The geographical location of Taiping Island

North latitude 10 degrees 22 minutes 38 seconds, east longitude 114 degrees 21 minutes 59 seconds. It is located in the northwest corner of the large atoll "Zhenghe Reefs" in the center of the northern part of the Nansha Islands, and is located on the east side of the western channel of the South China Sea. It is about 3.1 nautical miles (about 6 kilometers) from Zhongzhou Reef to the east, about 7.1 nautical miles (about 13 kilometers) from Dunqian Shoal to the east, and 16 nautical miles (about 30 kilometers) from Nanxun Reef to the southwest.

Taiping Island, also known as Huangshan Horse Reef (English: Itu Aba Island), is the largest island in the Nansha Islands, covering an area of ??0.49 square kilometers (about 1,289.3 meters long from east to west, about 365.7 meters wide from north to south, walking From the west coast to the east coast in ten minutes). It is China's inherent territory and China has indisputable sovereignty over it. It is currently under actual control of Taiwan and administratively administered by Cijin District of Kaohsiung City. It is about 1,600 kilometers away from Kaohsiung Port. It is located in the northwest corner of the "Zhenghe Reefs" in the northern center of the Nansha Islands and east of the west channel of the South China Sea. Its geographical location is very important. Taiping Island is entirely composed of coral reefs. From the appearance, Taiping Island is a long and narrow island with a low and flat terrain. It is about 1360 meters long from east to west and 350 meters wide from north to south. It covers an area of ??about 0.443 square kilometers, which is almost the same as two large comprehensive sports fields. scale. It is 860 nautical miles away from the main island of Taiwan. Today, Taiping Island has docks, fortifications and buildings around the island. In 1946, the Kuomintang government sent its navy to recapture Nansha and named the island after its flagship "Taiping". Taiping Island is now actually controlled by Taiwan, and there are troops stationed on the island. Taiping Island is the only island in the Nansha Islands with fresh water resources (even the largest island in the entire South China Sea Islands controlled by mainland China, Yongxing Island in the Paracel Islands, has no fresh water resources). It has fertile soil and is everywhere. It’s coconut palms, papayas and bananas. Taiping Island has an absolute survival advantage that no other South China Sea island can match. On August 16, 2003, Taiwan's "Interior Minister" Yu Zhengxian and others boarded the "Lafayette" guided missile destroyer and went to Taiping Island in the Nansha Islands to "declare sovereignty."