Law of the Sea - Continental Shelf

China lodged opposition with the UN Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf to Japan's claim to continental shelf in the western Pacific based on what Japan calls Okinotori Island. China argued that, under the UNCLOS, the ''rock of Okinotori, which obviously can not sustain human habitation or economic life of its own, shall have no continental shelf.'' Japan's Okinotori-based claim, if successful, would double Japan's maritime territory. China may want to be careful about this legal game, as China's opposition to the Japanese claim does not appear to increase China's maritime claims, but the emphasis on the appropriate base for continental shelf could backfire on China's claims in the South China Sea.