Why have Japan and the Philippines’ maritime boundary talks angered China?

The waters off eastern Taiwan have become a new flashpoint after Tokyo and Manila announced formal negotiations to delimit the maritime boundary of the exclusive economic zones (EEZs) and continental shelf between Japan and the Philippines. On Monday, China’s coastguard carried out enforcement patrols in the region, exercising Beijing’s claimed right to maintain its own EEZ and continental shelf rights under both domestic and international law. The Taiwanese coastguard said it shadowed and monitored two Chinese vessels spotted at around 11am on Monday about 51 to 52 nautical miles southeast of Orchid Island, which sits roughly 64km (40 miles) off the southeastern coast of the main island. Here are four things you need to know about the boundary talks between Japan and the Philippines, along with their implications in international law and geopolitics: Why do Tokyo and Manila want delimitation talks? Japan and the Philippines share no borders. However, as coastal countries, they are entitled to project an exclusive economic zone that extends 200 nautical miles (370km or 230 miles) from their coasts. If measured from Yaeyama Islands, about 400km southwest of Okinawa Island, and the Philippines’ northernmost Mavulis Island, the EEZs of the two countries do meet – and even overlap in the western Pacific Ocean. There is also an overlap with the 200-nautical-mile EEZ of Taiwan, the self-ruled island that Beijing sees as part of China – to be reunited by force, if necessary. Most countries, including the United States and its allies Japan and the Philippines, do not recognise Taiwan as an independent state but Washington is opposed to any attempt to take the self-governed island by force and is committed to supplying it with weapons. What do we know about the talks? Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi and Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jnr agreed to “commence formal negotiations to delimit the maritime boundary of the [EEZ] and the continental shelf”, according to a joint statement released after their Tokyo summit on Thursday. The decision was “in accordance with international law, in particular the relevant provisions of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (Unclos), and guided by the relevant international jurisprudence, to enhance legal certainty in the region”, it said. However, the two sides did not give the precise geographic scope of the negotiations, which means that if they draw a bilateral line that cuts into areas claimed by Beijing or Taipei, the boundary would be legally unopposable to the excluded claimants. An example is the 1974 Japan-South Korea joint development agreement in the East China Sea, which bypassed Beijing’s claims on the continental shelf. Beijing immediately declared the agreement entirely illegal and invalid, a stance it maintains to this day. What do Tokyo and Manila take from the delimitation? According to Unclos, a coastal state has exclusive rights to explore, exploit and manage all natural resources within its 200-nautical-mile EEZ. This covers the seabed and subsoil’s oil, natural gas and other minerals and heavily overlaps continental shelf rights. International law also grants a coastal state the executive powers to authorise, regulate and police the construction and operation of all artificial installations, as well as marine scientific research within the EEZ. Ding Duo, director of the Research Centre for International and Regional Issues at the Hainan Island-based National Institute for South China Sea Studies, said Tokyo and Manila might also seek to enhance security cooperation and pursue joint resource development in the areas covered by their maritime border talks. Notably, the Yaeyama Islands form Japan’s southwestern-most archipelago and sit along the so-called first island chain, a string of archipelagos that stretch along East Asia’s coastline and are meant to restrict Chinese military access to the western Pacific. “The delimitation could also look to squeeze China’s operational space within the first island chain,” Ding said. How did Beijing and Taipei respond? Beijing on Friday condemned the negotiation as “completely illegal and void”. Foreign ministry spokesman Mao Ning said that Beijing had lodged protests with the two governments. In a statement on Monday, China Coast Guard spokesman Jiang Lue said the coastguard would continue to strengthen its control and management of the relevant waters and take concrete measures to “firmly safeguard [China’s] territorial sovereignty and maritime rights and interests”. At a regular press conference on Tuesday morning, Taiwanese foreign ministry spokesman Hsiao Kuang-wei said it had asked Japan and the Philippines to provide details on the maritime delimitation mentioned in their statements. Considering that the waters negotiated by Japan and the Philippines significantly overlap Taiwan’s, the ministry urged the two countries to take this fact into account during the process. Hsiao said that Tokyo and Manila must not exclude or infringe upon Taiwan’s rights and interests, adding that they should engage in consultations with Taiwan. Observers in China said they expected Beijing to strengthen its presence in waters east of Taiwan. “Since they [Japan and the Philippines] are negotiating in a tripartite overlapping zone, we can move further to advance our jurisdiction [over the waters east] of Taiwan,” said Yang Xiao, a researcher with the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, Beijing’s top state-affiliated think tank. “Since the other side is going to take reckless and destructive actions, we will inevitably introduce new countermeasures,” he was quoted as saying by Yuyuan Tantian, a social media account affiliated with state broadcaster CCTV. Additional reporting by Lawrence Chung

Why have Japan and the Philippines’ maritime boundary talks angered China?

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}A new flashpoint has opened up in the western Pacific Ocean with Beijing expected to strengthen its presence in the waters east of Taiwan

Why do Tokyo and Manila want delimitation talks?

A new flashpoint has opened up in the western Pacific Ocean with Beijing expected to strengthen its presence in the waters east of Taiwan