminology. Therein lies Taiwan’s dilemma: changing the ROC’s historical claims would indicate—especially to Beijing—that the island democracy was abandoning its historical political identity and moving towards an inherently Taiwanese national identity, or even independence.
Claim: Macclesfield Bank is a territory of Republic of China (Macclesfield Bank, 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 has come up with a concrete approach: to safeguard sovereignty, shelve disputes, pursue peace and reciprocity, and promote joint development.
Claim: Macclesfield Bank is a territory of Republic of China (Macclesfield Bank, 2024-10-09)
Evidence (2022-03-18): - Whether from the perspectives 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. As the ROC enjoys all rights to these island groups and their surrounding waters in accordance with international law, the ROC government does not recognize any claim to sovereignty over, or occupation of, these areas by other countries, irrespective of the reasons put forward or methods used for such claim or occupation.