China Calls Japan-Philippines Maritime Boundary Talks 'Illegal and Invalid'

China has expressed strong opposition to a decision by Japan and the Philippines to begin formal negotiations on a maritime boundary in waters east of Taiwan, calling the proposed talks 'entirely illegal and invalid'. Foreign ministry spokesperson Mao Ning made the statement at a regular news conference in Beijing on 29 May 2026.

Japan and the Philippines announced the talks during a meeting between Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. and Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi in Tokyo on 28 May 2026. The two governments said they would seek to delimit the maritime boundary of an exclusive economic zone and continental shelf shared between the two countries. Beijing responded by reiterating its own claim to an 'exclusive economic zone and continental shelf' in the same waters and said it had lodged solemn representations with both Tokyo and Manila.

The waters in question lie close to Taiwan, which China claims as its territory, and form part of the contested First Island Chain critical to maritime trade in East Asia. Tokyo and Manila have moved closer in recent years over shared concerns about Chinese coastguard activity in the East and South China Seas. The Philippines has also expanded its Visiting Forces Agreement-style arrangements with Japan, while Tokyo has stepped up patrol-vessel transfers to Manila.

For India, the dispute is significant because the Indo-Pacific is the priority theatre of its foreign policy and free, open and rules-based navigation in these waters is central to the country's trade with East Asia. New Delhi has consistently supported peaceful resolution of maritime disputes in accordance with international law, especially the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), although it has not commented on this specific Japan-Philippines initiative.