The Cabinet has said once again that it will respect the United Nations ruling on the status of the Okinotori atoll.
Cabinet Spokesman Tung Cheng-yuan said on Monday that there has been a controversy within the international community over whether the uninhabited area should be defined as an atoll or an island. Therefore, he said the government does not have a specific stance on the “legal” status of the Okinotori atoll before the UN Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf (CLCS) reaches a decision.
Meanwhile, Interior Minister Yeh Jiunn-rong said there is no question about the status of Okinotori atoll. He was speaking on Monday at the legislature.
“I think Okinotori is an atoll. There is no question about that. According to the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, an atoll does not have a 200 nautical mile Exclusive Economic Zone,“ said Yeh.
Japan has insisted that the atoll is an island and that Japan is entitled to a 200 nautical mile Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) surrounding it. But the administration of President Ma Ying-jeou, who left office earlier this month, disputed that claim, saying that the area does not the meet the UN criteria for an island. That would mean that Japan also does not have the right to claim the waters around it.