Decision to submit outer limits of continental shelf shows 'resolve'

The decision to submit the outer limits of the continental shelf beyond 200 nautical miles in the East China Sea shows Chinese government's firm resolve and will to protect the country's maritime rights and interests, a Chinese diplomat said Sunday.

The Chinese Foreign Ministry announced Sunday that China has decided to make 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 current circumstances, the submission means that China has exercised and fulfilled relevant rights and obligations given by the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), Deng Zhonghua, head of the Department of Boundary and Ocean Affairs with the Foreign Ministry, said in an interview.

Moreover, the submission will further publicize and reinforce China's consistent stance in the East China Sea to the international community, Deng said.

The Chinese government, Deng said, has always upheld that the natural prolongation of China's continental shelf in the East China Sea extends to the Okinawa Trough and beyond 200 nautical miles from the baselines from which the breadth of the territorial sea of China is measured.

The submission decision is based on the objective facts and the provisions concerning coastal state's rights on continental shelf stipulated in the international laws, he said.

Deng said the submission is a complex project involving science and laws, and relevant Chinese departments have made active and thorough preparations for it.

"Now relevant technical preparations for the submission have been basically completed," Deng said.

The Chinese government has submitted to the commission its Preliminary Information Indicative of the Outer Limits of the Continental Shelf Beyond 200 Nautical Miles in May 2009, which stated that "China is making preparations for the submission of the information on the outer limits of the Continental Shelf Beyond 200 Nautical Miles" and that "China intends to issue a submission" at an appropriate date."