介绍:
Anchor:
It has been 4 years since the establishment of the municipal government of Sansha in Yongxing, the largest island among the Xisha archipelago in the South China Sea. The life and scenery of the island remains mysterious to the outside world.
However, as civil aviation is expected to be scheduled to Sansha Yongxing Airport later this year, visiting China's southernmost city is no longer a dream.
What's unique that's worth exploring? And how about the past and present of Yongxing?
Yang Yong takes us to have a look.
Reporter:
Facing the Pacific Ocean to the south, Yongxing island is the gateway connecting China with Far East and Europe.
Engineer Fu Qixiong has worked on the ship "Qiongsha" for more than 30 years. He was among the first to participate in the construction of Yongxing, where the Sansha city government is located.
"These provisions, such as water, vegetables and meats, are all brought from Hainan province. The building materials are also dependent on our shipments which we deliver block by block, brick by brick."
Located more than 180 nautical miles away from Sanya City in south China's Hainan island, it used to take at least 13 hours getting to Yongxing when shipping was the only way of transportation there. But it is reported that after civil flights are accessible, it takes only 4 hours from Beijing to the island.
Like many other islands in Xisha, Yongxing has its historical vicissitudes.
On November, 24th, 1946, several cannon blasts resounded through the South China Sea. The sounds came from a Chinese warship named "Yongxing". It was a declaration that China was taking back the Xisha islands captured by Japan during World War Two, in accordance with the Cairo Declariation and the Potsdam Proclamation.
95-year-old Li Jingsen was the then-deputy Captain of Yongxing Warship, he has participated in the whole process of the recovery.
"I was 25 then, we berthed hundreds of meters away from the island. We fired over the island, it was quiet, no response. Then we launched the lifeboats, I led more than a dozen people to land there. "
Later, another three Chinese warships arrived at the Nansha islands. Over half a century later the memory of naming the recovered island is still fresh in the old captain's mind.
"The state has stipulated the names of the four islands under the warships, namely 'Yongxing' as the main island of Xisha, 'Taiping' as the main island of Nansha, and the other two islands were named after the warships 'Zhongjian' and 'Zhongye' repectively."
In 1947, the Chinese government renamed and declared sovereignty over a total of 159 islands in the South China Sea and also issued a map of it.
Wu Shicun is the Dean of National Institute for South China Sea Studies.
"At that time it was called the "Location Map of the South China Sea Islands" of the 'Administration of the Republic of China'. The 11-dash line was designated here."
Then the successive People's Republic of China confirmed the borders designated by the Nationalist Government. In 1958, the Chinese Government officially announced the legal status of 9-dash line of the South China Sea.
Recalling the past, Li Jingsen's voice is filled with pride.
"The stelas were prepared, we took them along. After the recovery, our Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued the international announcement."
Now the monument marking the recovery in 1946 is still standing on Yongxing island, bearing witness to history.
70 years have passed, nowadays Yongxing is getting more exposure to the outside world. Modern buildings and coconut trees neatly lined Sansha city's main throughfare, the Beijing road. You can take a bicycle tour around the island, connect to Wi-fi, or post a picture on your social media with a GPS indicating your location as "Yongxing island, the South China Sea."
Having witnessed all the developments there over the past decades, Fu Qixiong has a strong sense of belonging for the island and the sea.
"Xisha is my home."
This is not just the inner voice for him. It's also becoming a shared feeling for younger generation. The current population of Yongxing island is 1,000. And with the city opening up, more people would be willing to work and live there.
27-year-old Wang Zhenjie has been working in a local coffee bar for 3 years. He says his business is getting better and better.
"I hope the speed of development here in Yongxing can be faster, it will help business grow, and other young people will get better chances for work on this island. "
The young man smiles, saying he tries to make the taste the best in China. And it's not asking for the moon. Before long, drinking a cup of coffee at China's southernmost bar, enjoying the blue sky, clear sea, unique fisherman culture and seafood, will become reality.
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