ID :
166868
Wed, 03/09/2011 - 16:05
Auther :
Shortlink :
https://www.oananews.org//node/166868
The shortlink copeid
Japan regrets China's reported gas field development
(Kyodo) - Japan's top government spokesman on Wednesday voiced strong regret over China's reported unilateral start of development in a disputed gas field in the East China Sea.
Chief Cabinet Secretary Yukio Edano told a news conference that ''it is very regrettable'' that this kind of report, based on remarks by a named senior official at China National Offshore Oil Corp., has been dispatched and that Japan is asking China to verify whether it is true.
Edano said Japan will decide on its response to China after receiving a reply from Beijing.
The gas field in question, called Shirakaba in Japan and Chunxiao in China, is located near what Tokyo claims to be the median line between the exclusive economic zones of the two countries that overlap.
China first commenced the development. But due to Japan's opposition, the two countries struck a deal in 2008 that Japanese companies would invest in the project.
Officials of the Foreign Ministry and the Natural Resources and Energy Agency told a meeting of the opposition Liberal Democratic Party that high-level Chinese officials have told Japan that the oil firm has been engaged in ''maintenance and repair'' operations in the sea area.
The officials said Tokyo, which has been monitoring the gas field in question by dispatching planes, has not officially confirmed the start of gas production.
Japan and China are seeking to sign a treaty on joint gas field development in the East China Sea. But talks over the treaty have been stalled since China unilaterally postponed them last year in protest against Japan's handling of the ship collisions near a chain of Japanese islands, claimed by Beijing.
The officials said Japan will continue to urge China to resume negotiations on the treaty at an early date.
Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi told a news conference this week that the two countries must first ''foster sound conditions and environment'' in reference to the deadlocked negotiations.
The Asahi Shimbun reported Wednesday from Beijing quoting a senior official of the state-owned company as saying that China has started gas production in the field.
Chief Cabinet Secretary Yukio Edano told a news conference that ''it is very regrettable'' that this kind of report, based on remarks by a named senior official at China National Offshore Oil Corp., has been dispatched and that Japan is asking China to verify whether it is true.
Edano said Japan will decide on its response to China after receiving a reply from Beijing.
The gas field in question, called Shirakaba in Japan and Chunxiao in China, is located near what Tokyo claims to be the median line between the exclusive economic zones of the two countries that overlap.
China first commenced the development. But due to Japan's opposition, the two countries struck a deal in 2008 that Japanese companies would invest in the project.
Officials of the Foreign Ministry and the Natural Resources and Energy Agency told a meeting of the opposition Liberal Democratic Party that high-level Chinese officials have told Japan that the oil firm has been engaged in ''maintenance and repair'' operations in the sea area.
The officials said Tokyo, which has been monitoring the gas field in question by dispatching planes, has not officially confirmed the start of gas production.
Japan and China are seeking to sign a treaty on joint gas field development in the East China Sea. But talks over the treaty have been stalled since China unilaterally postponed them last year in protest against Japan's handling of the ship collisions near a chain of Japanese islands, claimed by Beijing.
The officials said Japan will continue to urge China to resume negotiations on the treaty at an early date.
Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi told a news conference this week that the two countries must first ''foster sound conditions and environment'' in reference to the deadlocked negotiations.
The Asahi Shimbun reported Wednesday from Beijing quoting a senior official of the state-owned company as saying that China has started gas production in the field.
