Coco Islands

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For the Australian islands by the similar name see Cocos (Keeling) Islands.
For the Costa Rican island see Isla del Coco.
Location of the Andaman island arc.
Location of the Andaman island arc.
Andaman Islands, with Coco Islands at the extreme top of the map.
Andaman Islands, with Coco Islands at the extreme top of the map.

Coco Islands are a pair of strategically important islands located in the eastern Indian Ocean, politically administered by Burma under Yangon Division, but leased to the People's Republic of China since 1994.[1]

Geographically, they are a part of the Andaman Islands archipelago and separated from the North Andaman Island (India) by the 20 km wide Coco channel. The Bay of Bengal lies to the west and the Andaman Sea to the east of the islands. The Burmese mainland is 300 km to the north.

The Coco Islands consist of the main Great Coco Island and the smaller Little Coco Island, separated by the Alexandra Channel. Table Island, a third small island located near the Great Coco Island, previously housed a lighthouse but is presently uninhabited.[2]

In an interview to the BBC in 1998, George Fernandes, the then defense minister of India, revealed that the Coco Islands were a part of India until they were donated to Burma by Nehru.[3][4]

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[edit] Chinese signal intelligence gathering station and maritime army base

China established a SIGINT intelligence gathering station on Great Coco Island in 1992 to monitor Indian naval activity in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands.[1] The station also allows China to monitor the movement of other navies and ships throughout the eastern Indian Ocean, especially in the crucial point in shipping routes between the Bay of Bengal and the Strait of Malacca.[1] It may also be used to monitor activities at the launch site of the Indian Space Research Organization at Sriharikota and the Defence Research and Development Organization at Chandipur-on-sea. The Chinese Army is also building a maritime base on Little Coco Island.[5]

Existence of the Chinese base has been questioned.[6] India’s chief of naval staff is quoted as saying in October 2005 that India had “firm information that there is no listening post, radar or surveillance station belonging to the Chinese on Coco Islands.”[6]

[edit] Great Coco Island

Great Coco Island ( 14°07′00″N, 93°22′03″E) is approximately 10 km long and 2 km wide.

Many green turtles nest on the beaches of the Great Coco Island. A series of research programs on marine turtle conservation have been conducted by Burma's Department of Fisheries. Data collection on tissue samples of green turtles for population genetic and tagging studies was conducted at Great Coco Island from March to April 2006. Prior to this, Great Coco Island had never been surveyed for marine turtle conservation by Department of Fisheries due to its remote location. The survey found an estimated 150 sea turtles nesting and between 90,000 and 100,000 hatchlings and juveniles.

[edit] Little Coco Island

Little Coco Island lies 15 km to the southwest from the Great Coco Island. It is approximately 5 km long and 1 km wide.

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b c Coco Island - Chinese Intelligence Agencies
  2. ^ Lighthouses of Myanmar (Burma)
  3. ^ CHINA-BURMA-INDIA INTELLIGENCE
  4. ^ http://india.indymedia.org/content/2003/02/3096.shtml
  5. ^ "Intelligence station on Great Coco Island is the most important Chinese electronic intelligence installation in Myanmar", GlobalSecurity.org, 2008-02-26. Retrieved on 2008-02-26. 
  6. ^ a b Selth, Andrew (9 January 2007) "Irrawaddy: Chinese whispers: The Great Coco Island mystery" BurmaNet News

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[edit] See also

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