ID :
166881
Wed, 03/09/2011 - 17:43
Auther :
Shortlink :
https://www.oananews.org//node/166881
The shortlink copeid
China denies starting production in gas field claimed by Japan
(Kyodo) - Japan's top government spokesman voiced strong regret Wednesday over a report that China has unilaterally started gas production in a field in a disputed area of the East China Sea, but China later in the day denied the report.
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 of the 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 to its queries from Beijing.
Later Wednesday, a source familiar with Sino-Japanese relations said the Chinese Foreign Ministry had conveyed to Japan that the report, in Wednesday's edition of the Asahi Shimbun newspaper, is ''not true.''
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 two countries' overlapping exclusive economic zones.
China first commenced the development. But due to Japan's opposition, the two countries struck a deal in 2008 in which Japanese companies would invest in the project.
Officials of the Japanese 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.
Japan has been monitoring the gas field in question by dispatching planes.
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 group 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.
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 of the 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 to its queries from Beijing.
Later Wednesday, a source familiar with Sino-Japanese relations said the Chinese Foreign Ministry had conveyed to Japan that the report, in Wednesday's edition of the Asahi Shimbun newspaper, is ''not true.''
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 two countries' overlapping exclusive economic zones.
China first commenced the development. But due to Japan's opposition, the two countries struck a deal in 2008 in which Japanese companies would invest in the project.
Officials of the Japanese 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.
Japan has been monitoring the gas field in question by dispatching planes.
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 group 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.
