INTERVIEW: Expert Calls Japan-Philippines Maritime Talks "Big Step"

Manila, June 8 (Jiji Press)--A decision made by Japan and the Philippines late last month to begin talks to delimit a maritime boundary between the two countries represents a "big step" forward, Makoto Seta, an expert on the law of the sea and professor at Japan's Waseda University, said.

China's criticism that such talks are illegal was based on flimsy legal grounds in terms of international law, Seta said in an interview with Jiji Press.

The U.N. Convention on the Law of the Sea, or UNCLOS, recognizes each country has an exclusive economic zone of 200 nautical miles from its coasts.

The distance between Yonaguni and Hateruma islands in Okinawa Prefecture, southern Japan, and Mavulis Island in the northern part of the Philippines is less than 400 nautical miles. The EEZs of Japan and the Philippines overlap off eastern Taiwan, presenting the possibility that the boundary may be drawn within Taiwan's EEZ.

China, which considers Taiwan part of its territory, has criticized the Japan-Philippines negotiations, claiming that Beijing's participation is essential and that the talks are completely illegal and invalid.

[Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]