Japan's ambitions for atolls stir disputes
- Source: Global Times
- [04:47 January 08 2010]
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By Liu Dong
Japan's port-building plans on a remote Pacific atoll have been condemned by China as illegal, as Beijing claims the atoll does not qualify as an island.
Japan's transport authority appropriated 0.7 billion yen ($51.76 million) of the 2010 fiscal budget to fund the establishment of ports on Japan's easternmost territory, Minami Torishima island, and southernmost territory, Okinotorishima atoll, which will reportedly serve as bases for investigation into the resource reserves in the surrounding waters, Kyodo News reported Thursday.
Okinotorishima, also known as Douglas Reef or Parece Vela, is some 1,700 kilometers south of Tokyo. Japan has already built facilities such as a lighthouse there, and poured in concrete to make sure the atoll does not slip totally beneath the waves.
"According to the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, the atoll can't have an exclusive economic zone or a continental shelf because of its geographical conditions and building infrastructure cannot change its legal position," Chinese foreign ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu said in a regular news briefing Thursday.
"Japan's claims of large-scale jurisdictional waters around the atoll do not conform to international law and also affect the international community," she added.
In December 2008, the Japanese government devised management policies for the atoll, and bill drafts were submitted to parliament.
Economic and strategic considerations have driven the Japanese government's moves, as investigations indicate abundant reserves of mineral resources in the surrounding waters of the atoll. Japan may plan to build an exclusive economic zone covering 200 nautical miles (370.4 kilometers).
"Atolls could not serve as a base for exclusive economic zones, as is regulated by universally recognized norms," said Wang Shan, assistant researcher at the Institute of Japanese Studies of the China Institutes of Contemporary International Relations. "Japan brazenly defied the generally accepted standards by engaging in artificial reinforcement to make atolls islands. Such infringement will be castigated by the international community and will exert a negative impact on maritime cooperation in East Asia."
Okinotorishima lies strategically about halfway between Guam, site of a large US military base, and China's Taiwan Province.
China and Japan have also been involved in a long dispute over a tiny group of islands in the East China Sea, known as Diaoyu in China and Senkaku in Japan.
Agencies contributed to this story
