Experts slam U.S. report regarding China's Diaoyu Islands baseline announcement

BEIJING, May 10 (Xinhua) -- Chinese scholars have criticized a report by the United States that questions China's Diaoyu Islands baseline announcement, describing it as "slanderous" and "dangerous."

The international relations experts' criticism followed a recent Pentagon report alleging that China began using "improperly drawn straight baseline claims" around the Diaoyu Islands in the East China Sea in September 2012, adding that China's claims are "inconsistent with international law."

The Pentagon report contains wrong information and it may further exacerbate territorial disputes between China and Japan, as well as undermine peace and stability in the Asia-Pacific region, said Qu Xing, head of the China Institute of International Studies.

The United States is not justified to comment on China's drawing of Diaoyu Islands baselines, as it has not joined the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, said Liang Fang, a professor with the University of National Defense.

"The United States has long been against the ratification of the convention and it is absurd for the country to accuse China of drawing the baselines that is 'inconsistent with international law'," Liang said.

The Chinese government in September last year announced base points and baselines in waters near the Diaoyu Island and its affiliated islets, as well as the names and coordinates of 17 base points, after the Japanese government moved to "purchase" part of the islands.

China's permanent representative to the United Nations then met with the UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and filed a copy of the table of coordinates and charts of the baseline relating to the Diaoyu Island and its affiliated islets.

The drawing of straight baseline in waters near the Diaoyu Islands is "very appropriate" in terms of acknowledging both relevant international rules and geological conditions, Liang said.

The United States has said it takes no position on the China-Japan territorial dispute. However, the fact is that it has shown a clear bias towards Japan and against China, said Zhou Yongsheng, a professor and deputy director of the Center for Japanese Studies at China Foreign Affairs University.

"Such practices could be very dangerous," Zhou said.

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