China has issued a legal warning to Japan and the Philippines over their planned maritime border talks, calling the move “internationally wrongful” and saying it had the right to hold both nations accountable.
It is the latest protest from Beijing after Manila and Tokyo agreed in May to launch formal negotiations to delimit the maritime boundary of the exclusive economic zones and continental shelf between the two countries, which overlap with areas claimed by China.
“The announcement, undertaken without consultation with China and in disregard of the region’s specific geographical circumstances, violates international law,” the Ministry of Natural Resources’ China Institute for Marine Affairs said in a legal opinion released on Thursday.
The statement said the move had harmed sovereign equality, and that it was a violation of the duties of cooperation and self-restraint and the principle of good faith.
“China, as the state whose rights and interests have been injured, is entitled to invoke the responsibility of Japan and the Philippines for their internationally wrongful acts,” the statement said.
Japan and the Philippines share no borders, but as coastal states they are entitled to project an exclusive economic zone that extends 200 nautical miles (370km or 230 miles) from their coasts.
