introduction
Not long ago, the Chinese Navy launched a seven-day live-fire exercise in the northern waters of the Yellow Sea, and the Dalian Maritime Safety Bureau immediately issued a notice on the matter, prohibiting unrelated vessels from sailing into the area.
The duration of this live-fire training is rare in recent years, and its purpose is also very obvious, that is, to deter the ambitious South Korea on the other side of the Yellow Sea.
You must know that on the issue of the delimitation of the Yellow Sea between China and South Korea, South Korea has always had serious differences with China.
In recent years, it has made even more inch-in-progress, relying on its many years of operation of Suyan Reef to demand that the Yellow Sea boundary be divided according to the median line of the island.
So, what is the strategic position of the Yellow Sea for China, and why is South Korea's claim said to be an inch?
1. The Yellow Sea: Connecting the upper and lower levels, the geographical location is particularly crucial
The Yellow Sea is one of the four seas of China, and its geographical location ranks second from north to south. In terms of location, the Yellow Sea is a semi-enclosed sea area, bordered by the Bohai Sea to the north, the East China Sea to the south, Liaoning, Shandong, Jiangsu, Shanghai and other provinces and cities of Chinese mainland to the west, and North Korea, South Korea, Japan and other countries to the east.
The Yellow Sea has been very important to China since ancient times.
In terms of national security, because the location of the Bohai Sea is similar to that of an inland sea of China, the Yellow Sea serves as a bridgehead to ensure the security of the entire Northeast and North China.
In terms of economic development, the Yellow Sea not only connects several economically powerful provinces in China, but also connects to Shanghai, the most economically powerful city in China, and is also close to the capital Beijing.
On weekdays, the frequent exchange of merchant ships in the Yellow Sea has supported the development of trade between the north and the south of China to a certain extent, and the impact on the country's economic development is also very significant.
In addition, the Yellow Sea is also very rich, so far, the Yellow Sea has found a total of more than 300 species of fish, of which molluscs and crustaceans are the majority, China has built a number of large fishing grounds in the Yellow Sea such as Shidao and Haizhou Bay to catch seafood. Most of the seafood eaten by the people in the north comes from here, and the seafood industry also supports the people of Li on the coast.
The abundant marine resources have naturally aroused the blush of neighboring countries.
In recent years, there have been ongoing disputes between China and the ROK over the delimitation of the Yellow Sea, covering an area of 60,000 square kilometers, accounting for 16% of the total area of the Yellow Sea.
South Korea has made a big fuss about public opinion on this issue, saying that since 2017, Chinese ships have illegally intruded into South Korea's special economic zones more than 100 times.
In fact, it is a natural phenomenon that disputes between China and South Korea over the delimitation of the Yellow Sea have arisen.
In ancient history, Korea did not exist, and its predecessor, Korea, was a vassal state of China until the Qing Dynasty. At that time, the Qing Dynasty did not fully exploit the sea, and there was no need to clearly demarcate the maritime boundaries with the subject countries.
Therefore, until the establishment of South Korea's independence in 1948, there was no clear maritime demarcation line between China and South Korea.
In recent years, China and the ROK have held more than 10 rounds of negotiations on the delimitation of the Yellow Sea, but have been unable to reach a consensus.
The main point of conflict between the two sides is the method of demarcation, and the ROK believes that the demarcation should follow the principle of the center line, that is, draw a line between the closest territories of the two countries, and then make a center line perpendicular to the line, which will be used as the maritime demarcation line between the two countries.
China, on the other hand, believes that the principle of natural extension should be followed, that is, the continental shelf should be determined on the basis of the seabed and subsoil that emerge from the continental extension into the ocean, and the continental shelf should be determined as its territorial sea and the maritime demarcation line should be derived.
Second, South Korea occupied Suyan Reef and planned to stage a series of schemes
Speaking of which, some people may ask, why does South Korea adhere to the principle of the center line?
The answer to all this is related to a small island called Suyan Reef.
Suyan Reef, located at the junction of the East China Sea and the Yellow Sea, 247 kilometers away from China's Zhoushan Islands and 165 kilometers away from South Korea's Jeju Island, has been China's territory since ancient times and is also part of the continental shelf of the East China Sea.
However, China's sovereignty over Suyan Reef was in question in 1952.
That year, South Korea's Syngman Rhee government included Suyan Reef in its waters without consulting with China or gaining approval from the rest of the world.
Later, South Korea sent warships to set up navigation icons with South Korean logos on Suam Reef in an attempt to further establish its sovereignty.
China has been strongly protesting South Korea's actions.
However, China was in the midst of the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea, and its energy was limited, and its naval strength was very weak and could not reach the level of fighting at sea.
Considering that Suyan Reef is only a small island and reef, which is covered by seawater all year round, and it is still about five meters away from the sea surface at low tide, the impact of gains and losses is not large, and for various reasons, South Korea occupies Suyan Reef.
But what China did not expect was that South Korea's seizure of Suyan Reef was not just to provoke China, but to operate a deeper conspiracy.
In 2001, South Korea illegally built a small 3,600-ton marine base around Suam Reef, built infrastructure such as aprons, lighthouses, and docks on it, and renamed Suyan Reef as Liyu Island.
In 2015, when the contradictions between China and South Korea over the delimitation of the Yellow Sea became more acute, and South Korea advocated the use of the centerline principle to demarcate the sea boundary, which was then used by South Korea for a long time.
On the Chinese side, the coastal plain of the Yellow Sea is predominant, with a clear soil structure, and the continental shelf extends far from the depths of the ocean.
On the Korean side, the ocean coast is mostly mountainous and has deep rock formations, and the continental shelf does not extend much into the interior of the ocean.
So, if the principle of natural extension is followed by China's assertion of the principle of natural extension, China would control much of the ocean between China and South Korea.
However, if the demarcation were carried out in accordance with the principle of the center line advocated by South Korea, the result would be completely different.
In this principle, islands are counted as its own territory, but islands and reefs are not, and South Korea's illegal transformation of Suam Reef into an island is equivalent to extending its land to the depths of the ocean for nearly 100 kilometers.
In this way, if the center point of the border with China is found and demarcated using the Suyan Reef as a reference, then South Korea will control most of the sea between China and South Korea, which is exactly the opposite of what China claims.
Third, China has no patience and sticks to the bottom line without backing down
To be sure, South Korea's series of operations on the issue of demarcation in the Yellow Sea are indeed a bit insatiable.
In the past, China took advantage of China's unpreparedness to forcibly occupy Suyan Reef, and now it wants to use Suyan Reef as a springboard to take the vast maritime territory of the Yellow Sea region as its own.
Perhaps South Korea itself also perceives this, so in order to obtain more benefits in the Yellow Sea, they choose to frequently collude with external forces to help themselves support and harden China.
In September last year, South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol warmly invited the US amphibious assault ship USS America and the Canadian frigate USS Vancouver to attend the commemoration of the 73 rd anniversary of the Incheon landings in South Korea.
After the event, the three naval forces went directly to the waters of the Yellow Sea to conduct a joint maritime military exercise among the three countries.
The purpose of the exercise is clear: to help South Korea build momentum in the region and try to deter China.
Of course, how can China, which has been weathered by storms, be easily intimidated by such a shock? In the face of such aggressive behavior by South Korea, China can no longer tolerate it.
Shortly after the trilateral exercise, China arranged live naval firing in the Yellow Sea and banned any foreign ships from entering the area.
In the following six months or so, the Chinese Navy arranged several more live firings, so that South Korea did not dare to act rashly on the military front, and could only attack China through media exaggeration.
In fact, the main reason why China continues to adhere to the bottom line and refuses to back down on the issue of demarcation of the Yellow Sea between China and South Korea after 11 rounds of negotiations is that China is indeed the party that occupies the truth.
There are three reasons in favor of this view.
One is South Korea's mercenary agenda. You must know that the Yellow Sea is not only China and South Korea, but China, Japan, South Korea and North Korea.
On the side of the waters between Japan and South Korea, the number of islands in South Korea is relatively small, so South Korea and Japan use the principle of natural extension to demarcate the border, while on the side of China and South Korea, South Korea has a relatively large number of islands, so in order to seek greater interests, it wants to use the principle of center line with China to demarcate the border.
According to common sense, no matter what kind of demarcation principle the same country adopts, it should be unique, and South Korea's practice of pursuing profit and double-dealing is obviously unreasonable.
The second is the order in which the two rules are applied.
Among the two rules, the principle of the center line appeared earlier, and after the introduction of the Convention on the Continental Shelf in 1958, the principle of the center line was widely applied to maritime delimitation activities between States.
The rule of natural extension was first affirmed by the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea in 1982, and its explicit time was written later than the principle of the center line, and the method of delimitation is more reasonable than the principle of the center line, so it is undoubtedly more persuasive.
The third is that South Korea's basis for demarcation is inherently untenable.
Even if the demarcation is carried out according to the principle of the center line, South Korea cannot use Suyan Reef as a benchmark.
Because Suyan Reef itself is not an island, South Korea has artificially built an island on Suyan Reef in order to expand its maritime frontier, which is a well-known thing. Therefore, South Korea's move is tantamount to covering up its ears and stealing the bell, and there is no rationality at all.
Taken together, the above three points are sufficient to fully prove that South Korea's demands on the issue of demarcation of the Yellow Sea are completely wrong, and that in the face of the truth, South Korea's attempt to take advantage of opportunism is tantamount to a fool's dream.
epilogue
South Korea used the issue of the delimitation of the Yellow Sea to attack China, and after illegally occupying Suyan Reef, it tried to demarcate the boundary of the Yellow Sea in its own words.
On the surface, this act of gaining an inch is to compete for interests with China, but in fact, it is taking the initiative to provoke regional contradictions under the covert instruction of the US forces in order to enhance its influence within the region.
In the face of this situation, China will adhere to the principle of natural extension and not give up an inch of land. We believe that justice may be late, but it will never be absent.
Bibliography:
- Tian Qing, Research on the International Law Dilemma and Solution of the Yellow Sea Delimitation between China and South Korea, Liaoning University
- Liu Fei.South Korea's Yellow Sea Policy and Its Impact on the Settlement of Sino-South Korean Maritime Disputes: An Analysis Based on the U.S. Asia-Pacific Rebalance Strategy. 2016,33(01)
- ZHANG Tianjiao.Suyanjiao Examination Source, Evidence and Change.Journal of Mudanjiang Institute of Education. 2018(12)
- Huang Yan.On the Effect of Suyan Reef in the Delimitation of the Continental Shelf of China and South Korea.Journal of Dalian Maritime University (Social Sciences). 2017,16(05)