Beijing: Tokyo has officially protested China’s unilateral efforts to develop gas fields in disputed waters of the East China Sea, drawing attention to the fragile status of regional resource cooperation.
Al Jazeera reports that in a statement issued Monday night, Japan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs flagged the construction of a “new structure” west of the median line of Tokyo’s proposed maritime boundary.
The ministry lamented that, despite the undisputed fact that both Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) and continental shelf claims remain unresolved, “China is advancing unilateral development” in the area.
According to the reports by Al Jazeera, Director-General Kanai Masaaki of the Asian and Oceanian Affairs Bureau conveyed a “strong protest” to Shi Yong, the deputy head of China’s embassy in Tokyo. He also pressed Beijing to resume implementation negotiations on the 2008 agreement aimed at joint resource exploitation in the East China Sea.
Talks on the 2008 pact have been stalled since late 2010, when a Chinese fishing boat collided with two Japanese Coast Guard vessels near the Senkaku Islands, and subsequent tensions have kept cooperation largely on hold. Tokyo’s latest objection follows similar protests earlier in May and June, when Japanese authorities detected Chinese-built installations in the same vicinity.
Citing Al Jazeera, the report underscores that Beijing has yet to formally reply to the latest protest but has in the past defended its exploration by asserting it takes place in “undisputed waters under China’s jurisdiction”. (IANS)
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