Saturday, August 28, 2004
Tokyo upset by Chinese gas project
TOKYO: Japan has grave concerns about Chinese plans to develop a gas field near waters Tokyo claims as its exclusive economic zone, a senior official said on Friday after a report that China had begun work on a pipeline.
China recently built a natural gas production plant five km (three miles) from an area that Japan considers to be its exclusive economic zone. Japan is concerned the Chinese project might draw gas from its zone.
Kyodo news agency quoted the online edition of Chinese newspaper Yangzi Wanbao as saying on Thursday that China had begun construction of a 470-km (290-mile) undersea pipeline to the Chunxiao gas field spread over a total area of 22,000 square km (8,500 square miles).
"We have no choice but to state again that we have grave concerns," Chief Cabinet Secretary Hiroyuki Hosoda told reporters, adding that Japan was still checking facts with China.
Hosoda also sounded a sceptical note on a Chinese proposal on joint development, saying the idea seemed to include areas that Japan considered its exclusive economic zone. Details are sketchy and the contents are being assessed, he added.
Japan has repeatedly expressed concern about the project being developed by China near a group of disputed islands.
It began a geological survey of the disputed area in July, a decision that was criticised by Chinese state media as dangerous and provocative. Japan considers waters east of the midway point between its coastline and that of China to be its exclusive economic zone, giving it rights over resources including fishing and mineral extraction from the sea bed.
The area includes the disputed islands known as the Senkakus in Japan and Diaoyus in China. China claims the islands as its own and does not recognise the midway line. Beijing and Tokyo argued earlier this year over the island cluster when Japan arrested and detained seven Chinese activists who had landed on one of the rocky isles, which are also claimed by Taiwan.
reuters
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