How big is the boundary pillar on Zengmu shoal?

Zhao Linru, a female government official, witnessed: I left a boundary pillar of the motherland in Zengmu shoal?

From 1994 to 1996, I (Zhao Linru) was appointed as the deputy mayor of Sanya, Hainan, in charge of industry and commerce, price, finance and economic system reform, and assisted the mayor in charge of finance and other work. In the meantime, at the beginning of 1995, the Central Committee of China and the State Council decided to send a delegation to the Nansha sea area to express condolences to the officers and men stationed in Nansha. I had the honor to participate in this visit as a member of the delegation. From 199565438+1October 10 to 65438+1October19, I lived on the ship for 10 days, trudged back and forth in the South China Sea for more than 2,000 nautical miles, and arrived. According to many comrades of the delegation, I was the first female government official to visit the southernmost part of the motherland, the first female government official to go to the southernmost part of the motherland to express condolences to the officers and men of the army, and the first female government official to personally place the boundary pillar of the motherland in Zengmu shoal.

On June 65438+ 10/0 this year, I went to Sanya on business, and I recalled this experience with the secretary of the Sanya Municipal Party Committee. He suggested that I write down this experience, and even the title of this article followed his advice.

1995, 65438+ 10, 10 in the morning, members of the delegation boarded a big ship anchored in xiuying port, Haikou. In the farewell sound of the leaders of the provincial party committee, the provincial government, the leaders of relevant departments and the relatives and friends of the delegation, and in the blessing sound of firecrackers, the ship slowly left the shore and headed for the depths of the South China Sea.

The delegation was headed by Ruan Chongwu, then secretary of the Hainan Provincial Party Committee and governor, and consisted of 68 representatives from the Ministry of Civil Affairs, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Oceanic Bureau of the Science and Technology Commission and the military, leaders from Haikou City and Sanya City, comrades from relevant departments of Hainan Province and a performance condolence group. From 65438+1October 10 to 65438+ 10/9, the condolence group visited the South China Sea islands, successively boarded Yongzheng Reef and Chigua Reef, visited the officers and men stationed in the reef, and entrusted the South China Sea Fleet to deliver condolences to the four reefs of Zhu Bi, Huayang, Dongmen and Nanxun Mountain.

After five days of sailing, our ship arrived at Zengmu shoal on June 65438+10/October 65438 +05. On that day, the sea area of Zengmu shoal was as calm as silk, and the sea water was clear and blue. Sometimes tropical flying fish jump out of the sea, like a huge sapphire, shining and fascinating. The delegation held the launching ceremony of the 15 Sovereignty Monument in Zengmu shoal, which symbolizes the national sovereignty and the jurisdiction of Hainan Province. Together with Vice Mayor Zhang of Haikou City, I personally placed a boundary pillar of the motherland engraved with the words "China" and "Hainan" on the seabed of Zengmu shoal! This monument to sovereignty is made of marble, about one meter high, wearing ribbons and red flowers. She declared that the beautiful South China Sea and Zengmu shoal here are the territory of the motherland and the sea border of the motherland! She declared to the world, but also told our descendants that this is our territory of China, with records and history. It has always been like this, and it will always be like this!

Watching the boundary pillar sink to the bottom of the sea quickly, I was deeply excited and felt that this trip was of great significance. Nansha Islands, located at the southernmost tip of southern Xinjiang, is an oval coral reef group with the largest number of south island reefs. It is located from 3 57' north latitude to1155' east longitude103 30' to117 50'. From Xiongnan Beach in the north to Zengmu shoal in the south, Haima Beach in the east and Wan 'an Beach in the west, with a length of 5,000 miles from north to south. Nansha Islands consists of more than 230 islands, continents, reefs, sands and beaches, with about 65,438+0/5 exposed to the water.

According to the standard place names of South China Sea Islands 1983 published by China Geographical Names Committee, there are 192 names. The largest island is Taiping Island, with an area of 0.432 square kilometers; In addition, Jinghong Island and Zhongye Island cover an area of more than 0.3 square kilometers; There are Xiyue Island, Nanwei Island, Beizi Island and Nanzi Island with an area exceeding 0. 1 square kilometer. Nansha Islands have always belonged to China and are the sovereign territorial waters of China. It was first discovered by the people of China, first named, first developed and operated, and first managed and exercised by the government of China. According to historical records, China discovered Nansha Islands as early as the 2nd century BC in the era of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty. Since the Tang and Song Dynasties, the people of China have lived and engaged in fishing and other production activities in Nansha Islands. In Song Dynasty, China named Nansha Islands Wanli Shitang; Before that, in the Han Dynasty, the islands in the South China Sea, including Nansha Islands, were usually called Qitou.

To the Qing Dynasty, there were names such as Wanli Changsha, Wanli Shitang and Shitang. During the Ming and Qing Dynasties, the China government clearly placed the Nansha Islands under the jurisdiction of Qiongzhou Prefecture (now Hainan Province). Historically, Britain, the United States, Germany, France and Japan coveted the Nansha Islands and sent ships to investigate and survey many times in an attempt to occupy them, but all ended in failure. 1933, the Nansha Islands were occupied by the French colonial authorities who ruled Vietnam at that time and illegally placed under the jurisdiction of Bati Province. During World War II, Japanese troops invaded Nansha Islands in March 1939. 1945 After the Japanese surrender, the China government sent personnel to take over the Nansha Islands in 1946, and erected a monument to commemorate it and sent troops to station it. 1947, Dongsha, Xisha, Zhongsha, Nansha Islands, islands, reefs and beaches were renamed and placed under the jurisdiction of Guangdong Province again. After the establishment of Hainan Province in April, 1988, Nansha, Xisha and zhongsha islands were placed under the jurisdiction of Hainan Province, and the "Xisha, Zhongsha and Nansha Working Committee Office" was still located in Yongxing Island.

However, the sovereignty of the Nansha Islands has long been controversial. Chinese mainland, Taiwan Province Province of China and Viet Nam all claim full sovereignty over these islands. Malaysia and the Philippines claim sovereignty over some islands, and both countries have deployed military forces in this area to ensure their rights and interests. Brunei and Indonesia claim sovereignty over this sea area, which indirectly includes Nansha Islands. Since the 1960s, especially since the 1970s, the islands, reefs and sea areas of Nansha Islands in China have been occupied and carved up by neighboring countries such as Vietnam, the Philippines, Malaysia and Brunei, and their resources have been plundered. Among them, Vietnam, the Philippines and Malaysia occupied these islands and reefs militarily.

By the end of 199 1, except for six islands and reefs controlled by our army and Taiping Island controlled by Taiwan Province Province, the other 44 islands and reefs were occupied by Vietnam, the Philippines and Malaysia respectively. At present, the six countries and seven parties have formed a situation of confrontation and competition in the Nansha Islands. Nansha Islands has a very important strategic position. It is located between Cam Ranh Bay in Vietnam and subic bay in the Philippines, and it is a maritime transportation hub from the western Pacific Ocean to the Indian Ocean. It is the nearest international important waterway that East Asia must pass to South Asia, the Middle East, Africa and Europe, and it is also an important channel for China's opening up and an important barrier for the security of southern Xinjiang. Originally, the sovereignty disputes of various countries over Nansha Islands mainly focused on ensuring their own right of passage. However, in the1970s, abundant submarine oil reserves were discovered in this sea area (about 30 billion tons of oil reserves in Nansha Islands), which triggered a more intense battle for territorial sovereignty and made Nansha Islands have more important strategic and economic value.

Zengmu shoal is underwater all the year round, so it is impossible to station troops, let alone actually control it. However, it is still of great positive significance for us to set up a monument to sovereignty, which is the embodiment and symbol of sovereignty consciousness. Putting the sovereignty monument in this sea area shows that we have sovereignty over Zengmu shoal, which we can use as a basis in the international court of justice and future generations can also use as a basis. Historically, China has maintained the sovereignty of the South China Sea in the following ways: protesting and reaffirming the sovereignty of the Nansha Islands through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs; Declare China's sovereignty through naval and official ships cruising and military exercises in Nansha; Set up a sovereignty monument in Zengmu shoal at the southernmost tip of Nansha Islands to reflect China's sovereignty.

Of course, the operation of various fishing boats in Nansha and the scientific research of scientific research vessels in Nansha are also activities that reflect China's sovereignty. I think that the boundary markers of the motherland in our hands will firmly guard our submarine coastal areas, our descendants will firmly and justly defend our sovereign territory and sovereign territorial waters from generation to generation, and our national strength and national luck will become stronger and more inviolable; Our South China Sea will become more and more beautiful, and our great mother shoal will become more and more charming. (Zhao Linru)