Commentary: What is China doing in the Yellow Sea?
“China has rejected requests from South Korea to relocate the structures outside of the shared area and in May unilaterally declared ‘no-sail zones’ within the area, according to a report by Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative.”
“China’s steady gains in the South China Sea have likely encouraged it to try the same strategy in the East China Sea and the Yellow Sea. Pushing into the East China Sea has been hard. Japan has the resources and naval capabilities, which the Philippines and Vietnam lack, to push back on Chinese maritime expansion.”
“Although South Korea has a long coast, the North Koreans have built such a massive army – 1.5 million men – and stationed it so close to South Korea’s capital, that South Korea spends disproportionately on its army and air force to outgun the North Korean threat. The South, for example, recently considered building an aircraft carrier to challenge China’s maritime expansion, but the national legislature rejected it as too expensive.”