Two of the groups, the Spratlys (Nansha in Chinese) and the Paracels (Xisha), are claimed by Vietnam.
The Guangzhou Port Group, one of the largest port complexes in China, has its major facilities at Huangpu, which is 12 miles (19 km) downstream and now a district of the city; at Xinsha, farther downstream along the Pearl estuary; and at Nansha, which is at the southern end of the municipality near Hong Kong and now also is a district of the city.
Spratly Islands, Chinese (Pinyin) Nansha Qundao or (Wade-Giles transliteration) Nan-sha Ch'un-tao, Malay Kepulauan Spratly, Pilipino Pangkat Islang Kalayaan, Vietnamese Quan Dao Truong Sa, large group of reefs, shoals, atolls, and small islets in the South China Sea of the Pacific Ocean.
In addition, China has claimed three island groups south of Hainan the Paracel Islands (Xisha Qundao), Macclesfield Bank (Zhongsha Qundao), and the Spratly Islands (Nansha Qundao)—and their surrounding waters and has designated them as part of the province.
Half Moon Shoal, about 60 miles from the province of Palawan in the Philippines, is in the resource-rich chain of islands, commonly called the Spratlys in English, that China claims as its own and calls the Nansha.
A Toyota affiliate owns the parts maker, Denso Guangzhou Nansha, and employs about 1,100.
To reinforce its claims, China also announced that it had raised the level of governance on three island groups in the sea: the Spratlys, the Paracels and the Macclesfield Bank, known in Chinese as the Nansha, Xisha and Zhongsha Islands.
China's main Communist Party newspaper sharply warned neighboring nations on Tuesday against asserting their claims to territory in the South China Sea, responding to a news report that the Philippines was building shelter for troops on one of the disputed Spratly Islands, which the Chinese call the Nansha Islands.
The signed commentary was a response to a news report that the Philippines was building shelter for troops on one of the disputed Spratly Islands, which the Chinese call the Nansha Islands.
The meeting was the latest escalation of the territorial dispute between China and its neighbors over the island groups, known in Chinese as the Xisha, Zhongsha and Nansha Islands.
But the announcement came after tensions with the Philippines rose in March over the disputed Nansha Islands, which the Filipino government claimed as its territory in a law passed on March 10.
