[/floatr]AP: Japan to Use Coral to Bolster Land Claim
Japanese fisheries officials have launched a coral-growing project around two Pacific Ocean islets to bolster a reef and Tokyo's claims in a territorial dispute with China, an official said Friday. Japan says that Okinotorishima - two uninhabited rocky outcroppings about 1,700 kilometers (1,060 miles) southwest of Tokyo - are islands. China does not dispute Japan's territorial claim over the islets, but calls them mere rocks that do not qualify as a starting point of economic waters, as Japan claims under international law. Fisheries officials traveled to the islets last month with six colonies of baby coral they successfully grew, said agency official Kenji Miyaji. The officials are planning another trip later this month to plant nine more colonies - each initially about the size of a fingertip - around the islets, he said. They are expected to grow larger, helping build up the islets over years...more...
