UN to get shelf submission

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Beijing announced on Sunday it will submit a partial submission concerning the outer limits of the continental shelf to the United Nations in its latest move to defend its maritime sovereignty.

The move came as the Japanese prime minister vowed to take the Diaoyu Islands dispute to the UN General Assembly.

Beijing is calling for people to express their demands in a "legal and rational way".

Protests against Japan broke out across China over the weekend in what observers described as the largest demonstrations against Japan in China since 1972 when diplomatic relations were normalized.

Experts said the protests could continue for days. Tuesday, Sept 18, is a memorial day marking Japan's wartime occupation of parts of China.

The Foreign Ministry announced on Sunday that China has decided to submit its Partial Submission Concerning the Outer Limits of the Continental Shelf beyond 200 Nautical Miles in the East China Sea to the Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea.

The ministry said technical preparations for the State Oceanic Administration's submission "are close to completion".

According to the convention, if the continental shelf of a coastal state extends more than 200 nautical miles, information on the limits of the continental shelf beyond the 200 nautical miles shall be submitted by the coastal state to the commission.

Zhang Haiwen, deputy director of the China Institute for Marine Affairs, said China's decision to submit the outer limits of the continental shelf in the East China Sea to the UN is both a commitment and a counter-measure.

"China has kept its promise, made in 2009, that it would offer a submission to the Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea at an appropriate date. Now, since preparations are close to being completed and tensions over the Diaoyu Islands are escalating, China has announced the decision," Zhang explained.

The move came one day after the SOA announced the exact longitude and latitude of Diaoyu Island and 70 of its affiliated islets while publishing location maps, three-dimension graphs and a sketch map for the islands.

On Sept 10, the government announced the coordinates of the territorial waters of Diaoyu Island and its affiliated islets, as well as the names and coordinates of 17 base points, after Tokyo said it decided to "purchase" three of the Diaoyu Islands that day.

China has filed a copy of the government's Diaoyu Islands baseline announcement to UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon.

Angry protesters against Japan's provocations took to the streets in Beijing and many other cities on Sunday.

The emotions have spilled abroad, with more than 10,000 Chinese people rallying in Los Angeles to protest against Japan. The organizers said such protests are expected to spread in North America.

Questions

1. Observers described the protests over the weekend as the largest demonstrations against Japan in China since when?

2. How many Chinese people were rallying in Los Angeles to protest against Japan

3. Beijing is calling for people to express their demands in what way?

Answers

1. 1972.

2. More than 10,000.

3. A "legal and rational way".

About the broadcaster:

Rosie Tuck is a copy editor at the China Daily website. She was born in New Zealand and graduated from Auckland University of Technology with a Bachelor of Communications studies majoring in journalism and television. In New Zealand she was working as a junior reporter for the New Zealand state broadcaster TVNZ. She is in Beijing on a 2017 Pacific Media Centre international internship with the AUT/China Daily Exchange Programme, in partnership with the Asia New Zealand Foundation. She is working as a journalist in the English news department at the China Daily website.