To consider validity of China's claim over disputed islands

January 24, 2013|Reuters

(Adds background, paragraph 4)

By Michelle Nichols

UNITED NATIONS, Jan 24 (Reuters) - The United Nations is
planning to consider later this year the scientific validity of
China Sea are part of its territory, although Japan says the
world body should not be involved.

Tensions over the uninhabited islands - located near rich
fishing grounds and potentially huge oil and gas reserves -
flared after Japan's government purchased them from a private
Japanese owner in September, sparking violent anti-Japanese
protests across China and a military standoff.

Taiwan also claims the islands, known as the Diaoyu islands

It was not immediately clear if the U.N. involvement would
increase the likelihood the China-Japan dispute would be
resolved peacefully. But launching an international legal
process that should yield a neutral scientific opinion could
reduce the temperature for now in Beijing's spat with Tokyo.

Continental Shelf, China says the continental shelf in the East
China Sea is a natural prolongation of China's land territory
and that it includes the disputed islands.

Under the U.N. convention, a country can extend its
continental shelf is a natural extension of its land mass. The
U.N. commission assesses the scientific validity of claims, but
any disputes have to be resolved between states, not by the

located between the East China Sea shelf basin and the Okinawa
Trough. "The Okinawa Trough is the natural termination of the

China also told the commission that it was still negotiating
with other states on the delimitation of the continental shelf.

"Recommendations of the commission with regard to the
submission will not prejudice future delimitation of the
continental shelf between China and the states concerned," said
the executive summary of China's submission published on the
commission's website.


The commission said consideration of China's claim would be
included in the provisional agenda of a meeting of the body due
to be held in New York from July 15 to Aug. 30.

In a letter to the commission, Japan's U.N. mission argued
that China's submission should not be considered.

"There is no doubt that the Senkaku Islands are an inherent
part of the territory of Japan in light of historical facts and
based upon international law. The Senkaku Islands are under the
valid control of Japan," it said.

The islands were put under Japan's control in 1895 and were
from 1945 to 1972. They were then returned to Tokyo by U.S.
authorities in a decision China and Taiwan later contested.

China responded to Japan's letter by calling Tokyo's claim
to the islands "illegal and invalid."

"Diaoyu Dao and its affiliated islands have been inherent
in a letter.

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton urged China and
but her pleas fell on deaf ears.

After Japan's purchase of the islands, protests in China saw
Japanese businesses looted, Japanese citizens attacked.
Automakers and other Japanese manufacturers reported
considerably lower sales in the country.

More recently, Japanese military planes have been scrambled
numerous times against Chinese planes approaching airspace over
the islands. Chinese planes have also been launched to shadow
Japanese planes elsewhere over the East China Sea. Patrol
vessels from the two countries have also played a tense game of

(Reporting by Michelle Nichols; Editing by David Brunnstrom and
Peter Cooney)