JAPAN has lodged an official protest to China after discovering what it claimed are efforts by the latter to develop gas fields in disputed waters in the East China Sea.

Tokyo’s Foreign Ministry yesterday said it has confirmed that Beijing is building in the area – where the two countries’ exclusive economic zones overlap – and submitted a complaint to the Chinese embassy.

Japan “strongly urges an early resumption of negotiations over the implementation” of a 2008 bilateral agreement concerning the development of resources in the East China Sea, it added.

Japan and China had agreed to jointly develop undersea gas reserves in the disputed area, with a ban on independent drilling by either country.

But negotiations over how to implement the deal were suspended in 2010.

“It is extremely regrettable that the Chinese side is unilaterally proceeding with development in the waters,” said the ministry.

“The borders of the economic exclusive zones and continental shelf are yet to be settled in the East China Sea.”

Japan has long insisted that the median line between the two nations should mark the limits of their respective exclusive economic zones.

But China insisted that the border should be drawn closer to Japan, taking into account the continental shelf and other features of the ocean.

Tokyo has accused Beijing of positioning 17 suspected drilling rigs close to its de facto maritime border with Japan.

The rigs are on China’s side of the border, but Japan fears gas on the Japanese side can also be extracted.

The two countries are embroiled in a separate row over disputed islands elsewhere in the East China Sea.

China claims the string of islands – which Japan refers to as the Senkakus – as its own, and regularly sends ships and aircraft into the area to test the response times of its neighbour.

China also has disputes with other nations in the South China Sea, which it claims in its entirety. – AFP, May 21, 2022.