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In 2009, a proposal over the "islands" controversy caused an uproar at a United Nations meeting.
The two sides of the dispute are China, a major land power in East Asia, and Japan, an island nation in the ocean, and there is only one issue in dispute, that is, whether Okinotori is an "island" or a "reef".
According to Japan, Okinotori Island is a well-deserved island, while China has determined that Okinotori Reef is a "reef" rather than an "island".
China and Japan each invoked the UN treaty and fought each other, and in the end, the UN ruled that Japan's claim was illegal. Japan, which failed to steal chickens, not only rejoiced in vain, but failed to turn the "reef" into an "island," but also lost a handful of rice because of this, thus achieving the success of its neighbor China.
So, how did Japan make China? Why are China and Japan so persistent in the Bird of Fear Reef?
We all know that China is now a big country in land reclamation, especially in the South China Sea, through artificial reclamation, the number and area of China's islands are increasing almost every year, but what is little known is that land reclamation is not actually China's first initiative, the first to do this is Japan.
Japan is a small island country, and although it bears the name of a developed country, its land area greatly restricts its development, so since modern times, Japan's ambition to acquire a larger territory has never ceased, and it is undoubtedly not for this reason that it has invaded Korea and China, and even provoked the Pacific War.
After the victory in World War II, Japan was liquidated as a defeated country, and its aggressive claims were temporarily suppressed, but Japan's desire for a wider territory was deeply engraved in its bones.
As a defeated fascist country, it was certainly not feasible for Japan to invade in a big way, so they hit the island with their ideas.
In November 2008, Japan suddenly proposed to the United Nations Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf that the 200-nautical-mile area around Okinotori Island be designated as Japan's exclusive economic zone, thereby extending its continental shelf in the South Pacific.
As soon as this proposal was submitted, it was immediately strongly opposed by the Chinese government, on the grounds that Japan's request was completely illegal, because their so-called "island" was not an island at all, but only a "reef".
In the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, "islands" and "reefs" have very different definitions and requirements, and article 121 of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea stipulates that an island is a naturally occurring land area surrounded by water and above the water surface at high tide.
However, this is clearly not the case, as it is a reef consisting of only five reefs, and if the tide is high, only two reefs are exposed to the water, which obviously cannot be called an "island".
Japan is also very aware of this, so in order to turn the "reef" into an "island", it can be said that they have taken great pains, and even spared tens of billions of dollars to reclaim land and expand the area of Okinotori Reef by artificial reclamation, so that it has the scale of a small island.
After the deed was accomplished, the Japanese government proudly called it an "island" and proposed it to the United Nations, but it was immediately opposed by the Chinese government.
Why, then, are China and Japan arguing over whether the Bird of Okinoki is an "island" or a "reef"? Is it that important to have a name?
In fact, whether it is an "island" or a "reef" is really a crucial big question.
According to the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, if it is an "island", then the country will be granted an exclusive economic zone of 200 nautical miles around, and the continental shelf will also be extended from this base.
How big is a 200 nautical mile EEZ? All we need to know is that this is larger than Japan's 380,000 square kilometers. Not only that, as an exclusive economic zone, Japan has absolute jurisdiction over the area, and not only can it build any artificial facilities on the island, but also planes and ships of other countries must apply to the Japanese government to pass by, and they cannot enter and leave at will.
But in other words, if it is a "reef" instead of an "island", then under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, the exclusive economic zone and continental shelf cannot be obtained, and everything will be empty.
Japan's desire to become an "island" was mainly economic, while the Chinese government's opposition was largely military.
Located in the southernmost part of Japan, Okinotori Reef is strategically important as it controls the main shipping lanes from the East China Sea into the Pacific Ocean, as well as Guam, the Philippines and Taiwan.
As mentioned earlier, if Okinotori Reef is designated as an "island", then the 200 nautical miles around the island, with the island as the center, will be owned by Japan, and in this area, Japanese warships and aircraft can fly freely, and on the island, Japan can build any artificial facilities, including military bases, but warships and aircraft of other countries will be greatly restricted.
Japan's nature of being the only one with the United States taking the lead will inevitably pose a threat to China's military security, and therefore, China will not allow Japan's ambitions to succeed in any way.
In response to Japan's conspiracy to reclaim the sea and build islands and turn "reefs" into "islands", the Chinese government has adopted the opposite "yang conspiracy" to deal with it.
China has expressed its strong opposition to the United Nations, citing the provisions of Article 121 of UNCLOS, which includes a requirement for "natural formation" in the definition of islands.
This proposition has also been supported by some countries in the United Nations, such as South Korea, which also believes that Okinotori Reef can only be regarded as a "reef", not an island, and Jon Van Dyck, a professor of law of the sea at the University of Hawaii in the United States, has also proposed that Okinotori Reef is just a king-size bed consisting of two raised reefs, and does not qualify as an island at all.
In the face of the facts, the United Nations Commission on the Continental Shelf has denied Japan's proposal, despite Japan's repeated arguments.
However, Japan still did not give up, and successive governments since then have expressed their claims to Okinotori Reef in different ways.
In just a few years, China has not only expanded the original small islands several times to become large islands, but also filled in one small island after another, and China has built military facilities on these islands and sent troops to garrison them, greatly strengthening the border defense in the South China Sea.
Japan would like to oppose it, but it is the first initiative to reclaim islands from the sea to seize economic and military benefits, and if they want to blame China, they will inevitably slap themselves in the face.
In this way, they can only watch China's military power in the South China Sea grow day by day, and there is nothing they can do.
After watching the story of Japan's land reclamation not succeeding, but achieving China's achievements, do you have anything to say in front of the screen? Feel free to leave your views in the comment section.
Resources:
Okinotori Reef: Baidu Encyclopedia
"Okinotori" is a reef not an island! Japan has been referring to reefs as islands for many years, and the difference of one word exposes its maritime strategic ambitions. Shangguan News 2020-07-22
Japan seized the island and the sea: the dispute over the islands and reefs became the core of the problem. Phoenix.com 2009-09-24
The Sino-Japanese dispute over Okinotori Reef. Phoenix.com 2016-04-30
CNKI's "Research on the Problem of "Okinotori Reef" - Xu Yao
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