China dismisses Japan's claims over continental shelf

China dismissed Japan's claims on the UN backing of its continental shelf extension, describing them as baseless. A UN body has recognized some 310,000 sq. km of the seabed in the Pacific Ocean, including the area north of Okinotori Island, as Japan's continental shelf, Japanese media reported. "The UN Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf has not announced its decision concerning the case of the outer limits of Japan's continental shelf. I don't know on what grounds did Japan make such a claim," Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Liu Weimin said, adding that international mainstream views do not support Japan's claim. China insists that according to the international law, the Okinotori atoll shall have no exclusive economic zone or continental shelf, Liu said. The Okinotori atoll is located 1,700 kilometers south of Tokyo. According to Article 121 of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, rocks that cannot sustain human habitation or an economic life of their own shall have no exclusive economic zone or continental shelf. Japan had submitted an application to extend its continental shelf to the commission in 2008. It had requested recognition of seven areas totaling roughly 740,000 sq. km.