The Territorial Dispute and Its Historical Background
The sovereignty of the archipelago has been the subject of disputes among China, Taiwan, and Vietnam since the 20th century. Around the mid-19th century, after conquering Vietnam, France subsequently took over and administered the islands on behalf of her colony. Between 1881 and 1883 the German navy surveyed the islands several times without seeking the permission of either France or China. No protest was issued by either government and the German government published the results of the survey in 1885. France annexed the islands as part of French Indochina despite protests from China in the 1930s, but was taken over by Japanese troops during the Second Sino-Japanese War. Japan renounced the claims to the islands after the war and the Nationalist Chinese retook the Paracel islands in late 1946. A small Chinese platoon was stationed on Woody Island.
After the communists gained control of China in 1949, the country occupied Woody Island, the main island of the Amphitrite group and the only island that was occupied at the time. Pattle Island, the largest of the Crescent group, on the other hand, was later taken by the French Indochina and then controlled by South Vietnam following independence in 1956. Tensions over the islands continued to rise unceasingly since then.
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