China opposes Japan-Philippines maritime boundary talks as illegal

On 29 May 2026, China formally objected to a fresh round of maritime boundary negotiations agreed between Japan and the Philippines, calling the talks illegal and invalid. The Chinese stand was conveyed by foreign ministry spokesperson Mao Ning at her regular news briefing in Beijing.

Japan and the Philippines announced on 28 May 2026 that they would start formal talks to delimit the maritime boundary between their exclusive economic zone (EEZ) and continental shelf. The announcement was made during a visit by Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr to Tokyo, where he met Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi.

Beijing rejected the move by asserting that it has its own exclusive economic zone and continental shelf in the waters east of Taiwan, which overlap with the area Tokyo and Manila want to delimit. China said it has filed solemn diplomatic representations with both countries.

Under the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), every coastal state can claim an EEZ of up to 200 nautical miles and a continental shelf where it has rights over natural resources. When two coastal states have overlapping claims, they are expected to negotiate boundaries bilaterally. Japan and the Philippines are following this path.

China's objection is significant because Taiwan, which Beijing claims as part of its territory, sits in the same maritime space. By insisting that the waters east of Taiwan belong to China's EEZ, Beijing is, in effect, projecting its Taiwan claim into maritime jurisdiction issues between two third countries.

The wider context is the steady drift of Manila and Tokyo into closer security partnership. The Philippines is locked in a series of South China Sea standoffs with Chinese coast guard and navy vessels around features such as Scarborough Shoal and the Spratlys. Japan, meanwhile, has long-running disputes with China over the Senkaku/Diaoyu islands in the East China Sea, where coast guard ships routinely come close to each other.

A 2016 ruling by the Permanent Court of Arbitration under UNCLOS rejected China's expansive nine-dash line claim over much of the South China Sea. Beijing has refused to accept that ruling. The current dispute over Japan-Philippines talks shows that China's maritime claims continue to push against the international maritime law framework that India also supports as a Quad partner and as a major Indo-Pacific player.