China answers Japanese oil rig concern with joint development offer

Beijing

CHINA repeated a call on Friday for talks with Japan over joint development of gas and oil resources in contested waters in the East China Sea.

The offer comes days after Japan disclosed a map and photographs of what it said were 16 Chinese marine platforms close to Japan's side of a geographical median line that it contends should mark the border between their exclusive economic zones. Japan has yet to respond to China's latest call.

China said it was justified to conduct oil and gas exploration in its exclusive economic zone, the Foreign Ministry said on its website, claiming it has been developing the same areas since the 1970s and Japan has raised objections only in recent years. Japan has long expressed concern that the rigs could siphon gas out of undersea structures that extend to its own side.

Relations between Asia's two largest economies are thawing, even as they are locked in a dispute over ownership of a group of uninhabited islands. Japan's lower house of Parliament last week passed security bills to extend the role of Japan's military to allow it to defend other countries - a move China said risked unsettling regional security.

The squabble over the images could be a setback for warming ties, said Da Zhigang, director of the Institute of Northeast Asian Studies at the Academy of Social Sciences in Heilongjiang province.

"Both sides need to give ground on this territorial issue," Mr Da said. "But apparently neither of the two governments wants to be seen conceding anything to their domestic supporters."Bloomberg