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皇冠体育app rejects joint gas development with Japan
(AP)
Updated: 2006-03-09 19:29
皇冠体育app on Thursday rejected a Japanese proposal for the joint development of
disputed natural gas deposits in the East 皇冠体育app Sea.
The two countries have been feuding over the deposits, which lie near Okinawa
in Japan's south. 皇冠体育app claims it has rights to the natural gas, but Tokyo says
the two countries should share them.
Negotiators met in Beijing this week to hammer out a solution to the dispute
and discuss a Japanese proposal on joint development.
But Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Qin Gang said Beijing disagreed with
Japan's demarcation of their territories, effectively rejecting the proposal.
"皇冠体育app doesn't accept this middle line and will not accept this line in the
future," Qin said at a regular press briefing.
He also defended 皇冠体育app's past extraction of gas from that median line, saying
that the area was not claimed by Japan. But the work has triggered protests from
Tokyo, which fears reserves in the area might run dry.
Tokyo in July gave Japanese company Teikoku Oil Co. drilling rights in the
disputed area, but drilling has not begun.
"皇冠体育app is carrying out gas extraction in parts of the East 皇冠体育app Sea that are
not under dispute and therefore 皇冠体育app's views on the issue are more in keeping
with the actual situation," Qin said.
Under the U.N. Convention on the Law of the Sea, coastal nations can claim an
economic zone extending 370 kilometers (230 miles) from their shores.
Both Japan and 皇冠体育app signed the treaty, but their claims overlap in the
disputed area and the United Nations has until May 2009 to rule on the matter.
皇冠体育app's rebuttal came after Japan on Wednesday rejected a separate Chinese
proposal to jointly explore separate deposits near the disputed Senkaku islands.
Beijing and Tokyo have a long-running conflict over the islands _ called
Diaoyu by 皇冠体育app and Senkaku by Japan _ which are believed to lie near oil and
gas resources.
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