Japan yesterday accused China of illegally conducting undersea surveys in its territory 22 times last year, including nine surveys near two Pacific Ocean islets at the center of a dispute between the two countries over resources.
Meanwhile, a delegation from a Japanese nongovernment group yesterday steamed toward the Okinotorishima islets to study the possibility of building a lighthouse it hopes would strengthen Japan's foothold there.
In a statement, Japan's Foreign Ministry said China had illegally conducted undersea surveys inside Japan's special economic zone 22 times last year, nine of them around the Okinotorishima outcroppings located 1,730km southeast of Tokyo.
The number of claimed incursions is nearly a threefold increase from eight in 2003.
"It is extremely regrettable to see the violations repeated," the statement said. "We strongly hope the Chinese government to instruct research vessels properly and prevent the problems."
Japan claims the Okinotorishima outcroppings, which are heavily fortified by cement embankments, are islands and therefore extend its exclusive economic zone far into the Pacific.
China does not dispute Japan's territorial claim to Okinotorishima, but argues that they're only rocks -- meaning Beijing is free to exploit the natural resources in some of the waters claimed by Japan.
Under international law, an island, which by definition is a naturally-formed land mass that stays above water during high tide -- can be used to determine the limits of a country's economic zone.
A 40-member team commissioned by the private Nippon Foundation was headed for Okinotorishima to do onsite research on Monday and Tuesday, foundation spokesman Hideo Fukuda said by telephone from their boat.
"The purpose of the trip is to seek ways to make better use of marine resources in the area, and it's not a political action targeting China," Fukuda said.
The team plans to survey coral, take sea water samples and assess the possibility of building a lighthouse and a power generation plant, he said.
A subsidiary of a Hong Kong-based company that has lost control of two critical ports on the Panama Canal said it is seeking US$2 billion of compensation in damages from Panama over its “illegal” takeover of the ports. Panama Ports Co, a unit of Hong Kong’s CK Hutchison Holdings (長江和記實業), on Friday said in a statement that it is demanding the sum under international arbitration proceedings that it had already started. The Panamanian government last week seized control of the Balboa and Cristobal ports on each end of the Panama Canal, after the country’s Supreme Court declared earlier that a concession allowing
DETERRENCE: With 1,000 indigenous Hsiung Feng II and III missiles and 400 Harpoon missiles, the nation would boast the highest anti-ship missile density in the world With Taiwan wrapping up mass production of Hsiung Feng II and III missiles by December and an influx of Harpoon missiles from the US, Taiwan would have the highest density of anti-ship missiles in the world, a source said yesterday. Taiwan is to wrap up mass production of the indigenous anti-ship missiles by the end of year, as the Chungshan Institute of Science and Technology has been meeting production targets ahead of schedule, a defense official with knowledge of the matter said. Combined with the 400 Harpoon anti-ship missiles Taiwan expects to receive from the US by 2028, the nation would have
POSSIBILITIES EMERGE: With Taiwan’s victory and Japan’s narrow win over Australia, Taiwan now have a chance to advance if South Korea also beat the Aussies Taiwan has high hopes that the national baseball team would advance to the World Baseball Classic (WBC) quarter-finals after clinching a crucial 5-4 victory over South Korea in a nail-biting extra-inning game at the Tokyo Dome yesterday. Boosted by three home runs — two solo shots by Yu Chang (張育成) and Cheng Tsung-che (鄭宗哲) and a two-run homer by Stuart Fairchild — the triumph gave Taiwan a much-needed second victory in the five-team Pool C, where only the top two finishers would advance to the knockout stage in Miami, Florida. Entering extra innings with the game tied at four apiece, Taiwan scored
MISSION OF PEACE: The foreign minister urged Beijing to respect Taiwan’s existence as an independent nation, and work together to ensure peace and stability in the region Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) yesterday rejected Chinese Minister of Foreign Affairs Wang Yi’s (王毅) comments about Taiwan, criticizing China as a “troublemaker” in the international community and a disruptor of cross-strait peace. Speaking at a news conference on the sidelines of the Chinese National People’s Congress, Wang said that Taiwan has always been a territory of China and that it would be impossible for it to become its own country. The “return” of Taiwan to China was the natural outcome of the Chinese people’s resistance against Japan in World War II, and that any pursuit of independence was “doomed
RSS