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Japan's reef study could ignite dispute with China
Associated Press
Japan will begin studying how to expand coral reefs near two islets at the center of a territorial dispute with China, an official said Monday.
The research will involve cultivating and transplanting coral eggs, said Fisheries Agency official Ryutaro Yamamoto.
Yamamoto said researchers and officials were set to meet Tuesday to discuss methods of building up the tiny, uninhabited Okinotorishima islets.
Japan has used cement embankments to fortify the rock outcroppings about 1,700 kilometers southwest of Tokyo, and uses them to extend its exclusive economic zone (EEZ) far into the Pacific Ocean under a United Nations agreement.
Beijing argues they can only be classified as rocks, not islands, and Tokyo cannot claim exclusive rights to the surrounding area or prevent China from exploiting nearby resources.
Yamamoto said the government allocated $2.5 million (€2.1 million) in the current fiscal year as part of a three-year study on ways to expand coral reefs that are said to be declining around the islets.
Officials and experts meeting Tuesday would look into coral-growing methods including collecting coral eggs, cultivating them in water tanks and transplanting them -- with experiments expected to begin as early as May, Yamamoto said.
He said scientists in Japan and Australia are studying the method, but there has been scant large-scale research. Yamamoto said the project is intended to help increase coral growth in other areas as well as the Okinotorishima islets.
"The primary purpose of the project is to conduct research, as there are not many technologies to grow corals. And it would be great if we could apply the technology" to expand coral growth in other areas, such as the southern Japanese island of Okinawa, he said. "We also want to protect (the Okinotorishima islets), as they are Japan's important territory."
The dispute with China over the outcroppings heated up in 2004 after a Chinese research ship twice came within 200 nautical miles of them, triggering a diplomatic protest by Japan.
China said the ship was conducting scientific exploration on the high seas.
Copyright 2005 Associated Press.
Associated Press
Japan will begin studying how to expand coral reefs near two islets at the center of a territorial dispute with China, an official said Monday.
The research will involve cultivating and transplanting coral eggs, said Fisheries Agency official Ryutaro Yamamoto.
Yamamoto said researchers and officials were set to meet Tuesday to discuss methods of building up the tiny, uninhabited Okinotorishima islets.
Japan has used cement embankments to fortify the rock outcroppings about 1,700 kilometers southwest of Tokyo, and uses them to extend its exclusive economic zone (EEZ) far into the Pacific Ocean under a United Nations agreement.
Beijing argues they can only be classified as rocks, not islands, and Tokyo cannot claim exclusive rights to the surrounding area or prevent China from exploiting nearby resources.
Yamamoto said the government allocated $2.5 million (€2.1 million) in the current fiscal year as part of a three-year study on ways to expand coral reefs that are said to be declining around the islets.
Officials and experts meeting Tuesday would look into coral-growing methods including collecting coral eggs, cultivating them in water tanks and transplanting them -- with experiments expected to begin as early as May, Yamamoto said.
He said scientists in Japan and Australia are studying the method, but there has been scant large-scale research. Yamamoto said the project is intended to help increase coral growth in other areas as well as the Okinotorishima islets.
"The primary purpose of the project is to conduct research, as there are not many technologies to grow corals. And it would be great if we could apply the technology" to expand coral growth in other areas, such as the southern Japanese island of Okinawa, he said. "We also want to protect (the Okinotorishima islets), as they are Japan's important territory."
The dispute with China over the outcroppings heated up in 2004 after a Chinese research ship twice came within 200 nautical miles of them, triggering a diplomatic protest by Japan.
China said the ship was conducting scientific exploration on the high seas.
Copyright 2005 Associated Press.
