the Xisha Islands are one of four big island groups in the South China Sea, together with the Dongsha, Nansha and Zhongsha islands. Xisha’s 45 islets are distributed over an area 250 kilometers ...

This area includes much of China’s nine-dash line claims, encompassing the Paracel, Spratly and Zhongsha Islands and commonly understood to cover Scarborough Shoal and Macclesfield Bank.