The restaurant opened in late April and can seat 120 at once, the local government says. Woody Island, known as Yongxing in China, is the largest outcrop in the group of about 30 islands making up the Paracels. The government, headquartered on Woody Island, administers both the Paracels and the also hotly contested Spratly island chain, which China calls the Nansha Islands. A satellite photo of Woody Island in March 2018. The centre is also seen as a way to demonstrate Beijing's sovereignty in the region by linking underwater artefacts from the South China Sea — "an important section of the Maritime Silk Road" — to Chinese cultural heritage.

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