TOKYO - JAPAN is considering plans to build a port at a remote Pacific atoll in a bid to secure its territorial claim to the region, a newspaper reported on Saturday.

Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama's government plans to begin a feasibility study for constructing port facilities at Okinotorishima, which lies 1,700 kilometres (1,054 miles) south of Tokyo, the Sankei Shimbun reported.

The government plans to put aside hundreds of millions of yen (millions of dollars) in the fiscal year from March for the research, the newspaper said.

By building a port, Japan hopes to make the rocky islets a base for patrol and maritime research in the region, which is thought to have natural resources under its seabed.

Japan regards Okinotorishima as the southernmost point of its territory, a policy which may allow it to extend its 200-nautical-mile exclusive economic zone around the atoll.

Also known as Douglas Reef, the atoll's three islands have been extensively eroded by waves. Only several square metres on top of two rocks, which are reinforced by concrete, remain above the surface at high tide. China has disputed Japan's claim, saying the wave-swept atoll cannot be regarded as an island under the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea. -- AFP