At some point prior to WWI, the Chinese built a small temple on the island. It's doubtful they ever inhabited it. Then, in the 1940s, a private fishing magnate claimed the island and declared it (and some other nearby islands) an independent micronation. Nearby Vietnam, China, and Taiwan all objected but were too busy to do anything about it. He later found himself arrested by the Philipines and "sold" it to them for one peso. They built an landfill airstrip there later.
Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tomás_Cloma#Free_Territory_of_F...