On July 2, China’s Ministry of Natural Resources published a legal comment
saying Japan and the Philippines have announced they will open bilateral
delimitation talks over exclusive economic zone and continental shelf areas east
of Taiwan. The ministry said the proposed delimitation would largely overlap
maritime areas China can claim under international law, was advanced without
consulting China, ignored the area’s specific geography, and violated principles
of sovereign equality, good faith and obligations of cooperation and restraint,
constituting an internationally wrongful act. The ministry called on Japan and
the Philippines to stop the talks and consult with China to fulfill
international obligations and assume state responsibility, and said China has
the right to hold them accountable.
