East China Sea deal no dilution of sovereignty
After hard negotiations, China and Japan have reached an agreement to jointly explore part of the gas deposits in the East China Sea, thanks to the efforts of consolidating bilateral ties between them.
For common people, a historical background on the East China Sea issue is indispensable to understand the strategic significance of the agreement in promoting a new kind of Sino-Japanese relations. And such knowledge would also help allay misgivings that this agreement would harm China's sovereignty.
Similar with the disputes among other coastal countries over marine territory, that between China and Japan for their competing claims over the East China Sea focuses both on the sovereignty to the sea and the economic benefits from the rich reserve of gas and oil.
