1. The Spratly Islands lie in an area thought to be rich in oil and gas. The region also has vital shipping routes.

2. 1991 - China passes the Law on Territorial Waters and Their Contiguous A reas , laying out its claim to territorial sovereignty over the Paracel and Spratly Islands .

3. 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.