Tokyo governor to visit southern islets amid dispute with China(in-your-face move)

Tokyo's governor plans to visit a rocky outcrop south of the Japanese capital next month amid questions from China about the validity of Japan's claim of sovereignty over the islets and the surrounding seas.

China says Okinotorishima, a pair of islets about 1,730 kilometers (1,070 miles) southwest of Tokyo, are only rocks _ not an island governed by rules of sovereignty _ and therefore can't be used by Japan to extend its economic zone while preventing Beijing from exploiting natural resources in the surrounding Pacific Ocean area.

Governor Shintaro Ishihara told a Thursday news conference he would investigate how to promote economic activity on the islets, which fall under the capital's jurisdiction, during his May 19-21 trip.

"Okinotorishima is our territory," Ishihara said, adding that he hoped to support fishing there by building an underwater haven for fish. "Through this we will strongly prove that Okinotorishima is Japan's exclusive economic zone, and won't let China make uncalled-for remarks."

A dispute developed between Japan and China over the islets late last year after a Chinese research ship twice came within 200 nautical miles (370 kilometers) of the crags, triggering a diplomatic protest by Japan. China said the ship was conducting scientific exploration on the "high seas."

"I intend to examine with my own eyes the possibilities for launching fishing operations, for exploiting the area's resources and developing the island's resources," Ishihara said.

Ishihara's planned trip comes after massive demonstrations, some of them violent, erupted in Chinese cities this month after Tokyo approved new history textbooks that critics say gloss over Japan's wartime atrocities. Japan demanded an apology and compensation for damage suffered by its embassy and consulates during the protests, but China has refused.

The two Asian powers have also sparred over competing claims to oil and natural gas reserves in the East China Sea.

Thank you for this post. The East China Sea is important strategically (what an understatement!) and economically. (The Chinese are running a full bore petroleum seismology survey through the as much of the area as they can get away with.)

A little background may interest some readers.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan has published an official take on this Okinotorishima affair. Statements by Assistant Press Secretary Chiba Akira (Feb 18, 2005):

Mr. Chiba: A question was asked earlier today concerning Okinotorishima. The island, under the Tokyo Municipal Government, has been known as an island under Japanese jurisdiction since 1931, long before the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea came into existence. Having ratified the Convention in 1996, Japan registered its domestic laws concerning its territorial waters, in which Okinotorishima is included as an island, to the Secretary-General of the UN in 1997. Seven years passed without a single claim.

As recently as in 2004, a research vessel of a certain country, having violated Japan's Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) by ignoring necessary procedures, was asked why it took the liberty to do so. It justified its trespassing on grounds that they construed Okinotorishima as a rock.

Article 121 of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea defines that "an island is a naturally formed area of land, surrounded by water, which is above water at high tide." This is exactly what Okinotorishima is.

In the same Article, there is a paragraph stating that "rocks which cannot sustain human habitation or economic life of their own shall have no EEZ or continental shelf." This paragraph talks about a rock which is inhabitable and does not define what an island is. The definition of an island is spelled out in Paragraph 1, and there is no room for lay interpretation and this does not serve as a pretext for arbitrary intrusion. Vessels of a single country have been repeatedly trespassing, 18 times in the Pacific and as often as nine times around Okinotorishima alone, by defining the nature of foreign soil at their discretion.

So, if "island", then exclusive economic zone, continental shelf rights, and "part of Japan". If "rock" then none of the above. "Rocks that cannot sustain human habitation or economic life of their own..." etc. means that Tokyo pretty much has to be sure this does not include Okinotorishima, for sure.

Ishihara can float trial balloons since "he does not represent the Japanese Government." The Mayor of Tokyo plays a singular role in Japanese politics.

Ain't Google wonderful.

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