Sansha is a prefecture-level city of Hainan province of the People's Republic of China . It is located on Woody island and administers several island groups and undersea atolls in the South China Sea including the Spratly Islands, the Paracel Islands, Macclesfield Bank, Scarborough Shoal, and a number of other ungrouped maritime features. The entire territory is disputed, and the PRC's de facto control over the area varies. Foreign reaction to the declaration was not positive. The United States Department of State called the change in the administrative status of the territory unilateral, and the move has received criticism from nations engaged in the South China Sea dispute, particularly the Philippines and Vietnam.Sansha has equal administrative status to a prefecture-level city, and was created on 24 July 2012. Reports in 2012 in the China daily stated that the establishment of Sansha was simply an upgrade of the administrative status of these island groups from the previous county-level Administrative Office,. Subsequent developments have turned Sansha city into a small town with a small non commercial airport and a small harbor with two sets of breakwaters. Sansha administers a group of 260 islands, reefs and beaches located in the Spratlys , Paracel, Xisha islands and Zhongsha islands .
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