Money Island or Jinyin Island, is the southwesternmost island in the Crescent Group of the Paracel Islands archipelago

Paracel Islands

The Paracel Islands, also called Xisha Islands in Chinese and Hoàng Sa Islands in Vietnamese, is a group of islands under the administration of Hainan Province, The People's Republic of China. Vietnam and the Republic of China also claim sovereignty of these islands...

. It rises to a height of 6 metres and is covered with brush. At the eastern side of the island lies an extensive reef, which contains a central lagoon, but the reef is mostly submerged at high tide. Inside the lagoon, the open areas range in depth from 7 m to 20 m. The sand cay at the southeastern extremity of reef is the reef's highest point. The channel between Money Island's reef and Antelope Reef is about 1.5 miles wide. The reef continues around to the north side of the island. There is a small reef on the south side with a man-made channel cut through it to the beach.

The island is administrated by the People's Republic of China under Hainan Province. Claim to the island, as part of the Paracels, has been made by the Republic of China

Republic of China

The Republic of China , commonly known as Taiwan , is a unitary sovereign state located in East Asia. Originally based in mainland China, the Republic of China currently governs the island of Taiwan , which forms over 99% of its current territory, as well as Penghu, Kinmen, Matsu and other minor...

 (Taiwan

Taiwan

Taiwan , also known, especially in the past, as Formosa , is the largest island of the same-named island group of East Asia in the western Pacific Ocean and located off the southeastern coast of mainland China. The island forms over 99% of the current territory of the Republic of China following...

) and Vietnam

Vietnam

Vietnam – sometimes spelled Viet Nam , officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam – is the easternmost country on the Indochina Peninsula in Southeast Asia. It is bordered by China to the north, Laos to the northwest, Cambodia to the southwest, and the South China Sea –...

. While the island is uninhabited, patrols are made by the Navy of the People's Republic of China

People's Liberation Army Navy

The People's Liberation Army Navy is the naval branch of the People's Liberation Army , the military of the People's Republic of China. Until the early 1990s, the navy performed a subordinate role to the PLA Land Forces. Since then, it has undergone rapid modernisation...

. It is believed that the south channel was cut by Chinese naval personnel.