New York: China, which has unresolved
boundary disputes with many of its neighbours including
India, has asked a UN panel not to handle Japan's application
to extend its continental shelf in the western Pacific.
China, in a letter to the UN Commission on the Limits of
the Continental Shelf, contented that what Japan claims is an
"island" is merely a "rock."
In the letter, written on Monday, China dubbed what Japan
calls Okinotori Island, about 1,700 kilometres south of Tokyo,
as the "rock of Okinotori, which obviously cannot sustain
human habitation or economic life of its own, shall have no
continental shelf."
China urged the panel not to handle an application
Japan submitted last November for the extension of its
continental shelf stemming from the disputed spot, Kyodo news
agency, which obtained a copy of the letter, reported.
"Since the rock of Okinotori does not have any ground to
claim continental shelf, it is not within the mandate of the
commission to make any recommendation," China said.
A sub-commission of the panel will take up the issue in
September considering both Japan's application and the Chinese
opposition to it, the report said.
Beijing has acknowledged Japan's territorial right to
the spot but opposed Tokyo's claim to an exclusive economic
zone stemming from it, it said.
Lying midway between Taiwan and Guam, the contested spot
lies in a strategically important area.
Bureau Report