History Southwest Cay

1 history

1.1 1933 - french possession
1.2 1939–1945 - japanese occupation
1.3 1956 - transfer south vietnam
1.4 1968 - philippine occupation
1.5 1975 - capture south vietnam
1.6 1975 - vietnam reunification

history
1933 - french possession

in 1933, french government took possession of spratly islands including southwest cay , northeast cay. 3 ships, alerte, astrolabe , de lanessan took part in expedition. following quotations account given h. cucherousset in l eveil economique de l indochine (no. 790 of may 28, 1933):

further north still, @ level of nha trang, atoll named north danger , alerte took possession of 2 sandy islands (cayes) found japanese fishing. de lanessan went there , explored little island. latter perceptibly higher others, highest point reaching 5 metres. phosphate beds considerable , exploited japanese.

after possession had been taken, french ministry of foreign affairs published following notice in french journal officiel dated 26 july 1933 (page 7837):

notice concerning occupation of islands french naval units.


the french government has caused under mentioned isles , islets occupied french naval units:
group of 2 islands situated @ latitude 111°29 north , longitude 114°21 east of greenwich, dependent isles (36) (possession taken april 10, 1933).


the above-mentioned isles , islets henceforward come under french sovereignty (this notice cancels previous notice inserted in official journal dated july 25, 1933, page 7784).

1939–1945 - japanese occupation

in 1939, japan occupied islands , remained there until end of world war ii.

1956 - transfer south vietnam

territorial monument (stele).

in 1956, france transferred islands south vietnam.

in 1959, south vietnamese government renamed song tử islands (meaning twins after resemblance each other) tây (meaning west) , Đông (meaning east) respectively. annexed phước tuy province, south vietnam.

in 1961, 2 south vietnam navy cruisers, van kiep , van don, landed on islands of song tử tây (southwest cay).

on may 24, 1963, sovereignty steles rebuilt on song tử Đông (northeast cay) , song tử tây (southwest cay) crew members of 3 vessels huong giang, chi lang , ky hoa of south vietnam.

1968 - philippine occupation

in 1968, filipino troops occupied song tử Đông (northeast cay, parola) , song tử tây (southwest cay, pugad).

1975 - capture south vietnam

in 1975, party held filipino commanding officer @ northeast cay. filipino forces guarding southwest cay attended party , upon return, found south vietnamese, allies, had occupied island in absence.

southwest cay near northern edge of spratly islands in south china sea. northwest of dangerous ground in north danger reef group, contains filipino-occupied northeast cay (parola), south vietnamese-occupied south reef, , unoccupied north reef. southwest cay , northeast cay 1.75 miles (2.82 km) apart, , each island visible other.

the incident took place when filipino soldiers guarding southwest cay (pugad) left attend birthday party of commanding officer based on northeast cay (parola). storm day believed have influenced soldiers regroup temporarily on parola. report came out saying south vietnamese officials managed send prostitutes birthday party lure filipino soldiers guarding pugad. said present filipino commander birthday, , move of south vietnamese forces befriend filipino soldiers guarding spratlys. filipino soldiers did not expect south vietnam resort foul play since both philippines , south vietnam, united states, allies in vietnam war. tactic believed reason why south vietnamese forces knew filipino soldiers left island, action kept confidential.

after party , after weather cleared out, returning soldiers surprised company of south vietnamese soldiers on island. south vietnamese flag replaced filipino flag flying on pole erected filipino soldiers. filipino soldiers returned parola fear parola next target. after higher-ups of philippines informed situation, instructed troops based in parola , pagasa (thitu island) stay on red alert status. following mornings, thing filipino soldiers on parola curse while south vietnamese soldiers on pugad sang national anthem. malacañang officials, did not want compromise alliance while vietnam war still being fought, decided remain silent.

1975 - vietnam reunification

a few months later, unified vietnam (after north vietnam won on south vietnam, north vietnam task force occupied island) decided remove remaining south vietnamese troops in spratly islands , establish military control among features. reported dozens of south vietnamese soldiers in southwest cay (song tử tây) swam way northeast cay (parola) avoid being captured north vietnamese forces. when malacañang officials, headed president ferdinand marcos, discussed how philippines reclaim island. had been apparent of officials, considered north vietnamese communists threat filipino national security, wanted attack southwest cay (pugad) reclaim it. however, after intelligence report came stating unified vietnam had built huge concrete garrison within few weeks, officials dropped plan , tried resolve issue diplomatically. however, approach died along process making southwest cay (song tử tây) vietnamese-occupied island day. incident confirmed in interviews soldiers involved in episode of defunct magandang gabi, bayan of abs-cbn.

although vietnam, china (prc), taiwan (roc), , philippines claim island, no clashes have been reported since 1975.