China - Nansha Islands Overprints

Nansha Islands (Spratly Islands)

The following notes have the following overprints in both simplified Chinese (obverse) and in English (reverse):-

"FOR USE ONLY IN NANSHA ISLANDS"

For Chinese character overprint, please see scans.

A red South China Sea Fleet square chop (Chinese seal) on reverse.

(It appears that one of the Chinese characters was written in traditional writing)

The Spratly Islands (known as Nansha Islands to the Chinese) consist of more than 100 small islands or reefs. These islands are surrounded by rich fishing grounds and potentially by gas and oil deposits. It is estimated that the Spratly area holds oil and natural gas reserves of 17.7 billion tons, as compared to the 13 billion tons held by Kuwait, placing it as the fourth largest reserve bed in the world. Because of the potential economic benefits, these islands are claimed in their entirety by the People's Republic of China, Taiwan, and Vietnam, while portions are claimed by Malaysia and the Philippines. About 45 islands are occupied by relatively small numbers of military forces from China, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan, and Vietnam. Brunei has established a fishing zone that overlaps a southern reef but has not made any formal claim yet. The Islands are located in the Southeastern Asian group of reefs and islands in the South China Sea, about two-thirds of the way from southern Vietnam to the southern Philippines. According to the Chinese Government, the Nansha Islands comes under the jurisdiction of Hainan province. Until recently, I have never seen or heard of these notes before. I am not sure if these overprinted notes are genuine, propaganda or similar to those notes issued by the Taiwanese government for the islands of Kinmen and Matzu. Perhaps these notes are issued to re-enforce the Chinese claims on the islands. Whatever the reasons, these notes are really a mystery to me! Somehow, I have the feeling that these overprints are not authorized and obviously done by private individuals. I am interested to find out if there are other notes issued with similar overprints. If you have any information on this topic, please feel free to contact me.

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One Jiao (Ten Cents), Dated 1980, P881

Reverse
Two Jiao (Twenty Cents), Dated 1980 P882
Reverse
Five Jiao (Fifty Cents), Dated 1980 P883
Reverse

One Yuan, Dated 1999 P895

Reverse

Five Yuan, Dated 2005 P903

Reverse

Ten Yuan, Dated 2005 P904 Reverse