China's gas exploration in disputed area 'regrettable': Nakasone

TOKYO, Jan. 5 Kyodo - Japan on Monday blasted China's continued exploration work at a disputed gas
field in the East China Sea, with Foreign Minister Hirofumi Nakasone describing
it as ''regrettable'' given prior agreement to continue negotiations over the
sea area concerned.
Chief Cabinet Secretary Takeo Kawamura told a separate news conference, ''The
Japanese government has conveyed (to China) that such unilateral development by
the Chinese side is unacceptable and regrettable, and we have lodged protests
over the matter.''
Nakasone declined to explain why Japan did not make public earlier the fact
that it was aware of the Chinese activities and said the government has no
plans to do so in the future either, citing security reasons.
The foreign minister also said a statement issued a day earlier by Chinese
Foreign Ministry spokesman Qin Gang that China sees no problem in continuing
work in the gas field, known as Tianwaitian in China and Kashi in Japan, was
''unacceptable'' to Japan.
However, Nakasone called for the early resumption of negotiations between the
two sides, saying, ''I can't say exactly when it would be, but I believe the
most important thing right now is for working-level discussions on this issue
to resume soon.''
Japan filed protests last year, after it confirmed development activities in
the gas field that lies in an area subject to further discussions, according to
sources knowledgeable about Japan-China relations.
Kashi is located just west of the Japanese-claimed median line, and Tokyo says
exploration of the gas field my siphon off resources on Japan's side of the
line.
The June agreement was a breakthrough toward solving a longstanding dispute
between the two neighbors over gas exploration rights in the East China Sea.
Under the deal, Japan and China agreed to jointly explore a
2,700-square-kilometer area south of the Asunaro gas field, which China calls
Longjing, located near the median line.
As for the Chinese-operated Chunxiao gas field, also near the median line and
known as Shirakaba in Japan, Beijing agreed to allow investment by Japanese
corporations in the project.
The two countries agreed to continue talks over Kashi as well as Kusunoki. The
latter is known as Duanqiao in China.
After it struck the agreement with Japan, the Chinese government faced strong
criticism from some Chinese, who complained on Internet message boards that the
authorities were selling out to Japan.
==Kyodo
2009-01-05 22:11:44