[orgagsUpsepsy]

2012-05-16 19:05:54 Xinhua



Tokyo's bid to upgrade the status of a Pacific atoll into an island, and claim an exclusive economic zone around it,
was dismissed by the United Nations. China welcomed the decision as "fair and reasonable".

The UN dismissal prevents Japan claiming the Okinotori Atoll as an island. An "island" designation allows a state to
proclaim a 200-nautical mile exclusive economic zone around it and sole rights to resources within the zone.

The atoll is a group of rocks, some 1,700 kilometers south of Tokyo. Japan has spent large sums of money for
more than two decades on buttressing it to prevent it from disappearing into the sea.