Protected zones marked up for territorial sea base points

BEIJING - China's State Oceanic Administration (SOA) on Tuesday released a series of measures to select and protect areas as the base points of the country's territorial sea, a move to "ensure the country's maritime interests."

According to the measures, which were revealed in a statement posted on the SOA's official website on Wednesday, the administration is responsible for supervising and guiding the selection and protection of the areas for territorial sea base points, while detailed selecting and marking work should be carried out by provincial-level governments that have jurisdiction over the area where the base points are located.

The measures came after the Chinese government on Monday announced the base points and baselines of the territorial waters of the Diaoyu Islands??and their affiliated islets, as well as the names and coordinates of 17 base points.

The SOA said in the statement that a country have the same sovereignty over its territorial sea as it does over territorial land, and such sovereignty extends to the seabed and subsoil as well as the air space above it.

The document cited China's Island Protection Law, which stipulates that the country should mark up protected areas for its territorial sea base points and implement special protection over them.

The SOA and concerned local governments will soon start marking up these protected areas in accordance with the country's Island Protection Law and Tuesday's document, which also spells out standardized procedures, measures and requirements for the marking, said the statement.

In 1996, China issued a statement announcing territorial sea base points and baselines of the Xisha Islands as well as part of the baselines of the territorial waters adjacent to the mainland.