Suyan Reef is only 150 nautical miles from Chongming Island and 132 nautical miles from Zhoushan Islands. It is part of the natural extension of the offshore continental shelf of Jiangsu Province. For thousands of years, the waters where the Suyan Reef is located have been traditional fishing areas for Chinese fishermen.

China also has a long history of naming Suyan Reef, which means "Jiangsu Overseas Reef". In "The Book of Mountains and Seas", there is "beyond the East China Sea, in the wilderness, there is a mountain named Yitiansu Mountain." Here, Sushan refers to Suyan. As early as 1880 to 1890, the Chinese Northern Ocean Navy clearly marked "Su Yan" on the sea route map.

It was not until 1984 that South Korea first determined the location of Suyan Reef, and it was not until January 26, 2000 that it first named Suyan Reef. They named the Suyan Reef as Liyu Island.

Since 2000, South Korea has invested more than US $24 million to build a steel platform on the Suyan Reef, which is equivalent to 15 floors high, and has exercised substantial control over the Suyan Reef. This has caused many rounds of protests from China. Since 2008, South Koreans have begun to catch Chinese fishermen who have entered the waters of Suyan Reef on a large scale. Hundreds of Chinese fishing boats have been seized, with a total annual fine of billions of won. A large number of Chinese fishermen have been abused and imprisoned. So, what is the basis for the Koreans to expel the Chinese? It is the Sino-ROK Fisheries Agreement signed in 2000. With the signing of this agreement, China has obviously suffered a loss. Chinese fishermen have lost their traditional fishing grounds for thousands of years and lost billions of dollars every year.

So why should China sign such an agreement with obvious losses? According to Jin Yinan, a professor of the National Defense University of China, in a public speech in 2014, this was related to Li Bin, the then Chinese ambassador to South Korea. Li Bin, a Korean, is a South Korean spy who has been bribed by South Korea for many years.

01

About Li Bin

According to public information, Li Bin, a native of Beijing, once studied at Kim Il Sung University, a famous university in North Korea, and spoke fluent Korean. As a result, Li Bin entered the Chinese Embassy in Korea early and served as the Second and Third Secretaries of the Chinese Embassy in Korea in 1986. Later, he joined the Chinese Embassy in Korea and successively served as Counsellor, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to Korea, Ambassador for Korean Peninsula Affairs and Deputy Director of the Asian Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Li Bin has worked on the Korean Peninsula for a long time. After leaving the Korean peninsula, he also briefly served as a member of the Standing Committee of Weihai City. Soon, they were punished for selling information and diplomatic disclosure.

Li Bin was born in 1956, and was only 50 years old when he was arrested in 2006. He can be said to be young and promising with a bright future. Li Bin was bribed by the South Korean intelligence agency, which was related to his special friendship with Kim Jong Il.

Li Bin and Kim Jong Il have a very good personal relationship. Kim Jong Il often enters the Chinese Embassy in Korea in plain clothes. According to the embassy staff, once Kim Jong-il and Li Bin exchanged drinks at the Chinese Embassy, Kim Jong-il drank sweet wine, and Li Bin drank Shaojiu, and talked for five hours, before the two sides parted.

Because of the close relationship between Li Bin and Kim Jong Il, they were targeted by South Korean intelligence personnel and bought by heavy money. On a secret visit to China by Kim Jong Il, Li Bin leaked the news to South Korean agents. South Korea immediately reported it in the media, which surprised both China and North Korea. Li Bin also attracted the attention of Chinese intelligence departments.

How did Li Bin sell Su Yan Reef and China's interests in the Sino-ROK Fisheries Agreement? At that time, the Sino-ROK Fisheries Agreement was negotiated with China's WTO negotiations. China's accession to the WTO is urgent. After 15 years of talks, the United States has been stuck in China's neck, trying to blackmail China for its benefits. China has lost many opportunities, done a lot of patient and meticulous work, and made many substantive concessions. Negotiations have made breakthroughs in the Clinton era.

China naturally cherishes this hard-won opportunity. But at this time, there are two problems in front of China: first, according to the relevant rules of the World Trade Organization, China must sign fishery agreements with relevant countries when it joins the World Trade Organization; Second, Clinton was about to leave office in 2000. As Clinton's term of office is about to expire, China cannot find out the attitude of the next US president towards China's accession to the WTO. It is worried that China's accession to the WTO will grow after the new US president takes office. It is therefore urgent to complete the WTO accession negotiations on the eve of Clinton's departure.

Then, China must face the issue of binding the WTO Agreement and the Sino-Korea Fisheries Agreement. The former is undoubtedly far more important than the latter. At that time, Li Bin was exactly the Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of China to the ROK, who led the negotiations with the ROK. At this time, he was bribed by South Korea. As a result, China's brand is completely open to South Korea.

02

Misery of Suyan Reef

At that time, China's bottom line was to divide the waters fairly. The middle zone is listed as a temporary water area, and China hopes that the temporary water area is on the side of Suyan Reef. However, due to Li Bin's disclosure, the South Korean side learned that China was eager to enter the WTO as soon as possible, and that the death bite of the Suyan Reef should be on its own side of the provisional waters.

What kind of situation will this cause? On the surface, it seems that everyone is fair, but China's sea area is on the inner side of the Yellow Sea, and there have been few fish in history, while South Korea's sea area is on the outer side of the Yellow Sea, and there are many more fish in history. More importantly, the provisional waters demarcated by the two sides, the Suyan Reef, is on the side of the South Korea.

In fact, at this time, China still has opportunities. Because the Sino-ROK Fisheries Agreement entered into force on June 30, 2001 after it was signed, and there was a five-year transition period after that. What is the main purpose of the five-year transition period? Is to negotiate the tentative waters of both sides.

At this time, the World Trade Agreement has been signed, and the negotiations between China and South Korea are no longer fettered by it. South Korea cannot use it to blackmail China. China still has the opportunity to retrieve the Suyan Reef, which is still in the provisional waters. There are many historical bases. China can put these historical data in front of South Korea and speak out "since ancient times".

However, in the past five years, the Chinese ambassador to South Korea was Li Bin. Li Bin not only told the ROK all the bargaining chips of the Chinese side, but also took advantage of the opportunity to lead the negotiation and took all kinds of deceptive methods to drain the national interests. South Korea is taking this opportunity to take action on the Suyan Reef.

On January 26, 2001, the Korean Academy of Geography named Suyan Reef as Liyu Island, which is the first time that South Korea has named Suyan Reef. During the same period, the Koreans began to illegally build a 3600-ton steel platform on the Suyan Reef, which was completed in June 2003. The Jeju Road Assembly of the Republic of Korea has determined that January 18 of each year is the "off island" day. And spread it all over the world.

South Korea has set up a marine science base and a navigation buoy on Suyan Reef. South Korea has stationed 8 researchers in Suyan Reef, which is rotated every 15 days. South Korea has established a surveillance and alarm system in Suyan Reef, monitored the surrounding waters through Suyan Reef base, and regularly dispatched ships and aircraft to patrol, etc.

Because South Korea has made great achievements in every step, plus Li Bin's negative response. In just five years, China has actually lost control of the Suyan Reef. The Chinese side soon suspected that Li Bin had a problem, and found a large amount of information about the illegal contact between Li Bin and South Korea and the United States. At the end of 2006, Li Bin was double-barred. However, as an ambassador selling information is not very honorable after all, the official sentenced Li Bin to seven years in prison for the so-called "economic case". It is reported that Li Bin is the highest-level spy in China's diplomatic system since the founding of the People's Republic of China.

03

Lost East China Sea Fishing Ground

On December 8, 2011, He Xin, a member of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), said in his proposal to the CPPCC that in recent years, Chinese fishermen have been repeatedly beaten, interrogated and detained by the South Korean coast police in the area of Suyan Reef. Many fishermen have been punished for their loss, and some have been killed and imprisoned.

He Xin specifically mentioned that China has suffered greatly from the Sino-ROK Fisheries Agreement. In particular, the intermediate sea area in the transitional sea area between the two sides is exactly the traditional fishing area of Chinese fishermen for thousands of years, but it was obtained by South Korea without a bullet and a penny, and now it is the exclusive economic zone of South Korea. Suyan Reef is also inexplicably lost, becoming the basis for South Korea to control this sea area.

However, the old fishermen also continued to fish in the area of Suyan Reef, and were beaten, imprisoned and punished. Chinese fishermen were puzzled. The "home" of generations has been lost somehow, so the resistance against the South Korean Coast Guard is particularly fierce.

The media listed the Sino-South Korean disputes in the Suyan Reef area in detail:

(1) In May 2009, a Northeast man surnamed Xia caught fish in the waters of Suyan Reef and was sentenced to 10 months' imprisonment in South Korea for the crime of illegal invasion; (2) On October 31, 2010, South Korea detained two Chinese fishing boats in the same sea area; On December 18, 2010, the South Korean maritime police brutally enforced the law in the conflict with a Chinese fishing boat, causing two Chinese fishermen to die and one seriously injured; (4) On March 3, 2011, the South Korean Coast Guard shot and injured a Chinese fisherman while arresting a Chinese fishing boat; At the end of October 2011, South Korea captured 31 Chinese fishermen

According to Yonhap, the South Korean Coast Guard seized 133, 122 and 104 Chinese fishing boats in 2008, 2009 and 2010, respectively, and many Chinese fishermen were fined to be destitute.

The economic value of the Suyan Reef area is extremely great. South Korea is a country with scarce fishery resources, but the waters of Suyan Reef are rich in fishery resources. The generous gift given to South Korea by the China-ROK Fisheries Agreement naturally made South Korea very happy. However, the fishermen in Jiangsu, Shandong, Fujian, Zhejiang and Taiwan, whose livelihoods have long depended on the Suyan Reef Fishing Ground, have encountered serious problems.

At the same time, the Suyan Reef area is rich in oil and gas resources. According to a survey conducted by the United Nations "Economic Commission for Asia and the Far East" in 1966, the reefs in the Yellow Sea and the East China Sea are among the areas with the richest oil reserves. A report from Korea Petroleum Corporation pointed out that the oil reserves in this sea area will exceed 7.7 billion tons, making it the third largest oil region in the world.

Suyan Reef has more strategic value. It is located at the junction of China, Japan and South Korea. If China fills the sea and builds islands here and sends troops to defend it, it can simultaneously monitor South Korea, Japan and Taiwan, which is of special strategic significance to break through the first island chain set by the United States and Japan.

04

epilogue

At present, South Korea firmly controls the Suyan Reef. In addition to the strong nationalism of South Korea, it is not easy to solve the problem of Suyan Reef. In 2000 and 2002, China made solemn representations to South Korea for the construction of artificial facilities in Suyan Reef twice, and the South Korea rebutted the argument that Suyan Reef is close to South Korea. The Suyan Reef is about 150 kilometers away from the island of Malo, Kyeongyi, West Guipu, South Korea. It is closer than the distance to Tongdao in Zhoushan Islands (132 nautical miles, about 247 kilometers).

At present, the dispute between China and South Korea about Suyan Reef is mainly about whether Suyan Reef is an island or a reef. South Korea thinks it is an island, and China thinks it is a reef. If it is identified as an island, South Korea can blackmail more interests.

Suyan Reef is an extension of Chinese Mainland's continental shelf, and there are so many documents proving its profound connection with China. If we argue vigorously in the Sino-ROK Fisheries Negotiation, we have a chance to win a better result. It is just that our side scrambled to join the World Trade Organization, and the Korean spy Li Bin leaked the bottom line of our negotiation to the Korean side, resulting in our losing the initiative to control Suyan Reef. Looking back, I am particularly sorry.

In the future, is it possible for China to gain control over the Suyan Reef? South Korea has the support of the United States and the extremely strong nationalism. In the future, South Korea will have no fear. No South Korean politician dares to give up Su Yanjiao, which means the end of his political life.

China's opportunity lies in its continuous strength. In the future, South Korea may exploit oil in the Suyan Reef area, so the confrontation between China and South Korea will intensify. It is unclear to what extent the United States will intervene in the dispute between China and South Korea over the Suyan Reef. Only when China's national strength grows stronger and stronger can Su Yanjiao have a chance to return to the control of the Chinese people.