Lincoln Island

English

Etymology

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Proper noun

Lincoln Island

1. An island of the Paracel Islands in the South China Sea administered under Sansha, Hainan, China (claimed by Taiwan (ROC) and Vietnam).
   • 1843, James Horsburgh, “The Paracels, with the Banks and Dangers in the Northern part of the China Sea”, in The India Directory, or, Directions for Sailing to and from the East Indies, China, Australia, and the Interjacent Ports of Africa and South America: comp. Chiefly from Original Journals of the Honourable Company's Ships, and from Observations and Remarks, Resulting from the Experience of Twenty-one Years in the Navigation of those Seas‎^[1], volume II, London: Wm. H. Allen and Co., →OCLC, page 358:

     LINCOLN ISLAND, in lat. 16° 40ʹ N., lon. 112° 42ʹ E., is about 3 miles in circuit, surrounded by a reef to the distance of a mile ; it is low, covered with small brush-wood, and has a spring of excellent water near three coco-nut trees in its centre. There are 20 fathoms close to the rocks at the south and west sides, and the soundings appear to extend about 2 miles off, but the water is deep on the east side. This is the easternmost island of the Paracels.
     PYRAMID ROCK, in lat. 16° 36ʹ N., lon. 112° 37ʹ E., about 6 miles to the S.W. of Lincoln Island, has no soundings close to; but the pilot said that soundings were continued in a narrow line, from the south part of Lincoln Island to the shoal seen by the ship Bombay Merchant in 1800.

   • 1878, Alexander George Findlay, A Directory for the Navigation of the Indian Archipelago, China, and Japan‎^[2], 2nd edition, Richard Holmes Laurie, page 643:

     LINCOLN ISLAND, the S.E. point of which is in lat. 16° 39ʹ 34" N., long. 112° 44ʹ 23" E., is 1¼ mile long, N.W. and S.E., three-quarters of a mile wide, and about 20 ft. high ; it is covered with brushwood, and surrounded by a coral reef, dry at low water, which extends 1¼ mile from its S.E. point, half a mile from its North and East sides, and about a cable's length from its S.W. side. A narrow coral shoal runs off to the southward from its S.E. point, which is said by Horsburgh to extend 11 miles ; time did not admit of its being properly examined by the Rifleman, but judging from the soundings that were obtained, the dangerous part of this shoal does not appear to extend farther than 3 miles from the island. Grood anchorage can be obtained in the N.E. monsoon under its lee in 8 to 10 fathoms, coral, about half a mile from the shore. The spring of excellent water in the centre of this island, mentioned by Horsburgh, is merely a well dug by the Hainan fishermen close to a stunted cocoa-nut tree, into which the salt water filters.
     PYRAMID ROCK bears S.W. ¼ W., distant 7½ miles, from the S.E. point of Lincoln Island, and 10½ miles N.W. by W. from the South end of the bank extending southwards from that island. Between Lincoln Island and the Pyramid there are depths of 27 to 31 fathoms.
     H.M.S. Dido, in 1844, observed a shoal about 10 miles to the eastward of Lincoln Island. It is shown on the chart as a doubtful danger in lat. 16° 45ʹ N., long. 112° 54ʹ E.

   • 1912 October 16, “THE LAST TYPHOON.”, in The China Mail‎^[3], number 15,485, →OCLC, page 5, column 3:

     The Captain was extremely anxious, as the Typhoon struck him when his ship was between the Paracels and Macclesfield Bank. After the weather cleared he found himself in soundings about 20 miles South of Lincoln Island.

   • 1950, George Evelyn Hutchinson, “Guano Islands in the South China Sea, in the Seas of the East Indian Archipelago, and in the Adjacent Parts of the Indian Ocean”, in Survey of Existing Knowledge of Biogeochemistry. 3, The Biogeochemistry of Vertebrate Excretion (Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History)‎^[4], volume 96, →OCLC, page 280, column 1:

     LINCOLN ISLAND
     LATITUDE 16° 40ʹ N., LONGITUDE 112° 44ʹ E.
     The eastern island of the Paracel group, about 2 kilometers long, with a maximum elevation of about 5 meters. It is covered with bushes and has a well in its center. Lincoln Island, according to Aso, has an area of 1,720,000 m², of which 756,000 m² are covered by phosphate.

   • 1977, Selig S. Harrison, “Danger Zones in the South China Sea”, in China, Oil and Asia: Conflict Ahead?‎^[5], New York: Columbia University Press, →ISBN, →LCCN, →OCLC, page 192:

     According to Japanese sources, Peking has maintained some sort of naval bases on Woody (Yung-hsing) Island and Lincoln (Tung) Island in the eastern Paracels since at least 1958. Several patrol vessels and supply ships were sighted there in mid-1971, along with shore-based radar installations; and the flotilla that clashed with the Vietnamese in 1974 numbered seven ships, including Komar-class gunboats equipped with Styx missiles.

   • 1985, Daniel J. Dzurek, “Boundary and Resource Disputes in the South China Sea”, in Ocean Yearbook 5‎^[6], University of Chicago Press, →ISBN, →LCCN, →OCLC, page 272:

     However, with the potential for oil and the presence of fish in the vicinity, jurisdiction over these resources under an EEZ or Continental Shelf claim would be valuable. Macclesfield Bank would fall within such a claim radiating from Lincoln Island in the Paracel Group.

   • 2006 [1972 April 3], “Message From the Government of the United States to the Government of the People's Republic of China”, in Foreign Relations of the United States, 1969-1972‎^[7], volume XVII, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 873:

     1. The U.S. side has made a full investigation of the incidents that the Chinese side brought to its attention on March 24, 1972.²
     The U.S. side has verified that the ship and aircraft in question on the dates cited went within twelve nautical miles of the Paracel Islands but at no time moved closer to the Islands than three nautical miles. The ship and aircraft were conducting surveillance on an infiltration trawler engaged in carrying contraband in the vicinity of Lincoln (Tung) Island in the Paracels.
     In the interest of U.S.-Chinese relations the U.S. side has issued instructions that henceforth a distance of at least twelve nautical miles should be maintained from the Paracel Islands. This is without prejudice to the U.S. positions either on the territorial sea question or the various claims to the Paracel Islands.

     ² At a March 24 meeting between Haig and Huang Hua in New York, the PRC Ambassador read a note protesting incursions by U.S. naval vessels and aircraft. A memorandum of conversation, March 24, is in National Archives, Nixon Presidential Materials, NSC Files, Box 849, President's File-China Trip, China Exchanges. See also Foreign Relations, 1969-1976, vol. E-13, Document 118.

   • 2011 May 30, Greg Torode, “Disputed islands are prized catch”, in South China Morning Post‎^[8], →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on April 16, 2024‎^[9]:

     Ly Son fishermen confirm they get very close, sometimes working within 10 nautical miles of the islands and reefs inside what China claims as territorial waters.
     They seek shellfish and edible seaweeds in shallow water as well as fish such as tuna, mackerel and jacks further out, sometimes on trips that can take 35 days.
     Significantly, they confirm not only fishing near Triton Island - the nearest to Vietnam - but also Bombay reef and Lincoln Island further east and up to North Reef, a route that passes the Chinese naval base on Woody Island.

   • 2019 January 5, “Huge tsunami struck China in 1076”, in Taipei Times‎^[10], sourced from AFP, HONG KONG, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on January 04, 2019, World News, page 5‎^[11]:

     The Chinese research team first found evidence of a destructive historical wave on Lincoln Island (Hewu Island, 和五島) located in the middle of the South China Sea, in 2013.
     They discovered rocks and corals that had been moved 200m from the shoreline and concluded only a major force of water could have been responsible.

   • 2020 June 12, Drake Long, “China Rams Vietnamese Fishing Vessel Near Paracel Islands”, in Radio Free Asia‎^[12], archived from the original on June 13, 2020‎^[13]:

     Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper reported that Wednesday’s incident happened near Lincoln Island, a rock in the Paracels that is occupied by China but claimed by both China and Vietnam. […]
     Lincoln Island is roughly 25 nautical miles southeast of Woody Island, China’s largest military base in the Paracels and one of China’s main administrative centers in the South China Sea.

   • 2021 April 21, John Feng, “U.S. Navy Warship Shadows China Aircraft Carrier in Video”, in Newsweek‎^[14], archived from the original on April 21, 2021‎^[15]:

     Ma, who did not give his full name, said he filmed Liaoning's operational drills on the morning and afternoon of April 16 before his trawler left the Paracel Islands ahead of a planned live-fire exercise the next day.
     "All the fishing vessels in the area left on the evening of April 16," he said, adding that he lost signal on his phone after the Chinese military shut down the cell towers on Lincoln Island, which he referenced with the Chinese name "Dong Dao."

Synonyms

• (from Mandarin Chinese) Tung

Translations

Translations

• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 東島／东岛, 和五島／和五岛

Further reading

• Leon E. Seltzer, editor (1952), “Lincoln Island”, in The Columbia Lippincott Gazetteer of the World‎^[16], Morningside Heights, NY: Columbia University Press, →OCLC, page 1058, column 1
• Saul B. Cohen, editor (2008), “Dong Dao Island”, in The Columbia Gazetteer of the World‎^[17], 2nd edition, volume 1, New York: Columbia University Press, →ISBN, →LCCN, →OCLC, page 1043, column 2: “Also called Lincoln Island.”