Japan's dangerous move in E.China Sea China Daily Updated: 2005-07-16 07:15
Japan is muddying the waters of the East China Sea.
It is stamping on China's maritime rights by granting Japanese firm Teikoku
Oil Co the right to test drill for gas and oil in a part of the East China Sea
disputed by the two countries.
Japan's move could lead to confrontation with China.
Our government's sincere calls to solve the dispute through negotiation have
fallen on deaf ears in Japan .
Giving Teikoku the go-ahead to test drill is a move which makes conflict
between the two nations inevitable, though what form this clash will take is
hard to tell.
Teikoku will conduct experimental drilling in the East China Sea near natural
gas fields currently being explored by a Chinese consortium.
Japan's attempt to force gas exploration in an area beyond the Okinawa
submarine trench has many motivations.
Japan's need for oil is not a new issue. The island country has secured
several oil suppliers. Gas resources in the area near the Diaoyu islets are
unlikely to quench its thirst for oil.
Japan's unilateral action to start drilling, which flies in the face of
international maritime laws, is not simply about new sources of energy. It
reveals plainly the country's intention to take our Diaoyu islets for good.
China and Japan have long been divided over the demarcation of the
continental shelf of the East China Sea. China has insisted on negotiation and
appealed for joint exploration but Japan drew a "median line" without consulting
China.
Japan has unilaterally demarcated a controversial exclusive economic zone
(EEZ) along the "median line," which sits on the Chinese side of the continental
shelf, and on which China enjoys exclusive rights.
China has never accepted the line. But Teikoku's test drilling will be
conducted east of the "median line."
China's oil and gas exploration in the East China Sea is being carried out in
this country's indisputable coastal waters and is a matter within the scope of
China's sovereignty.
The Japanese oil firm originally applied for exploration rights in the area
in 1969 and again in 1970. The Japanese Government shelved the applications
because of the unsettled EEZ demarcation in the waters dividing the two
countries.
With the issue inconclusive, the nod from today's Japanese leaders will only
serve to fan the flames of trouble.
Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's calls for dialogue to solve the
drilling dispute with China still ring loud in our ears.
In April, Koizumi said we needed to continue talks from a broader perspective
even though the Chinese and Japanese positions differed. The talks were aimed to
"turn the sea of conflict into a sea of co-ordination."
The unilateral approval of Teikoku's exploration rights will accomplish the
opposite.
Koizumi called for dialogue the day after Tokyo initiated procedures to grant
Japanese firms the right to conduct test drilling for potential gas and oil
fields to the east of the "median line" in the East China Sea.
Lodging a protest over the issue with the Japanese side, Chinese Foreign
Ministry spokesman Qin Gang said China would "retain the right to further
react."
Given the important role energy issues play in the two countries,
communication on the subject is bound to have a huge bearing on state-to-state
relations.
Keeping a cool head and flexibility may be the way to shoot down disputes
like this.
But Japan has strayed from the path of dialogue. If a confrontation were to
result, the blame would sit firmly with Japan.
(China Daily 07/16/2005 page4)
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