Yagong Island
Yagong Island is an island in the Crescent Group of the Paracel Islands, in the South China Sea. It is also known as "He Duck",, due to its shape. It is located a few hundred metres SW of Observation Bank in the NE of the Crescent Group.
It is occupied by the PRC, and like all of the other Paracel islands, it is controlled by China and claimed by Taiwan and Vietnam.
It is administered as the "Yagong Community", a village-level division of the Yongxing Dao Neighborhood Committee township-level division, in the county-level division of the Xisha District, of the Sansha prefecture-level city, in the Hainan province.
It has an area of just under 1 hectare and a residential population of about 100 fishermen with solar power and a desalination plant.
Prior to 2013 the island was a barren stretch of coral and clamshells surrounding a central lagoon, providing a temporary stopover and resting place for fishermen. In 2013 the PRC shipped 120 tonnes of soil, 200 tonnes of fresh water, coconut fibre and 400 trees to the island as part of a Sansha-wide greening project. Also in 2013, regular tourist visits are made to the island by a cruise line, which also supplies the 78 registered residents with groceries.
