Atoll of Okinotori

Japan has accused China of conducting unnotified maritime scientific research within its exclusive economic zone, 270 kilometres east of around its southernmost island in the Pacific Ocean.

• The alleged activity took place on May 26, 2025 near the remote atoll of Okinotori in the Philippine Sea, roughly halfway between Taiwan and Guam.
• China has said it does not constitute an island. Under international law, a coastal state has rights to the management of natural resources and other economic activities within its EEZ, which is within 200 nautical miles, or 370 kilometres, of its coastlines.
• Prior consent is necessary for foreign vessels to carry out scientific research for non-economic purposes in another country’s EEZ.
• However China has said Japan’s claim is invalid since Okinotori, some 1,700 kilometres (1,050 miles) south of Tokyo, is just rocks and not an island.