During World War Ⅱ, when the island was occupied by the Japanese, a Japanese company mined guano there. The Japanese also changed the name of the Spratly Islands (called the Nansha-- "South Sand" --Islands in Chinese) to the "Shinnan Islands" (" New Southern Islands ").
第二次大戰被日軍佔領時期，日本的一家公司曾在此開採，並將南沙群島更名為「新南群島」，字碑至今仍留在島上，不過碑上島名下方的日文已被塗抹。