After making its first aerial incursion into Japanese airspace near the Senkakus, China compounded bilateral tensions by bolstering its territorial claim to the isles at the United Nations.
On Dec. 14, two days before the Lower House election, Beijing submitted to the world body an 11-page report citing the continental shelf's geology to claim ownership of the uninhabited, Japan-controlled islets in the East China Sea, whose surrounding waters may contain bountiful undersea oil and natural gas fields.
"Physiognomy and geological characteristics show that the continental shelf in the East China Sea is the natural prolongation of China's land territory," the report said. On that basis, Beijing extends its claim to resource rights beyond the standard 200-nautical-mile exclusive economic zone.