Japan fortifies southern boundary, an island China deems `merely a rock'
BY TOSHIMUNE MIYAUCHI
The Yomiuri Shimbun
Dec. 06, 2004
TOKYO - (KRT) - Although China calls Okinotorishima island in the Pacific Ocean "merely a rock," it is an important chunk of territory for Japan and research should be conducted to determine possible uses for the island.
Late last month, a reporter accompanied the first private mission to the nation's southernmost island, situated 1,740 kilometers south of Tokyo.
A 700-ton vessel carrying the mission's members took two days to reach its destination from Tomari Port in Naha, Japan.
The island, a coral atoll, is about 4.5 kilometers from east to west and about 1.7 kilometers from south to north, and its highest points - Higashi-kojima and Kita-kojima - which remain above water during high tide, are protected by steel breakwaters and concrete walls.
Okinotorishima first drew attention when the Chinese government said it was only a rock and could therefore not be used to establish an exclusive economic zone.
The central government first incorporated Okinotorishima as part of Tokyo in 1931 and since then has conducted research on it and tried to preserve it.
In designating the nation's exclusive economic zone, the government included the island based on the first clause of Article 121 of the U.N. Convention on the Law of the Sea, which states that "An island is a naturally formed area of land, surrounded by water, which is above water at high tide."
No party expressed opposition to or doubt over the basis of this action at first.
But in April, China began to argue that Okinotorishima fell into a different category outlined in the third clause of the same article. The clause said, "Rocks which cannot sustain human habitation or economic life of their own shall have no exclusive economic zone or continental shelf."
China's motive in arguing this point apparently is aimed at clearing away any opposition to placing its submarines in areas around the island as part of a tactic to delay the arrival of U.S. Navy vessels if China launched an attack against Taiwan, among other reasons. Another is that if Okinotorishima is classed as an island, China must ask for Japan's permission to carry out marine research in the area as it would fall in the country's exclusive economic zone.
The Nippon Foundation organized the mission to gain information for discussions on how to preserve the territory and to determine uses for it.
If a use for the island can be found and implemented in the future, Japan can prove that the area is an island on which economic activities can be conducted.
The foundations of an observation station built by the Japanese military before World War II in preparation for an air base remain on the island, as does a facility built in the late 1980s to survey meteorological conditions and monitor the strength of steel and concrete structures preserving it.
The Construction and Transport Ministry plans to set up a monitoring system with a night-vision camera in February to enhance surveillance of the island.
The ministry also plans to paint a heliport sign on the foundation and place a titanium plate on Kitakojima that will read, "The southernmost island of Japan."
But such measures may not be enough to establish "economic life" on Okinotorishima.
About 45 scholars and reporters went to the island on the private mission and stayed there for about five hours, brainstorming ideas and surveying the area.
"A facility to research coral could be built here," one of the group's members said. "The possibilities of using the island as part of power generation plans, such as solar and wind power, or the use of temperature gaps of the surrounding water should be studied," another said.
A Construction and Transport Ministry official said, "We'll provide as much information (about Okinotorishima) as possible, so please come up with many and varied ideas."
Participants' ideas will be compiled in a set of proposals to the government.
Hajime Kayane, assistant professor at Tokyo University graduate school, said, "We could use the island to study methods to help reproduce coral as part of preservation efforts."
"Information gained from such activities could be used to preserve island nations in the future," Kayane added.
The exclusive economic zone around Okinotorishima spreads about 400,000 square kilometers, larger than Japan's land area. Significant amounts of valuable and rare cobalt and manganese reportedly can be found in the area. Such assets are part of Japan's territory and should remain so.
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