China said Thursday it cannot recognize South Korea’s sovereignty over Ieo Island, a remote reef-islet in the waters between the Asian neighbors, after China announced it had conducted aerial surveillance on the islet last year.
“Suyan Rock is a reef located below the waters in the northern part of the East China Sea, and we have never determined its ownership with South Korea,” said Qin Gang, a spokesman at Beijing’s Foreign Ministry, during a press conference.
Suyan Rock is the Chinese name of Ieo Island, on which South Korea has operated maritime observation facilities since 2001.
“Suyan Rock is where each country’s EEZs (economic exclusive zones) overlap,” Qin said, adding that South Korean and Chinese officials met twice but failed to agree on a sea border near the islet.
Seoul’s ties with Beijing recently soured after a state-run academic institute in China disclosed research papers arguing that ancient Korean kingdoms were its vassal governments.
President Roh Moo-hyun expressed regret over the papers, but China repeated that they are only academic works.
A day earlier, China’s State Oceanic Administration said Chinese planes flew surveillance missions over the islet and its scientific facilities five times last year, raising speculation that the announcement is aimed at launching its territorial claim over the islet.
“We implemented maritime surveillance of the waters where we have disputes with a neighboring country,” the agency said, adding it also inspected a fleet of South Korean survey ships operating near the reef.
The islet lies about 149 kilometers southwest of South Korea’s southernmost island of Mara and 245 km away from China’s Tongdao Island.
This is the first time that China has said it conducted aerial reconnaissance of the islet.
South Korean officials said the islet lies within South Korea’s exclusive economic zone, but China doesn’t recognize it. The two countries held several rounds of talks but have yet to determine a maritime demarcation line in the waters near the islets. The reef is 245 kilometers away from China’s Tongdao Island.
According to U.N. maritime law, a reef doesn’t allow a country to have EEZ and continental shelf claims. South Korea’s claim on Ieo Island is based on the fact the reef and its adjacent waters are part of South Korea’s continental shelf.
The Chinese surveillance drew concerns in South Korea, as many worried Beijing would launch a territorial claim over the islet, which would aggravate its relations with Korea, already soured due to a history dispute.
A state-run Chinese institute recently disclosed research papers arguing that ancient Korean kingdoms were China’s regional governments, in breach of a 2004 agreement aimed at easing history disputes between the two countries.
South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun expressed regret over the papers, but China repeated they are only academic works.
China has been locked in numerous territorial disputes with Japan in the East China Sea, ranging from the ownership of a small island chain and the demarcation of each country’s EEZ to a new gas exploration site.
South Korea completed building modern maritime scientific facilities and a helicopter landing site on the islet in 2001.
