Wednesday, March 7, 2018, Cruising the East China Sea

Situated between Japan and China, the East China Sea has a long and storied history.  In Chinese literature and legend, it was one of the four seas representing the metaphoric borders of ancient China.  During the Han Dynasty, the fabled name became tied to this actual sea.  Many centuries later in the mid-1800s, British, French, and American ships made their way to Shanghai across these waters as those countries established territories outside the walled city of Shanghai.  Americans brought with them their skill for whaling, and by the late 19th century, American whaling ships were patrolling the East China Sea for right whales, hunting them for the blubber that fueled lamps and made soaps.

The East China Sea is a marginal sea east of China.  The East China Sea is a part of the Pacific Ocean and covers an area of roughly 482,000 sqqare miles.  To the east lies the Japanese islands of Kyushu and the Ryukyu Islands, to the south, lies the South China Sea, and to the west by the Asian continent.  The sea connects with the Sea of Japan (East Sea) through the Korea Strait and opens to the north into the Yellow Sea (West Sea).  The countries which border the sea include South Korea, Japan, the Republic of China (Taiwan) and the People's Republic of China.

There are disputes between the People's Republic of China (PRC), Japan, and South Korea over the extent of their respective exclusive economic zones (EEZ).

The dispute between the PRC and Japan concerns the different application of the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), which both nations have ratified.  China and Japan both claim 200 nautical miles EEZ rights, but the East China Sea width is only 360 nautical miles.  China proposed the application of UNCLOS, considering the natural prolongation of its continental shelf, advocating that the EEZ extends as far as the Okinawa Trough.  Its Ministry of Foreign Affairs has stated that "the natural prolongation of the continental shelf of China in the East China Sea extends to the Okinawa Trough and beyond 200 nautical miles from the baselines from which the breadth of the territorial sea of China is measured," which is applicable to the relevant UNCLOS provisions that support China's right to the natural shelf.  In 2012, China presented a submission under the UNCLOS concerning the outer limits of the continental shelf to the UN.  However, Japan claims about 40,000 square kilometers part of this territory as its own EEZ because it is within 200 nautical miles from its coast, and thus proposed the Median line division of the EEZ.

View of East China Sea from Yeliou, Taiwan

In 1995, the PRC discovered an undersea natural gas field in the East China Sea, namely the Chunxiao gas field, which lies within the Chinese EEZ while Japan believes it is connected to other possible reserves beyond the median line.  Japan has objected to PRC development of natural gas resources in the East China Sea near the area where the two countries EEZ claims overlap. The specific development in dispute is the PRC's drilling in the Chunxiao gas field, which is located in undisputed areas on China's side, three or four miles west of the median line proposed by Japan. Japan maintains that although the Chunxiao gas field rigs are on the PRC side of a median line that Tokyo regards as the two sides' sea boundary, they may tap into a field that stretches underground into the disputed area.  Japan therefore seeks a share in the natural gas resources. The gas fields in the Xihu Sag area in the East China Sea (Canxue, Baoyunting, Chunxiao, Duanqiao, Wuyunting, and Tianwaitian) are estimated to hold proven reserves of 364 BCF of natural gas.  Commercial operations began 2006. In June 2008, both sides agreed to jointly develop the Chunxiao gas fields, but they have never been able to agree on how to execute the plan.

Rounds of disputes about island ownership in the East China Sea have triggered both official and civilian protests between China and Japan.

We will arrive around 7 AM tomorrow at Shanghai for a two-day stay.  The population of the city is about 24 million, the largest city in China.  We are looking forward to our visit.