Definition of "Nansha"

On April 28, 2005, the State Council approved a new scheme of district administration in Guangzhou.[...]The southern part of Panyu was upgraded into an independent urban district, Nansha district.

2010, Martin King Whyte, editor, One Country, Two Societies: Rural-Urban Inequality in Contemporary China‎, Harvard University Press, page 408

Nansha District is the former Guangzhou Nansha Economic and Technological Development Zone that was established in 1993³ and was separated from Panyu District in 2005, representing the spatial and strategic importance of the region in Guangzhou's future development.

2017, Development and Planning in Seven Major Coastal Cities in Southern and Eastern China‎, Springer, page 39

The world’s most indebted property developer on Jan. 26 transferred its control over a theme park called Evergrande Fairyland in the Nansha district of Guangzhou to Minmetals International Trust Co, according to the records.

2022 February 25, Clare Jim, “Two more Evergrande property assets taken over by state-owned firms”, in Christian Schmollinger, editor, Reuters‎, archived from the original on 07 May 2022, 公司新闻(英文)

An enterprising Filipino recently announced that the Nansha islets, which lie between the southernmost tip of Vietnam and the Philippines, and are scattered in the area of the eight-feet high Itu Aba, were his private property. He argues, surprisingly, that he surveyed them first, though Itu Aba itself has been marked on maps for some time; but the Filipino government has decided to support his claim, if necessary before the United Nations. The Vietnam government has reasserted its own claim both to the Nanshas and to the Paracel islands further north, on the ground that they were formerly French and automatically became Vietnamese when France handed over power. The French agree that they handed over the Paracels, but insist that the transfer did not include Spratley—an outpost of the Nanshas—which they say is still theirs.[...]If present occupation is the test, the Vietnamese claim to have a garrison in the Paracels, and the Chinese Nationalists are also said to have sent a force there. Both have been outdone in the Nanshas by the private enterprise of another Filipino, who has already issued his own set of stamps in the name of the “Kingdom of Humanity.”

1956 June 23, “South China Sea Bubble”, in The Economist‎, volume CLXXIX, number 5887, page 1178

In addition to these two autonomous areas, Kwangtung Province also administers the islands in the South China Sea claimed by China. These are the Tungsha, Sisha, Chungsha and Nansha groups.[...]Finally, the Nansha group, which has no collective Western designation, extends from Lat. 4 degrees to 11 degrees 30 minutes N. and from Long. 109 degrees 30 minutes to 117 degrees 50 minutes E. The main islands are Taiping (Itu Aba) and Nanwei (Spratly). The islands yield guano, tropical fruit and fish.

1956, Theodore Shabad, China's Changing Map: A Political and Economic Geography of The Chinese People's Republic‎, Frederick A. Praeger, page 169

The Chinese Foreign Affairs Ministry reaffirmed Dec. 7 that “it is indisputable that the Nansha Archipelago is an integral part of the territories of the Republic of China.”[...]The statement was made in response to the recent UPI report from Manila to the effect that the Philippines has, through a decree, made the so-called Kalayan Islands of the Nansha Archipelago (The Spratly Islands) a municipality of the Philippines.

1978 December 10, “Isles part of ROC, ministry affirms”, in Free China Weekly‎, volume XIX, number 49, Taipei, page 1

The Commissioner General asked for Foreign Office guidance in view of his information about earlier events relating to the British claim. In reply, the Foreign Office, in a telegram dated 12 June 1956, pointed out that as there was now a territorial dispute involving the two Chinas, the Philippines and possibly Vietnam over the Nansha Islands the British vessel should ‘stay well clear’ of Spratly Island.

1987, Geoffrey Marston, “Abandonment of Territorial Claims: The Cases of Bouvet and Spratly Islands”, in The British Year Book of International Law 1986‎, volume 57, Oxford: Clarendon Press, page 356

In addition, the ROC maintains a historical claim to four groups of islands scattered over a vast area in the South China Sea that is surrounded by rich fishing grounds and gas and oil deposits. These are the Dongsha (Pratas) Islands 東沙群島, the Nansha (Spratly) Islands 南沙群島, the Xisha (Paracel) Islands 西沙群島, and the Zhongsha Islands (Macclesfield Bank) 中沙群島.

2011, “Geography”, in The Republic of China Yearbook 2011‎, New Taipei: Government Information Office, pages 24–25

“China does not intend to pursue militarization,” Mr. Xi said, referring to the area as the Nansha Islands, a Chinese name for what most of the rest of the world calls the Spratlys in the South China Sea.

2016 August 8, David E. Sanger, Rick Gladstone, “New Photos Cast Doubt on China’s Vow Not to Militarize Disputed Islands”, in The New York Times‎, archived from the original on 2016-08-09, ASIA PACIFIC‎

Taiping, also known as Itu Aba, the largest of the naturally occurring Spratly Islands (Nansha Islands, 南沙群島), lies 1,600 kilometers southwest of Kaohsiung and is administered as part of the special municipality's Cijin District.

2023 June 11, Joseph Yeh, “Vietnam's accusation of sovereignty infringement "unacceptable": Taiwan”, in Focus Taiwan‎, archived from the original on 2023-06-11, Politics‎

Taiping Island is located in the central Nansha Islands in the South China Sea.

2023 June 12, Michelle Chiang, “Taiping Island is a territory of Taiwan: Foreign Ministry”, in Radio Taiwan International‎, archived from the original on 12 June 2023

Only last month, China established Xisha District (西沙) on Woody Island (Yongxing Island, 永興島) and Nansha District (南沙) on the reef, both of which fall under Sansha, a prefecture-level city established in 2012.

2020 May 27, Li-shih Lu, “China’s expanding military reach”, in Taipei Times‎, archived from the original on 03 June 2020, Editorials, page 8‎

The Nansha District (南沙区) People’s Government is based on Fiery Cross Reef and has jurisdiction over the Spratly Islands.²¹⁴ Each district assumably has a district party committee as well.²¹⁵ Though publicly available information on these new districts is scarce, the establishment of Xisha District and Nansha District will likely improve Sansha’s administrative capacity and expand localized policymaking.²¹⁶

2021 January, Zoe Haver, “China Maritime Report No. 12: Sansha City in China's South China Sea Strategy: Building a System of Administrative Control”, in CMSI China Maritime Reports‎, number 12, China Maritime Studies Institute [中国海事研究所], archived from the original on January 05, 2021, page 29

On 18 April 2020, Chinese media reported on the State Council’s decision to set up two administrative units on islands in the South China Sea.⁷ This „major administrative move” meant that the Xisha district would be used for controlling Paracel Islands and surrounding waters and the Nansha district for governing the Spratly Islands and surrounding waters in the heart of the area contested by six regional countries.

2022, Dragana Mitrovic [Драгана Д. Митровић], “Pandemic's effects on China's foreign policy and its global power role”, in Srpska politička misao [Српска политичка мисао]‎, volume 29, number 75, archived from the original on May 14, 2022, pages 150-151