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China, Japan reach deal on gas, oil in disputed waters
China and Japan announced an agreement on Wednesday on how to develop oil and gas in disputed waters, defusing a volatile row and becoming the latest sign of improving ties between the neighbours and former foes.
- Reuters
- Published: 15:50 June 18, 2008
Beijing: China and Japan announced an agreement on Wednesday on how to develop oil and gas in disputed waters, defusing a volatile row and becoming the
latest sign of improving ties between the neighbours and former foes.
The long-running dispute centres on where the boundary between the two countries' exclusive maritime economic zones falls, and has come to embody the sometimes bitter rivalry over influence and sovereignty.
Estimated known reserves in the disputed fields are a modest 92 million barrels of oil equivalent - around three weeks of energy demand in Japan - but both countries have pursued the issue as there may be a lot more yet to be found.
"China and Japan, through consultations on an equal footing, reached principled consensus on the East China Sea issue," Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu said in a statement issued by the official Xinhua news agency.
The agency released details of the agreement, which will open the way for joint exploration and development of energy.
But Beijing is also seeking to defuse a potential nationalist backlash about compromise with Tokyo, and in her statement spokeswoman Jiang said the agreement did not "harm the respective legal stances of both sides".
China and Japan, seeking to ease years of antagonism, much of it springing from Japan's brutal 1931-45 invasion and occupation of parts of China, announced at a May summit that they were close to resolving the gas dispute.
On Wednesday, a small group of protesters - watched over by dozens of police - gathered outside Japan's embassy in Beijing to denounce the deal, which they said could betray national interests.
But analysts said they did not see such protests growing.
Importance of better ties
"I think most of the Chinese public will fully understand the position, efforts and strategic purpose of the Chinese government in promoting the general improvement of China-Japan relations," said Shi Yinhong, a foreign policy specialist at Renmin University in Beijing.
He said China had won important compromises in the deal, which calls for the two countries to jointly explore for oil and gas, pointing out that Beijing had not given up its claim to sovereignty over resources in the disputed area.
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