Mischief Reef

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Mischief Reef

Disputed atoll
Mischief Reef in 2022
Mischief Reef
Other names	美濟礁 / 美济礁 Měijì Jiāo (Chinese) Panganiban Reef (Philippine English) Bahura ng Panganiban (Filipino) Đá Vành Khăn (Vietnamese)
Geography
Location	South China Sea
Coordinates	9°55′N 115°32′E / 9.917°N 115.533°E / 9.917; 115.533
Archipelago	Spratly Islands
Area	0 ha (0 acres) (Natural) 558 ha (1,380 acres) (Reclaimed)
Administration
China
Province	Hainan
prefecture-level city	Sansha
Claimed by
China
Philippines
Taiwan
Vietnam

Mischief Reef, also known as Vành Khăn Reef (Vietnamese: Đá Vành Khăn), Meiji Reef (Chinese: 美濟礁/美济礁; pinyin: Měijì Jiāo) or Panganiban Reef^[1] (Filipino: Bahura ng Panganiban), is a low tide elevation (LTE) reef/atoll surrounding a large lagoon in the southeastern region of Dangerous Ground in the east of the Spratly Islands in the South China Sea. It is located 250 kilometres (130 nmi) west of Palawan Island of the Philippines. Administratively, it belonged to the Kalayaan Islands municipality of the province of Palawan.^[2] It is also under the de facto jurisdiction of Nansha, Sansha City, Hainan province, China. Activities by the People's Republic of China (PRC) in the mid-2010s have created a large artificial island on the atoll including an approximately 2,700-metre (8,900 ft) runway and associated airfield.

Although the reef is well within the Philippines' exclusive economic zone (EEZ) and traditional fishing grounds^{[citation needed]}, Mischief Reef has been controlled by the PRC since 1995, and is also claimed by the Republic of China (Taiwan), and Vietnam. The PRC performed various reclamation activities in at least two locations on the rim of the atoll in the period from 1995 to 2013. However, from the end of 2013 to the end of 2016 a large artificial island of 1,379 acres (558 ha) was created around the majority of the lagoon's perimeter.^[3]

The reef was the subject of a 2016 tribunal ruling by the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague, where the landmark ruling stated the nine-dash line as moot and without basis. Mischief Reef was also ruled as a low tide elevation (LTE) meaning it cannot possess a territorial 12 mile-boundary regardless of the reclamation and a military base installation by the PRC. Their moves only heightened the tension with the Philippines, resulting in a massive defence acquisition of this archipelagic nation.

The area is said^[4] to be rich in as of yet unexplored oil and gas fields.^[5]