EXTERMINATE ALL CHINESE RATS!

 Financial Times UK4 Jul 2026JOE LEAHY — BEIJING Addi tional report ing by Leo Lewis in Tokyo and AAnantha Lak shmi in Jakarta

A legal opin ion issued this week by the China Insti tute for Mar ine Affairs said that a bilat eral agree ment between Japan and the Phil ip pines in May to begin nego ti ationswas “under taken without con sulta tion with China” and “viol ates inter na tional law”.

The Japan ese and the Phil ip pine mari time claims include over lap ping exclus iveeco nomic zones (EEZs) east of Taiwan. Beijing claims Taiwan as its ter rit ory and hasthreatened to take it by force.

“Japan and the Phil ip pines should imme di ately cease their pur suit of bilat eraldelim it a tion and act ively engage in nego ti ations with China,” said the insti tute,which is admin istered by China’s Min istry of Nat ural Resources.

The state ment fol lowed increased activ ity by China’s coast guard this month, as wellas radio warn ings this week to Japan ese research ves sels to cease oper a tions nearthe Tokyo-admin istered Sen kaku Islands, which lie north-east of Taiwan and areclaimed by Beijing.

China’s mil it ary has also stepped up drills around Taiwan, includ ing in its east ernwaters, rais ing con cerns about rehears als for a poten tial block ade as well as dis rup -tion to import ant ship ping lanes.

Taiwan has insisted that China has “no right to com ment” on issues affect ing its ter -rit ory and waters, and has com men ded Japan and the Phil ip pines for “work ing toresolve mari time dif fer ences through peace ful dia logue and based on respect forinter na tional law”.

Manila and Tokyo said the talks were aimed at enhan cing legal cer tainty in theregion and would be con duc ted “in accord ance with inter na tional law”.

But Beijing paints the talks as a pro voca tion. Last month, it launched a “spe cialmari time traffic enforce ment oper a tion”, send ing its coast guard ships into the areaeast of Taiwan — the first time they have been deployed in this man ner in thoseseas.

The talks bet w teen Japan and the Phil ip pines were inten ded to put pres sure onChina, which has staked extens ive claims throughout the East and South China seas,said Wil liam Yang, senior ana lyst for north-east Asia at the Inter na tional CrisisGroup.In 2024, Manila and Tokyo signed a recip rocal access agree ment that allows theirmil it ar ies to train and con duct exer cises in each other’s coun tries