** ordered the Seventh Fleet to open fire if it dared to cross the strait.
China has set the width of its territorial waters at 12 nautical miles, and no unapproved aircraft and ships for foreign use are allowed to enter China's territorial waters, otherwise it will be regarded as a violation of China's territory. ”
This statement was personally determined by the Chinese president, and it has expanded China's territorial sea area from more than 70 million square kilometers to more than 3 million square kilometers, and is an important protection measure for China's maritime territory.
In 1954, during his expedition to Qinhuangdao, he deeply felt the importance of maritime sovereignty, especially when China's coastline was 30,000 kilometers long. However, in ancient times, China has always implemented a policy of valuing agriculture and suppressing commerce, resulting in China not being a sea power country.
This allows us to lose our sovereignty over territorial waters in the face of imperialist artillery. From the Opium War in 1840 to the founding of the People's Republic of China, China's territorial waters have been invaded 479 times by foreign enemies, and the reason for this is that China's navy is weak.
However, the Chair did not want this to continue. He decided to defend China's maritime sovereignty and national defense security. For this reason, before the founding of New China, he loudly declared that foreign armed forces in other parts of China would quickly withdraw from China's territorial waters, territory, and airspace.
In the face of the pressure on China caused by the powerful naval power of Western countries, China urgently needs to change the irrational state of the 3-nautical-mile territorial waters. Although the width of the territorial sea of 3 nautical miles was formally established after the Hague Conference in 1930, because it was a void for the great powers, they could enter China's inland rivers at will, and even during the Korean War, the US Seventh Fleet openly entered the Taiwan Strait, seriously violating China's territorial sea rights.
Japanese fishing boats also often fish illegally in Chinese fishing grounds, which is strongly supported by our country, but the other side pretends to be deaf and dumb. This situation has made *** realize that the 3-nautical-mile territorial sea line is very unfair to a weak country, and the survival and development of the country has been greatly threatened.
In order to ensure China's sovereignty over its territorial waters, only by expanding its territorial waters and establishing coastal defense baselines can we effectively protect the country's rights and interests. In February 1958, the United Nations Conference on the Law of the Sea was held in Geneva, and many countries advocated the expansion of the width of the territorial sea, but due to the strong intervention of the United States, the conference was still fruitless for two months.
The United States believes that the sea is rich in resources, and narrow territorial waters will allow them to have larger high seas, which can plunder other countries' coastal resources or military provocations. In order to solve this problem, China bombarded Kinmen, showing the world its determination to safeguard national territorial integrity and maritime rights and interests.
This action gave birth to the formal establishment of a 12-nautical-mile territorial sea width, which provides a strong guarantee for China's territorial sea sovereignty.
Since Chiang Kai-shek's evacuation from the mainland in 1949, he has been looking forward to the opportunity to "return to the mainland." In this context, he received the support of the United States and fanatically planned the plans of the ** continent.
One day in the summer, he ordered the accumulation of more than 100,000 troops in Kinmen and Matsu to wantonly and indiscriminately bomb China's coastal areas, and the tense situation suddenly heated up. At the same time, US destroyers provocatively inspected fishing vessels and merchant ships at a distance of 12 nautical miles from the mainland in a vain attempt to interfere in China's internal affairs.
In this regard, the chairman decided to take tough measures and ordered the shelling of Kinmen to give the Kuomintang troops a powerful counterattack. In order to carry out this task, the front-line command post was quickly established, with General Ye Fei as the commander.
At 17:30 p.m. on August 23, in accordance with the order of ***, the artillery operation of the People's Liberation Army officially began, and 30,000 shells fell on the Kuomintang positions like torrential rain, and Kinmen Island instantly fell into a sea of fire.
The Kuomintang army, which was caught off guard, suffered heavy losses, and more than 600 officers and soldiers were killed and wounded, including 3 *** and 2 US military advisers. The ammunition depot was also bombed by our troops, and the resistance of the Kuomintang troops was greatly reduced.
The next day, the People's Liberation Army (PLA) turned its target to the Kuomintang naval vessels, successfully damaging the large transport ships "Zhonghai" and "Taisheng", and cutting off the Kuomintang army's sea passage.
After learning this news, Chiang Kai-shek was terrified and immediately sent a signal to the United States for help, using an exaggerated posture to obtain the support of the American army. Seeing this, in order to safeguard its interests in Asia, the United States immediately drew one aircraft carrier from the Sixth Fleet in the Mediterranean Sea and joined up with the Seventh Fleet in the Taiwan Strait to form a powerful maritime force.
On 27 August, the US aircraft carrier USS Essex left the Mediterranean Sea and headed for the vicinity of the Taiwan Strait. All of a sudden, the situation in the entire Taiwan Strait has changed dramatically and has become the focus of global attention.
However, on the eve of the shelling of Kinmen, Chairman ** did not care about the preparations for the war, but took time to meet with Ni Zhengyi, an expert on the international law of the sea, and others to jointly agree on the issue of the width of the territorial sea.
On the afternoon of the 23rd, Ni Zhengyi and others came to a villa on the seaside of Beidaihe and had an in-depth conversation with the *** who had been waiting for a long time.
In a conversation, Ni Zhengyi shared the concept of territorial waters, the habits of major countries, the issue of the width of territorial waters, and international differences on the width of territorial waters. ** Concerned about whether the width of the territorial sea will affect the navigation of merchant ships.
Ni Zhengyi said that merchant ships enjoy the right of innocent passage when navigating normally in territorial waters. **After a moment of contemplation, a question was raised: "If the width of the territorial sea is set at 12 nautical miles, is there still a high seas in the Bohai Sea?" ”
Behind this question is the historical memory of the Western powers stepping into Gyeonggi through the Bohai Bay a hundred years ago, and he hopes to avoid repeating the humiliating history. Ni Zhengyi said that the widest part of the Bohai Sea is only 24 nautical miles, and if the Bohai Sea becomes China's inland sea, ships of other countries will not be able to sail freely, so China's sovereignty can be fully protected.
** Very happy to hear it, nodding in agreement. Before leaving, they were instructed to study the optimal width of the territorial sea and to limit the activities of foreign ships and aircraft.
Soon, they learned the news of the bombardment of Kinmen, and only then did they realize the importance of this trip to Beidaihe. Ni Zhengyi and others seriously thought about it, holding that the territorial sea should be set at 12 nautical miles, and that the free movement of the territorial waters and airspace of the military powers should be restricted.
On August 25, he presided over a meeting of the Politburo Standing Committee in Beidaihe, discussed the issue of the width of the territorial waters, and asked the General Staff of the People's Liberation Army to conduct in-depth research and formulate a preliminary plan.
Later meetings were attended by Huang Kecheng, Qiao Guanhua, Lei Yingfu and others, as well as jurists Liu Zerong and Zhou Kunsheng. When the meeting put forward the idea of adopting a 12-nautical-mile territorial sea line, Liu Zerong and Zhou Kunsheng expressed their opposition, believing that this might attract the United States and Britain and other countries, and create more incidents and bring trouble to the country's development.
In this regard, ** smiled and said that the "Hague Agreement" is not immutable, and the width of the territorial sea cannot be completely determined by the will of Britain and the United States. He stressed that if imperialism wants to start a war, we are fully prepared, and the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea is the best proof of this.
Unafraid of external pressure, China insists on defending its sovereignty over its territorial waters. In the face of opposition and interference from Britain and the United States, our leaders took a firm attitude and decided to set the width of China's territorial waters at 12 nautical miles.
This decision is a solemn stand of the United States to show that the Chinese people resolutely safeguard the sovereignty of territorial waters and airspace. Kinmen, Matsu, and other places are also included in China's territorial waters, and US military forces will not be able to get involved in China's internal affairs.
However, the United States, Great Britain, and Japan** publicly stated that they did not recognize the 12-nautical-mile territorial sea line, and Chiang Kai-shek used this to accuse the mainland of not abiding by international rules. US Secretary of State Dulles even claimed that the United States has an obligation to defend Taiwan and will send more troops to help defend Kinmen and Malaysia.
However, the Chinese premier warned the United States** that taking necessary military action against Chiang Kai-shek's forces on the coastal islands, and that all foreign interference is an act of violation of China's sovereignty and will bear the full consequences.
Dulles turned a deaf ear to China's warnings and statements, continued to provoke China's bottom line, and even launched practical actions. On September 7, a combined fleet of 13 ** ships appeared in the Taiwan Strait, including 2 US cruisers and 5 destroyers, and they went to the waters near Kinmen and Xiamen to carry out supply missions.
Because our military has carried out indiscriminate bombardment of Kinmen for many days, Kinmen is desperately short of ammunition, and we have no choice but to ask the United States to escort and transport supplies for it.
The American GIs, who were originally arrogant and domineering, appeared cautious when they entered China's 12-nautical-mile territorial sea defense line, for fear that if they were not careful, they would die within the range of our army's artillery.
After all, they have violated the territorial waters of our country, and any attack could be considered an act of invasion. However, they received orders from **, and without authorization, no ** could attack Chinese mainland.
This made the American GIs nervous, and they were always on the lookout for a surprise attack by the PLA, and if it happened, they had to evacuate immediately. However, to their surprise, the PLA did not launch any attacks.
This made the US military begin to be triumphant, they thought that the squadron was afraid of the strength of the United States, and did not dare to really counterattack, but only dared to fight "mouth artillery". In fact, this is not because China does not fight, but because the chairman has other profound meanings.
When the Combined Fleet entered China's territorial waters, the People's Liberation Army (PLA) on the front line had already discovered it and immediately asked the chairman for instructions. The chairman only said that he could not move unless he had a military order.
The chairman saluted first and then soldiers, so that the US military had no room for refutation in the international community. If the United States and Chiang ** cross China's territorial waters again, they will take immediate action. On September 8, ** presided over the 15th meeting of the Supreme Council of State, during which he suddenly asked: "Today, we have to fire tens of thousands of shells, right?" ”
Someone replied that 30,000 rounds of artillery shells were fired, and the chairman said meaningfully that the shells should be used in key places. Sure enough, at 11 o'clock in the morning of that day, the United States and Chiang ** invaded the waters of Kinmen again, in which the United States sent 1 cruiser and 4 destroyers, and the Kuomintang landing ship went to Kinmen to transport supplies.
Just when everyone relaxed their vigilance, a loud noise came from the sea, and before they could come to their senses, the dense shells had been rolled up all over the world, and the Kuomintang suffered heavy losses, and the landing ship "Meile" was soon sunk, and the "Meizhen" also fled frantically from the open sea after being shot, and the other two landing ships also fled in panic after being shot.
General Ye Fei ordered the artillery to counterattack with intensive firepower, but as soon as the artillery was fired, the American troops fled quickly. However, this time, the Kuomintang reacted quickly and fled quickly without waiting for the United States to escort it, so only one ship was damaged.
And from beginning to end, the United States still did not fire a shot.
On October 19, the U.S. military again dispatched four ** ships to escort the Kuomintang, which seriously violated China's sovereignty. The front command launched an artillery bombardment on 20 October, and more than 8,000 shells fell on fortifications, positions and ships in Kinmen.
Only then did the US military realize that China was not joking, and that their attitude towards China had changed, and they no longer dared to enter China's 12-nautical-mile route at will. Britain, Japan and other countries have also had to comply with China's 12-nautical-mile territorial sea line regulations.
After that, China issued the "Letter to Taiwan Compatriots Again", which pointed out the strategy of "half fighting and half stopping" against Kinmen. China's Ministry of National Defense also announced that in addition to the two-day holiday, shelling will also be suspended on holidays.
This symbolic way of fighting actually contains the wisdom of ***. He always grasped the initiative in the war, and it was up to him to decide whether to fight or not. His aim was to make Kinmen a noose around the Americans' necks so that they could not get out of the Kinmen and Matsu issues, and at the same time to force Chiang Kai-shek to be unable to withdraw troops from Kinmen and Matsu, so that the Taiwan Strait could continue to maintain contacts and prevent Taiwan from becoming an excuse for the United States to have ulterior motives when it was isolated overseas.
In June 1960, Eisenhower attempted to create another incident by announcing his trip to Taiwan Province in a high-profile manner. In this regard, ** smiled and said: "Etiquette is still exchanged, Eisenhower is coming, let him go to Treasure Island as a guest, we will also send some gifts to welcome guests, I think we will send 70,000 shells." ”
In this way, on the day of Eisenhower's arrival, China carried out large-scale artillery bombardment, which aroused the unease of the US military. Since then, none of the previous US leaders have "visited Taiwan" again.
The shelling of Kinmen lasted for more than 20 years, until January 1, 1979, when the Minister of Defense announced the cessation of the shelling of the islands of Kinmen, Dadan, and Erdan.
After years of debate and struggle, Western countries, led by the United States, have finally decided to abandon their territorial waters that insist on a width of 3 nautical miles. Finally, in 1982, the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea officially declared that States had the right to determine territorial waters up to 12 nautical miles.
Since then, the framework for the 12-nautical-mile territorial sea has been formalized. With the rapid development of China's navy and air force, China's national defense strength has been greatly enhanced, and China has the courage to take tough military measures against the provocative acts of Western countries in China's territorial waters.
For example, once in the United Kingdom, wanted to pass"Aircraft carrier HMS Queen Elizabeth"Broke into the South China Sea, only to be deterred by Chinese destroyers. Looking back now, the outstanding charm and wisdom of those years are still admirable.
It was his decisive decision that expanded China's territorial waters to nearly 3 million square kilometers and broke the rules of the world; It was his perseverance that allowed the US military to never fire any shells.
China's future development requires us to continuously improve our national defense and comprehensive strength, and only in this way can we occupy a more dominant position on the global stage, safeguard our right not to be bullied by Western countries, and achieve fairness and justice.