South China Morning Post: Japan spends millions building structures on uninhabited rocks 1,740 km from Tokyo to mark its territory
The Japanese government is to spend Y13 billion (HK$838.3 million) on rebuilding facilities on Okinotorishima, a tiny atoll 1,740 km south of Tokyo that helps to extend Japan’s exclusive economic zone into the Pacific Ocean.
The tiny land mass is only above water because two parts of the coral reef have been protected by concrete embankments and blocks that are designed to prevent them from disappearing beneath the waves for good, critics of Japan’s claim to sovereignty say.
China has been particularly vocal about Japan’s claim, insisting that the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea makes it clear that Okinotorishima is a reef that cannot support human life and, therefore, cannot be used by Tokyo to extend its continental shelf or EEZ a further 200 nautical miles.
Beijing has made no comments on Japan’s latest plans to develop Okinotorishma, but experts believe a statement will be forthcoming.
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Update #1: Japan to spend millions on tiny islands 1,000 miles south of Tokyo -- The Guardian
Update #2: China chides Japan for building permanent structures on Pacific Ocean reef -- GMA News
WNU Editor: This reminds me of a saying from Buddha. When you point a finger at someone, you are pointing three at yourself. The Japanese accuse China of causing tensions with their island reclamation projects .... but Japan is doing the same thing.
