The Spratly Islands have a total of six groups of reefs and some reefs. The six major reefs are mainly Thitu Reef, Zhenghe Reef, Jiuzhang Reef, Daoming Reef, Twin Reef and Yin Qing Reef. The mainland has the layout of Zhongtu Reef Subi Island, the mainland layout of Zhenghe Reef, Nanfu Island and Taiwan Province of the mainland control Taiping Island, and the mainland layout of Jiuzhang Reef is Chigua Reef and Dongmen Reef. On Yin Qing Reef, Huayang Island is laid out on the mainland. At present, only the twin reefs and the Dominto Reefs mainland have no islands.
Six reefs in the Spratly Islands
Zhenghe Reef
Gemini Reefs are the first group of atolls in the northwestern part of the Spratly Islands. The entire Twin Reefs has an area of 64 square kilometers, with a length of 16 kilometers from east to west and 7.5 kilometers from north to south. The Twin Reefs cover an area of 8 square kilometers and the lagoon area is 64 square kilometers. The twin reefs are only composed of Beizi Island, Nanzi Island, Gongshi Reef, Nairo Reef, Southeast Shoal, Northeast Shoal, and Beizi Shoal. Gemini Reef is an oval-shaped reef.
Twin Reefs
Twin Reefs
Kitako Island is the northernmost island belonging to the Twin Reefs. Beizi Island is an oval-shaped reef with a length of 0.8 square kilometers and a width of 0.2 kilometers. The entire reef area of Beizi Island is 0.14 square kilometers.
Kitako Island
Kitako Island
Beizi Island was initially garrisoned by the Kuomintang, and at that time the Kuomintang Party was also stationed on Beizi Island, Nanzi Island, Baijiao, Thitu Island, Dunqian Sandbar and other islands and reefs. The Kuomintang was the only force stationed in the South China Sea at that time. At that time, the Kuomintang focused mainly on the mainland. The Kuomintang withdrew from some islands and reefs in the South China Sea, the Kuomintang evacuated from Baijiao in 1960, and the Kuomintang withdrew from Nanzi Island and Beizi Island in 1966. In 1971, the National Government withdrew from Thitu Island. In 1973, the Kuomintang withdrew from Dunqian Sandbank. The Kuomintang only retained Taiping Island, and the Nansha Islands blamed the Kuomintang for abandoning the islands and reefs of the Nansha Islands.
Kuomintang officers and soldiers take a group photo on Beizi Island
In 1971, the Philippines saw that the Kuomintang had withdrawn from Beizi Island, and the Philippines immediately sent warships to Beizi Island. The Philippines raises the Philippine flag on Kitako Island. Due to its distance from the Philippine mainland, Beizi Island basically remains pristine. Now there are only Filipino soldiers on Beizi Island, and no residents live here.
Nanzi Island is located at 114 degrees 20 minutes east longitude and 11 degrees 26 minutes north latitude. Nanzi Island is an oval-shaped reef. Nanzi Island is about 0.6 kilometers from northeast to southwest, with a width of 0.27 kilometers, and the entire area of Nanzi Island is 0.13 square kilometers. At an altitude of 3.9 meters, Nanzi Island is the highest reef in the Nansha Islands.
Nanzi Island
Nanzi Island
In 1966, the Kuomintang withdrew from Nanzi Island. In 1971, the Philippines saw the gap in Nanzi Island and immediately sent warships to invade Nanzi Island. In 1973, the supreme commander of Beizi Island celebrated his birthday and invited all the officers and men of Nanzi Island to celebrate his birthday on Beizi Island. South Vietnam saw this opportunity and immediately sent several Vietnamese daughters to Pak Zi Dao. South Vietnam and the Philippines are both allies of the United States and belong to the capitalist camp. Officers and soldiers stationed in South Vietnam and the Philippines often gave gifts, and the commander of Beizi Island also considered South Vietnam to be a common gift. This is South Vietnam's adoption of the beauty meter against the Philippines.
Nanzi Island
After the birthday party was accepted, the Filipino officers and soldiers of Nanzi Island prepared to go back to Nanzi Island, and found that the Philippine flag of Nanzi Island had been replaced by the Philippine flag. The officers and men of Nanzidao immediately returned to Beizidao. The commander of Beizi Island immediately reported to the Philippine government, and the Philippine high-level ordered Beizi Island to enter a state of combat readiness and prepare to retake Nanzi Island. The Philippine hierarchy considered South Vietnam to be an ally of the United States and feared American interference. The Philippines eventually settled the matter.
In 1975, North Vietnamese troops crossed the 17th parallel and attacked Ho Chi Minh City, the capital of South Vietnam. North Vietnam achieves national reunification. North Vietnam sent warships to the Spratly Islands to receive South Vietnamese occupation of islands and reefs, including Spratly Island and Nam Ton Island.
In 1993, Vietnam built a lighthouse on Nanzi Island, which was also the first lighthouse built by Vietnam in the Spratly Islands. This lighthouse is 38 meters high.
Nanzi Island Lighthouse
In 2016, Vietnam began reclamation work on Nam Ton Island. The area of Nanzi Island has changed from 0.13 square kilometers to 0.25 square kilometers, and the area of islands and reefs has doubled.
Vietnam later built helicopter landing platforms, built improvised docks, and deployed radar surveillance and communications facilities on Nam Ton Island. Vietnam has deployed more than 200 troops on Nam Ton Island. Vietnam has built Nanzi Island into the core island of the twin reefs.
Nanzi Island
Nanzi Island
Nanzi Island Pier
Nairo Reef is located at the southwestern tip of Gemini Reef, approximately 2.5 nautical miles south of Nanzi Island. Nairo Reef floods the entire reef at high tide and emerges at low tide. Nairo Reef exposes about 1.m reef in individual reefs.
The distance between Nairo Reef and Nanzi Island
In 1988, armed clashes broke out between the Vietnamese Navy and Eastern powers in the waters off Chek Kwa Reef. The Vietnamese Navy sank 2 warships and damaged 1 warship, killing more than 400 Vietnamese casualties. Eastern powers recovered the six islands of Nansha Islands, and Vietnam also continued to encroach on some islands and reefs in Nansha Qundao. At the end of 1988, Vietnam invaded Nairo Reef, and now Vietnam is building a bunker on Nairo Reef, with about 10 people stationed on it.
Nairo Reef Bunker
Nairo Reef
After the conflict between the Eastern powers and the Vietnamese navy, they did not expand the recovery of Nansha islands and reefs. The eastern powers also took the initiative to abandon several islands and reefs in Daxian Reef, with the aim of controlling several islands and reefs at that time. At that time, the Soviet Union signed a military alliance with Vietnam, and the Soviet Union stationed naval troops in Cam Ranh Bay, Vietnam, and the eastern powers were also afraid that the Soviet Union would take retaliatory measures against the eastern powers. The eastern powers did not dare to expand the scale of the war.