Location: South China Sea, approximately 444 kilometres southwest of Kaohsiung

Established: 2007

Dongsha is among the most remote and least accessible of Taiwan’s national parks. The atoll — a nearly complete ring of coral reef with a diameter of roughly 25 kilometres — sits in the northern part of the South China Sea. The park covers 353,489 hectares, of which only about 178 hectares is land. The remainder is ocean.

Access for the general public is extremely limited. The atoll has no civilian population; the only permanent residents are Coast Guard personnel and researchers. Permits for entry are strictly controlled and difficult to obtain as a private individual, primarily to protect what is an exceptionally intact marine ecosystem. The coral, seagrass beds, and surrounding waters support dugongs, cetaceans, sea turtles, rays, and hundreds of species of fish.

In practical terms, most travellers will not visit Dongsha. Its inclusion here is for completeness and because understanding its existence helps explain a dimension of Taiwan’s geography that extends far into the South China Sea — a fact with ongoing geopolitical significance given overlapping claims in the region.

Who it suits: Marine researchers, divers or scientists with institutional permits, and those with a specific interest in South China Sea ecology and geopolitics.