Mainland spokesperson batters Lai and DPP for betraying national interests amid Japan-Philippines EEZ delimitation talks

The State Council Taiwan Affairs Office spokesperson Zhang Han said the maritime areas that Japan and the Philippines targeted for delimitation are in the waters east of China's Taiwan Island, where China possesses exclusive economic zones (EEZs) and continental shelves. 

Speaking at a regular press conference on Wednesday, Zhang said Japan and the Philippines have bypassed China and unilaterally initiated so-called maritime delimitation negotiations, which seriously violates international law, including the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), as well as the basic norms of international relations, and gravely infringes upon China's maritime rights and interests.

Zhang's remarks came in response to the recent claims by Lai Ching-te, leader of the Taiwan region, that China is not a coastal state, has no right to intervene in the Japan-Philippines exclusive economic zone negotiations and that China's legal operations by authorities including the China Coast Guard have fueled regional anxiety. 

The spokesperson said that law enforcement patrols conducted by relevant mainland authorities in these waters in accordance with the law are entirely justified and necessary, and constitute legitimate actions to safeguard national sovereignty and maritime rights and interests.

The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) authorities have turned a blind eye and feigned deafness to the infringing actions of Japan and the Philippines; instead, they have seized the opportunity to vigorously spread "Taiwan independence" separatist fallacies, inciting "anti-mainland" and "resisting mainland" sentiments, noted Zhang, adding that they have already become accomplices of external forces in harming the overall interests of the Chinese nation – vile, shameless, and destined to be held accountable.