Disputes - international:
relies on assistance from Australia to keep out illegal
cross-border activities from primarily Indonesia, including goods
smuggling, illegal narcotics trafficking, and squatters and
secessionists
This page was last updated on 19 December, 2006
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@Paracel Islands
Introduction Paracel Islands
Background:
The Paracel Islands are surrounded by productive fishing grounds
and by potential oil and gas reserves. In 1932, French Indochina
annexed the islands and set up a weather station on Pattle Island;
maintenance was continued by its successor, Vietnam. China has
occupied the Paracel Islands since 1974, when its troops seized a
South Vietnamese garrison occupying the western islands. The islands
are claimed by Taiwan and Vietnam.
Geography Paracel Islands
Location:
Southeastern Asia, group of small islands and reefs in the South
China Sea, about one-third of the way from central Vietnam to the
northern Philippines
Geographic coordinates:
16 30 N, 112 00 E
Map references:
Southeast Asia