The
East China Sea is a
marginal sea east of
China. It is a part of the
Pacific Ocean and covers an area of 1,249,000 km². In
China, the sea is called the
East Sea.
In
South Korea, the sea is sometimes called
South Sea, but this is more often used to denote only the area near
South Korea's southern coast.
Geography
The East China Sea is bounded on the East by the
Kyūshū and
Ryukyu Islands, on the South by
Taiwan, and on the West by
mainland China. It is connected with the
South China Sea by the
Taiwan Strait and with the
Sea of Japan by the
Korea Strait; it opens in the North to the
Yellow Sea.
Territories with borders on the sea (clockwise from north) include:
South Korea,
Japan,
Taiwan, and
Mainland China.
According to the
International Hydrographic Organization (IHO SP 23,
Limits of Oceans and Seas, 3ed edition, 1953), the East China Sea is closed to the south by a line running from the Chinese coast of
Fukien along parallel 25°24’ to the southern tip of
Haitan Dao (a Fukien coastal island), then
Kiushan Dao (a.k.a. Niu Shan Dao or Turnabout Island, a small island south-east of Haitan Dao), east to
Fuki Kaku (a.k.a. Puki Kaku, cape Syauki, northern tip of Taiwan), the Taiwanese coast to
Santyo Kaku (a.k.a. cape Samtiau, north-eastern tip of Taiwan island), to
cape Irizaki (western tip of
Yonakuni Jima or Yonaguni Jima, the westernmost of the Ryū-Kyū Islands), then to
Haderuma Jima (Hateruma Jima, the southernmost of the Ryū-Kyū). On the east, the boundary runs through the eastern tip of
Miyako Jima, then
Okinan Kaku (southern tip of
Okinawa Island),
Ada-Ko Jima (a.k.a. Adaka Jima or Sidmouth Island, a tiny islet less than a kilometre east of the northern tip of Okinawa), the eastern tip of
Kikai Jima, the northern tip of
Tanega Jima, and finally
Hi Saki on Kyūshū (cape Hi, at the southern end of
Shibushi Bay). On the north, the boundary follows the coast of Kyūshū to
Nomo Saki (Noma Misaki, cape Noma, westernmost point of the
Satsuma Peninsula), the southern tip of
Fukue Jima (Hukae Jima, the largest of the
Gotō Islands), the coast of that island to
Ose Saki (cape Ose, cape Goto, the western end of the island),
Hunan Kan (cape Hunan, southern tip of
Jeju-do (a.k.a. Saisyo Do or Quelpart Island)), the coast of Jeju to its western tip, and finally the 33°17’ parallel back to the Chinese coast.
Rivers
The
Yangtze River (Chang Jiang) is the largest river flowing into the East China Sea.
Islands and reefs
There is a cluster of submerged
reefs in the northern East China Sea. These include:
- Socotra Rock, also called Suyan Rock or Ieodo, subject of an EEZ dispute between the People's Republic of China and South Korea.
EEZ disputes
There are disputes between
China,
Japan, and
South Korea over the extent of their respective
exclusive economic zones.
The dispute between China and Japan concerns natural gas. The
People's Republic of China (PRC) recently discovered that there exists an undersea
natural gas field in the East China Sea, part of the field lies within the Chinese
EEZ while the remaining lies on the disputed
EEZ between
Japan and the
PRC.
View of East China Sea from
Yeliou, Taiwan
Under the
United Nation's
Law of the Sea,
PRC claims the disputed ocean territory as its own
Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) due to its being part of
PRC's natural extension of its
continental shelf, while
Japan claims the disputed ocean territory as its own EEZ because it is within 200 nautical miles (370 km) from Japan's coast.
China has set up the
Chunxiao gas field, which is located more than 4 km inside the Chinese side of the EEZ boundary claimed by Japan and is within China's own
EEZ, to extract the natural gas.
Japan maintains that although the Chunxiao gas field rigs are on China's side of a median line that Tokyo regards as the two sides' sea boundary, they may tap into a field that stretches into the disputed area. Japan therefore seeks a share in the natural gas resources.
The dispute between China and South Korea concerns
Socotra Rock, a submerged
reef on which South Korea has constructed a scientific research station. While neither country claims the rock as territory, China has objected to Korean activities there as a breach of its EEZ rights.
See also
