< h1 class = "pgc-h-arrow-right" > origins: the shipwreck of Su Rock Reef that provoked the Nerve of the Cold War</h1>
In the early morning of May 1, 1963, new China's first 10,000-ton ocean-going giant ship, the Yuejin, was loaded with corn and set sail for Japan for the first time from Qingdao Wharf. This should have been a big event, but I didn't expect a tragedy to happen.
At about 14:00 p.m., the telephone in Zhou Enlai's office in the Zhongnanhai West Flower Hall suddenly rang. After answering the phone, Zhou Enlai's face was solemn. He learned that the Yuejin had suddenly sunk in the open seas near the South Korean island of Jeju.
At that time, during the Cold War period in the Eastern and Western worlds, a 10,000-ton ocean freighter of a large socialist country actually sank on the way to the capitalist country, and the event itself was enough to be topical. The situation in the Asia-Pacific region quickly became tense, and for a while, the media of the United States, the Soviet Union, Japan, south Korea and other countries openly declared that the Chinese cargo ship was "torpedoed." At the same time, they have proved their innocence and have never sent submarines to the corresponding seas. These rumors of catching wind and shadows undoubtedly cast a shadow over the incident, and conspiracy theories were rampant for a while, and the Eastern and Western camps were eager to make a move, ready to use the incident for profit.
In order to find out the ins and outs of the matter, the central government quickly dispatched an investigation team, and after more than ten days of careful investigation, it was finally confirmed that the freighter was sunk due to the reef, not the attack rendered by foreign media, and the location of the reef was SuYan Reef.
This is the first time that Su Rock Reef has been presented to the public. The Leap Forward incident disappeared, and most extraterritorial countries forgot about the reef that had always existed below the surface of the sea. However, a certain country has taken this matter to heart.
< h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" > the geographic location of Sioux Reef</h1>
Suyan Islet, meaning "reef off the coast of Jiangsu", is a reef in the East China Sea, about 150 nautical miles east of Nantong, Jiangsu and Chongming Island in Shanghai, 132 nautical miles (247 km) from TongDao, the easternmost part of the Zhoushan Islands in China, and is geologically a submarine hill in the Yangtze River Delta. The reef remains below sea level at low tide, up to 4.6 metres shallow above sea level, in high sea waters, on the continental shelf of the East China Sea.
However, the location of SuYan Reef is unique, the southwestern end of Jeju Island in South Korea is 82 nautical miles away, which is closer to SuYan Reef than China's Tong Island, which gives South Korea a non-divided idea. Since, in accordance with the provisions of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, a reef that is completely submerged at high tide cannot be called an island, nor can it be regarded as a territory, let alone divided into territorial waters and exclusive economic zones according to the location of the reefs.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" > Su Rock Reef coveted by South Korea</h1>
In order to get Su Rock Reef, Koreans can be described as deliberate.
In 1952, during the Korean War, when China had no time to take care of it, the South Korean government arbitrarily classified Su Rock Reef into South Korean waters, but it did not receive any international recognition.
In 1970, South Korea illegally included SuYan Reef in its "Fourth Underwater Development Zone."
In 1987, South Korea illegally set up navigation buoys on Su Rock Reef.
On January 26, 2001, South Korea illegally named Su Rock Reef as an outlying island.
In 2001, South Korea illegally set up a large 3,600-ton marine platform at Su Rock Reef, with a helipad, satellite radar, lighthouse and wharf.
In early December 2013, South Korea expanded its air defense identification zone and included Su Rock Reef in its own air identification zone.
In January 2015, China and South Korea began maritime delimitation negotiations that would involve the ownership of the Su Rocks. However, because of the great controversy between the two sides over the demarcation of the East China Sea, and the attitude of South Korea to seize the interests of the East China Sea, the prospects are worrying.
<h1 class= "pgc-h-arrow-right" > what exactly should be counted towards Su Rock Reef</h1>
Strictly speaking, Su Rock Reef is simply not considered territory. In international law, only islands can be used as the territory of a State and used as a basis to delineate maritime rights.
In fact, as the East China Sea, where there are crossed interests between China, Japan and South Korea, drawing a line has always been a difficult issue.
As we all know, the exclusive economic zone is 200 nautical miles, but the nearest place between China and South Korea is only 200 nautical miles in total. Then the division according to the economic zone is obviously not applicable here, and can only find another way.
In this regard, there are also conventional principles in the international community, the principle of the middle line and the principle of the continental shelf.
However, these two principles clearly do not apply to the demarcation of the maritime power boundary between China and South Korea. Because China and South Korea share a continental shelf in East Asia, this road is not accessible.
So the Koreans proposed to follow the principle of the middle line.
According to this principle, each side gets 50%. It may seem fair, but it's not that simple.
China's population is far greater than That of South Korea, and the number of fishermen naturally far exceeds that of South Korea. During the Republic of China era and before that, Chinese fishermen could go fishing in the waters around South Korea (there was no South Korea at the time), a tradition that has been going on for thousands of years. That is to say, once the middle-of-the-road principle is followed, China will lose at least 40% of its maritime interests. For China, this is absolutely intolerable.
Therefore, China proposed two principles: the principle of seabed sediment and the principle of population proportion.
The principle of seabed sediments is that during the Ice Age, the global sea level dropped, so the continental shelf of the East China Sea was mostly exposed to the ground at that time, and the estuary of the Yellow River was very close to the Korean Peninsula at that time. As a result, the silt deposits of the ancient Yellow River extended all the way to the vicinity of the Korean Peninsula. This has become the criterion required by China to divide the exclusive economic zone. By this standard, China gets 90 percent of the sea, compared with 10 percent of South Korea.
Needless to say, the principle of population proportion is based on the principle of the proportion of the population of the coastal administrative regions of the two sides, and whoever has the larger population will share more. According to this principle, China receives 85% of the sea area and South Korea 15%.
Historically and realistically, there is no doubt that China's proposal is more scientific. However, China's proposal is obviously not conducive to South Korea, and the South Korean government and opposition will naturally not accept this principle. The former president of South Korea once said blatantly that the island (Su Rock Reef) naturally belongs to South Korea. Even the president is so irresponsible, let alone the rest of the government.
< h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" > the Sioux Reef dispute is prominent</h1>
With the continuous development of world trade, the sea has increasingly become the lifeline of the country. The demand for sea power is also increasing. Whoever gets more marine rights and interests will also seize the key to future development. Therefore, with the increase of global trade, maritime disputes have become more and more intense.
It is on this basis that South Korea has constantly demanded sovereignty over Su Rocky Reef.
Once recognized by the international community, south Korea, as the de facto controller of Sioux Rocky Reef, will be able to use Sioux Rocky Reef as the basis for delineating sea rights. For South Korea, there is no doubt that it will get sky-high benefits.
In order to fabricate fait accomplis, South Korea has always been "saying less and doing more" on the issue of Su Rock Reef.
Since 2000, South Korea has continuously adopted the action of changing "reef" into "island", trying to incorporate Suyan Reef and its surrounding waters into its exclusive economic zone, first building a 15-storey steel frame building on the reef, equipped with a helipad, satellite radar, lighthouse and wharf, etc., and there are "researchers" stationed there, named "Korea's comprehensive marine science base away from the island".
In other words, South Korea continues to use practical actions to create the fact that it owns su rocks. We must be extremely vigilant in this regard.
< h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" > why historical Sioux Reef did not become a problem</h1>
Sioux Reef was not originally a problem.
Although the Korean Peninsula has undergone changes, it has been under the control of the Central Dynasty and has been included in the Chinese tributary system for thousands of years. At that time, the Central Dynasty had absolute autonomy over the vassal states, so there was no problem with the sea power at that time.
In modern times, with the invasion of Western powers, the Chinese tributary system was destroyed. With the support of the Western powers, Korea was established. Behind them stood the Western colonizers, led by the United States.
Korea, which had broken away from the Chinese tributary system, began to constantly provoke its suzerainty. Constantly seizing the cultural heritage that originally belonged to the suzerainty.
In addition to culture, South Korea's eyes are also on the lucrative ocean. The issue of Su Rock Reef was thus raised.
China, however, has abundant evidence that the region belongs to China.
Since Li Hongzhang formed the Beiyang Marine Division at the end of the Qing Dynasty, the charts clearly indicate that the East China Sea Suyan is the inherent maritime territory of the Qing Empire, and even if it is calculated from this time, it will be more than a hundred years earlier than South Korea.
In the 1960s, with the shipwreck, Premier Zhou Enlai ordered the first precision mapping of Su Rock Reef and drew high-quality sea charts, declaring sovereignty to the international community in the modern sense for the first time.