Law-Forums.org

[kendrix]

The purple parts of the following map show the expanded are of Japan's territory this time.
http://www.chugoku-np.co.jp/News/Sp20120428008801.jpg

What do you think?
-----
U.N. OKs Japan's claim to extend continental shelf in Pacific
TOKYO (Kyodo) -- The U.N. commission on seabed claims has adopted a recommendation allowing Japan to extend its continental shelf areas in the western Pacific, government officials said Saturday.
The U.N. Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf has recognized around 310,000 square kilometers as part of Japan's continental shelf, equivalent to about 82 percent of the country's total land area, the officials said.
With the recommendation, Japan would have priority over the development of seabed resources in the areas near Okinotori Island, the southernmost point of its territory located around 1,700 km south of central Tokyo.
Under the U.N. Convention on the Law of the Sea, a coastal state can claim control of the seabed beyond the traditional 200 nautical mile limit for its exclusive economic zone if it can prove the ocean floor is connected to its continental shelf.
But China and South Korea have opposed Japan's attempt to claim the areas as part of its continental shelf. The two neighboring countries have argued that Okinotori is not an island but a group of rocks, rejecting it as a base point for Japan's EEZ.
Japan submitted its request for the extension to the U.N. commission in November 2008. Seven maritime areas located to the south and southeast off the main islands of Japan were listed in the submission, which totaled around 740,000 square km in size.
The Foreign Ministry was informed of the U.N. commission's decision on the extension, which includes about 170,000 square km in the Shikoku basin, one of the seven areas, the officials said.
The commission put off a decision on an area south of Okinotori Island, the southern Kyushu-Palau ridge, which is around 250,000 square km, and rejected the rest of Japan's claims, according to the officials.

[byron92]

What does this have to do with Korea and China, the waters they got are on the other side and there's nothing but squid and anchovies in there.

edit:

This is where Okinotori is.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Okinotorishima-en.svg

It's a matter of chump change mostly for Chinese fisherman who will now have to go a bit further for squid.

[voliny13]

japan better watch out or else they'll have to prepare for war