Japan says China conducted research near Pacific atoll
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TOKYO – Japan has accused China of conducting unnotified maritime scientific research within its exclusive economic zone (EEZ) around its southernmost island in the Pacific Ocean, Tokyo said on May 27.
The alleged activity took place on May 26 near the remote atoll of Okinotori in the Philippine Sea, roughly halfway between Taiwan and Guam. China has said it does not constitute an island.
Japan’s coast guard on May 26 spotted a Chinese maritime survey vessel “extending what appeared to be a wire into the waters in Japan’s exclusive economic zone 270km east of Okinotori island”, government spokesman Yoshimasa Hayashi told reporters.
“As the maritime scientific research by the vessel has not obtained Japan’s agreement, the coast guard demanded that the activity stops, and we lodged a protest with the Chinese side through a diplomatic channel,” he said.
The Chinese vessel left the EEZ at around 10.45pm on May 26, Mr Hayashi added.
Under international law, a coastal state has rights to the management of natural resources and other economic activities within its EEZ, which is within 200 nautical miles, or 370km, of its coastlines.
Prior consent is necessary for foreign vessels to carry out scientific research for non-economic purposes in another country’s EEZ.
But China has said Japan’s claim is invalid since Okinotori, about 1,700km south of Tokyo, is just rocks and not an island.
Therefore, it cannot be regarded under the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea as an entity around which Japan can set its EEZ, Beijing has said.
Japan’s claim “violates international law”, the Chinese Foreign Ministry said on May 27.
Spokeswoman Mao Ning said Chinese research vessels exercised “the freedom of the high seas” in the area and that Tokyo had “no right to interfere”.
Others, including Taiwan and South Korea, also dispute Japan’s claim. AFP
