Download 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. |