SpecialistsNautical mile,**Nautical: The Hague Agreement is not a holy decree, breaking in and firing
China has always upheld firm principles in safeguarding national rights and interests. Just as the Hague Accord is not a baton and cannot be arbitrarily manipulated by countries such as the United States and the United Kingdom, China is also determining the width of its territorial waters according to its own strength and needs.
During the bombardment of Kinmen, ** resolutely decided to change the width of China's territorial waters from 3 nautical miles to 12 nautical miles and announced it to the world. Naturally, people wonder why this decision was made at this time.
However, this was clearly a decision made in accordance with China's own needs and interests at that time, and expressed China's determination to safeguard national sovereignty and dignity.
The concept of territorial waters originated from the ideas of Western colonizers, who in the 18th century proposed that the territorial waters of countries should be 3 nautical miles wide, about 1 nautical mile each852 km.
Despite this, the distance of 3 nautical miles is less than 6 km, so there is no consensus on this provision. Although by the end of the 18th century, the United States and the United Kingdom began to adopt a width of 3 nautical miles, countries still did not agree on a unified width of their territorial waters, with some adopting the 3 nautical mile standard, while others did not adopt it and set their own.
At the first conference on the codification of international law in 1930, more than 40 countries gathered in The Hague, the Netherlands, and 33 countries presented different views on the question of territorial waters.
The camp dominated by 12 countries, including China, the United States, the United Kingdom, and Japan, advocates 3 nautical miles as the sole standard, while 21 countries advocate that the standard of territorial waters should be greater than 3 nautical miles. Eventually, the United States and Britain relied on their strong strength to stipulate that each country must use 3 nautical miles as the standard for territorial waters, so the Hague Agreement was established.
However, in the second year, the Chinese people promulgated the three-nautical-mile territorial sea system, but this provision is actually a non-existent one. Because the ** of Western countries can enter the Chinese waters at will, come and go freely, and even the inland sea is no exception, especially the ** of the United States and the United Kingdom, and even foreign fishing boats can fish arbitrarily.
After the founding of the People's Republic of China, the British ship attached great importance to the sovereignty of the territorial waters, because the British ships broke into the Yangtze River combat area during the battle of crossing the Yangtze River, and although they were beaten away by the People's Liberation Army, he deeply felt the importance of mastering the sovereignty of the territorial waters.
Therefore, he instructed *** to seek the help of *** and international experts on the law of the sea to jointly study the issue of China's territorial waters. In this context, on August 23, 1958, ** decided to bombard Kinmen on this day, but he was well aware that the US ** ship might intervene.
Therefore, the day before the bombing, he invited the jurist Ni Zheng, who had participated in the trial of Japanese war criminals, to Beidaihe to study the issue of territorial waters.
At the meeting, Ni Zheng gave a detailed introduction to the Hague Agreement. He pointed out that developed countries, by virtue of their strong strength, claim a width of 3 nautical miles, while weaker countries claim a width of 12 nautical miles or more in order to protect their own security.
**After learning about this situation, he learned that the range of our army's coastal artillery was about 12 nautical miles, so he asked if the Bohai Sea would become the open sea if it was set to a width of 12 nautical miles.
Ni Zheng replied that the widest waterway in the Bohai Sea is less than 24 nautical miles, so the Bohai Sea will be China's inland sea and enjoy complete sovereignty. After hearing this, he smiled with satisfaction and said, "It seems that for the sake of the country's security and prosperity, we should set a wider territorial waters." ”
As it turned out, this decision was the right one. After the People's Liberation Army bombarded Kinmen, Chiang Kai-shek asked the US military for help, and the US military ** began to wander around the nearby seas. However, ** ignored this request, and in order to prevent the US military from participating in the fighting in Kinmen, he continued to push for the resolution of the territorial sea issue.
At the September 1-2 meeting, the idea of a 12-nautical-mile territorial sea line was put forward and participants were encouraged to speak actively. Although two jurists familiar with the Hague Accords, Liu Zerong and Zhou Kunsheng, suggested using a 3-nautical-mile territorial sea line because they believed that the Hague Accords could not be violated, and that if it were to be set at 12 nautical miles, it would attract opposition from the United States and Britain and could lead to war.
However, ** did not agree with the opinion of the two old gentlemen, he stressed that the Hague agreement was not immutable, that it was beneficial for him to expand the line of territorial waters, and analyzed the possibility of war from all sides.
Although he judged that war would not happen in the short term, if it did, he was prepared for the worst.
On September 3, the U.S. Department of Defense issued a statement saying that if the PLA attacked Kinmen, the U.S. military would take action. However, this statement was seen through, and China finally determined that the width of China's territorial waters was 12 nautical miles.
The next day, China announced to the world that the width of its territorial waters was 12 nautical miles, and that no foreign aircraft and **without China**'s permission would enter China's airspace and territorial waters, and issued a warning to the US escort fleet.
However, the United States** only recognizes 3 nautical miles, believing that it is free to travel outside of it. On September 7, Eisenhower ordered the U.S. Navy to escort Chiang's convoy carrying supplies for Kinmen.
However, after Chiang's fleet arrived near Kinmen, **immediately ordered the front line** to only fight Chiang's ships and not American ships, and if American ships **, not to return fire.
During the war, the PLA carried out heavy artillery bombardment of Chiang's supply ships and transport ships, however, it was surprising that the American troops abandoned Chiang's army and quickly retreated to a distance of 12 nautical miles to provide escort for Chiang's army.
As a result, three ships were sunk and several were damaged. Shockingly, in 1982, the United Nations adopted the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, which stipulates that the width of the territorial sea of each country is 12 nautical miles, which is the origin of the 12-nautical-mile territorial sea system as we know it today.