Taiwan Strait, Yellow Sea and Bohai sea

In News: China continued its live-fire military exercises in waters near Taiwan for the fourth day, while also announcing new exercises in the Yellow Sea, between China and the Korean peninsula.

• Separately, Chinese authorities announced it will also conduct live-fire military exercises on the Yellow and Bohai seas, between China and the Korean peninsula.

Taiwan Strait

• The Taiwan Strait, also known as the Formosa Strait, is a 180 km wide strait separating Taiwan and mainland China.
• The strait is currently part of the South China Sea and connects to the East China Sea to the north. The narrowest part is 130 km wide.
• The entire strait is on Asia’s continental shelf.
• Historically both the People’s Republic of China (PRC) and Taiwan espoused a One-China Policy that considered the strait part of the exclusive economic zone of a single “China”.

Yellow Sea

• The Yellow Sea is a marginal sea of the Western Pacific Ocean located between mainland China and the Korean Peninsula, and can be considered the northwestern part of the East China Sea.
• Its name is descriptive of the golden-yellow colour of the silt-laden water discharged from major rivers.

Bohai Sea

• The innermost bay of northwestern Yellow Sea is called the Bohai Sea into which flow some of the most important rivers of northern China, such as the Yellow River, the Hai River and the Liao River.
• The northeastern extension of the Yellow Sea is called the Korea Bay, into which flow the Yalu River, the Chongchon River and the Taedong River.

Source: Thehindu