China defends drill in waters near Japan as in line with int'l law

BEIJING/TOKYO - China on Tuesday claimed that its weekend live-fire drill was conducted on the high seas in the Pacific and was in line with international law, rejecting Japan's assertion that the area southwest of a small remote Japanese island was within its exclusive economic zone.

At a press conference, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lin Jian reiterated Beijing's stance that what Japan calls Okinotori Island is "a rock rather than an island" under the definition of the U.N. Convention on the Law of the Sea, and thus "unfit to claim EEZ."