View source for Tai A Chau

{{Short description|Uninhabited island of Hong Kong}}
{{Use Hong Kong English|date=May 2020}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=May 2020}}
{{Infobox islands
| name             = Tai A Chau
| local_name      = 大鴉洲
| image_name       = Tin Hau Temple, Tai A Chau 14.jpg
| image_caption    = [[Tin Hau Temple]] on Tai A Chau
| image_size    = 250px
| map              = 
| map_caption      = 
| coordinates      = {{coord|22|9|41|N|113|54|30|E|type:isle|display=inline,title}}
| location         = 4.5&nbsp;km south of [[Lantau Island]]
| area_km2         = 1.2
| length_km        = <!-- or |length_m=  -->
| width_km         = <!-- or |width_m=  -->
| coastline_km     = <!-- or |coastline_m=  -->
| elevation_m      = 154
| highest_mount    = 
| country          = {{HKG}}
| population       = Uninhabited
| population_as_of = 
}}
{{Infobox Chinese
|order=
|showflag=
|t=大鴉洲
|s=大鸦洲
|j=Daai<sup>6</sup> aa<sup>1</sup> zau<sup>1</sup> 
|y=Daaih ā jāu
|p=Dàyāzhōu
}}
[[File:Site of Tai A Chau Detention Centre 04.jpg|thumb|Site of former Tai A Chau Detention Centre.]]
[[File:Tai A Chau sign.jpg|alt=Tai A Chau sign|thumb|Sign pointing to Tai A Chau from Lantau Island]]
'''Tai A Chau''' is an uninhabited [[island]] of Hong Kong, part of the [[Soko Islands]] group, located south of [[Lantau Island]]. It is referred to as '''South Soko Island''' in some media articles.

==Geography==
With an area of 1.2&nbsp;km², Tai A Chau is the largest of the [[Soko Islands]]. It is located 4.5&nbsp;km to the south of [[Lantau Island]] and about 2&nbsp;km north of the boundary of the Hong Kong territorial waters.<ref name="draft">[http://www.districtcouncils.gov.hk/archive/island_d/pdf/2008/IS_2008_107_EN.pdf Islands District Council. Paper No. IDC 107/2008. Draft South Soko Island Outline Zoning Plan No. S/I-SSI/E]</ref> The island has small hills with heights ranging from 85m to 154m. Its coastline is mainly steeply sloped and rocky in nature.<ref name="draft"/>

==Administration==
Tai A Chau is a recognized village under the [[New Territories]] [[Small House Policy]].<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.landsd.gov.hk/doc/en/small-house/rv0909.pdf |title=List of Recognized Villages under the New Territories Small House Policy |last= |first= |date=September 2009 |website= |publisher=[[Lands Department]] |access-date= |quote=}}</ref>

==History==
There were historically two villages on the island: Ha Tsuen and Sheung Tsuen on the west and south sides of the island. In 1937, Walter Schofield, then a Cadet Officer in the [[Hong Kong Civil Service]], wrote "There is a shrimp paste factory here which exports to Europe and America".<ref name="schofield">{{cite journal |last1= Schofield|first1=Walter |author-link1= |year= 1983|title=The Islands Around Hong Kong (notes for a talk given in 1937)|journal= Journal of the [[Royal Asiatic Society Hong Kong Branch]]|volume= 23 |pages= 91-112|publisher= |location= |doi= |url=https://hkjo.lib.hku.hk/archive/files/b9d5480a618a698a5ffd49eb900bb8d9.pdf|issn= 1991-7295|accessdate= }}</ref> The villagers left in the 1980s, when a detention camp for [[Vietnamese people in Hong Kong|Vietnamese refugees]] was built.<ref name="draft"/>

Tai A Chau Detention Centre was home to thousands of Vietnamese refugees from 1991 to 1996. It once held a peak population of almost 9,700 in November 1991.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|last=Hong Kong. Legislative Council. Panel on Security.|title=Administration's press release on "Closure of Tai A Chau Detention Centre in September".|url=http://library.legco.gov.hk:1443/record=b1117039}}</ref> After the announcement of the closure of Tai A Chau [[Vietnamese people in Hong Kong#List of facilities|refugee facility]] on 10 June 1996, the transfer of the remaining Vietnamese refugees took place on 10 consecutive days from 16 to 25 September 1996. Each day, one ferry loaded with luggage, and two ferries loaded with a total of about 550 Vietnamese refugees departed Tai A Chau for [[HMS Tamar (shore station)|HMS Tamar]] naval base at [[Stonecutters Island]].<ref>{{Cite web|last=Hong Kong. Legislative Council. Panel on Security.|title=Vietnamese Migrants General Update and the Closure of Tai A Chau.|url=http://library.legco.gov.hk:1443/record=b1117102}}{{Dead link|date=July 2025 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> They were then moved to the notorious Whitehead Detention Centre in [[Wu Kai Sha]],<ref>{{Cite web|date=2017-01-01|title=HKFP History: A brief history of Hong Kong's notorious Whitehead refugee detention centre|url=https://hongkongfp.com/2017/01/01/hkfp-history-brief-history-hong-kongs-notorious-whitehead-refugee-detention-centre/|access-date=2020-11-08|website=Hong Kong Free Press HKFP|language=en-GB}}</ref> before immigrating to the US under their "Resettlement Opportunity for Vietnamese Returnees Scheme".<ref name=":0" /> This ensured the centre was closed just prior to the [[Handover of Hong Kong|handover in 1997]] and all the building structures were demolished.<ref name="draft"/>

In February 2023 the [[Hong Kong Police Force]] carried out a crowd control training exercise on the island, leaving hundreds of spent tear gas grenades and debris from other crowd control weapons on the protected [[South Lantau Marine Park]] site.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Grundy |first=Tom |date=2023-02-21 |title=Exclusive: Hong Kong police leave 100s of spent tear gas rounds on marine park island after exercise |url=https://hongkongfp.com/2023/02/21/exclusive-hong-kong-police-leave-100s-of-spent-tear-gas-rounds-on-marine-park-island-after-exercise/ |access-date=2023-02-21 |website=Hong Kong Free Press HKFP |language=en-GB}}</ref>

==Features==
The island has a temple [[Tin Hau temples in Hong Kong|dedicated to Tin Hau]] and seven earth shrines.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.epd.gov.hk/eia/register/report/eiareport/eia_1252006/html/eiareport/Part2/Section12/Sec2_12.htm | title=Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) Receiving Terminal and Associated Facilities. EIA Report. Section 12 Cultural Heritage Assessment | date=22 December 2006 | publisher=epd.gov.hk}} {{deadlink|date=September 2025}}</ref>

Two helicopter landing pads and a small jetty remain from the island's former detention centre.<ref name="draft"/>

==References==
{{portal|Islands}}
{{reflist}}

==Further reading==
* {{cite web|last=Lau|first=Ting-leung|url=http://www.hku.hk/hkgcsb/csn/csn37eng/csn11.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/19970617233337fw_/http://www.hku.hk/hkgcsb/csn/csn37eng/csn11.htm |archive-date=1997-06-17 |title=Seven Eventful Years At Tai A Chau|publisher=[[Civil Service Bureau]]|date=1997-06-17}}

==External links==
{{commons category|Tai A Chau}}
* [http://www.epd.gov.hk/eia/register/report/eiareport/eia_1252006/html/eiareport/Part2/Section12/Sec2_12AnnexA.pdf Photographs of the Tai A Chau Tin Hau Temple]
* [http://www.epd.gov.hk/eia/register/report/eiareport/eia_1252006/html/eiareport/Part2/Section12/Images/fig%2012.4.pdf Location Plan of Identified Cultural Heritage Resources on Tai A Chau]
* [http://www.epd.gov.hk/eia/register/report/eiareport/eia_1252006/pdf/part2south_soko/0018180_EIA%20PART%202%20Section%2012.pdf More details about Tai A Chau. From EIA-125/2006. Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) Receiving Terminal and Associated Facilities]
* [http://www.epd.gov.hk/eia/register/report/eiareport/eia_1252006/html/eiareport/Part2/Section12/Images/12%20annex%20c%20fig%203.6.pdf Aerial Photo of Tai A Chau in 1989, showing the Detention Centre].
* [https://www.had.gov.hk/rre/images/village_map1922/T/t-sl-13.pdf Delineation of area of existing village Tai A Chau (South Lantao) for election of resident representative (2019 to 2022)]
{{Islands District}}
{{Islands of Hong Kong}}

[[Category:Islands District]]
[[Category:Villages in Islands District, Hong Kong]]
[[Category:Islands of Hong Kong]]
[[Category:Populated places in Hong Kong]]