OVER GAS & OIL FIELDS IN THE EAST CHINA SEA!
Rgd`s,delazus
China Says Activities In Disputed China Gas Field Legal
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(Adds comments from Japan's prime minister and foreign minister.)
BEIJING (AFP)--Beijing said Friday that its activities in an East China Sea gas field also claimed by Japan were entirely legal, as a diplomatic dispute between the Asian giants escalated.
Chinese foreign ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu made the comments after Tokyo said Beijing had shipped drilling equipment to the gas field, adding to the worst tensions in years between the world's number two and three economies.
Beijing is furious about Japan's arrest of a Chinese fishing boat captain in disputed waters and has scrapped scheduled talks with Japan over the joint exploration of the field, called Shirakaba by Japan and Chunxiao by China.
"The Chinese side has complete sovereign rights and the right of jurisdiction over the Chunxiao oil and gas fields," Jiang said in a statement. "China's activities in the Chunxiao area are completely reasonable and legal."
Japanese Foreign Minister Katsuya Okada, before stepping down in a cabinet reshuffle Friday, confirmed Japan had witnessed the ship transports several days ago and repeatedly inquired about them through diplomatic channels.
Aerial photos taken by Japan's Self-Defense Forces on daily surveillance flights had revealed the shipments and workers engaged in what appeared to be preparations for drilling, Kyodo News reported.
Okada said Beijing had told Tokyo the equipment was taken to the site for "repair work", adding he "strongly expects" that China would refrain from starting gas extraction from the field.
Jiang did not comment specifically on the nature of China's activities in the area.
The countries are entangled in their worst spat in years, stemming from the Sept. 7 collision of a Chinese fishing trawler and two Japanese coast guard vessels near a disputed island chain in the East China Sea.
China has so far summoned Japan's ambassador five times over the incident, cancelled a senior lawmaker's Tokyo visit and repeatedly demanded the boat's captain be released from Japanese custody, calling his detention "illegal."
Japan has called the situation "extremely regrettable." Its officials also say there are no plans for the prime ministers of the two countries to meet next week on the sidelines of a United Nations summit in New York.
Tokyo has warned its citizens in China to remain vigilant ahead of possible anti-Japanese protests over the weekend in Beijing and Shanghai, although a leading Chinese patriotic group said Friday it had no plans to demonstrate.
The uninhabited islands--called Senkaku in Japan and Diaoyu in China, and also claimed by Taiwan--lie in an area with rich fishing grounds that is also believed to contain oil and gas deposits.
Okada's successor Seiji Maehara, named on Friday, inspected the two coast guard vessels on Thursday and reiterated Tokyo's claim that there is no territorial dispute.
Maehara later Friday voiced concern over the level of China's defense spending, although Prime Minister Naoto Kan struck a more conciliatory tone, saying: "Our basic friendly relationship between Japan and China has continued and I think it will continue."
The disputed Shirakaba or Chunxiao gas field lies in an area where both countries' claimed exclusive economic zones overlap, and has long been a bone of contention between the growing competitors for energy and mineral resources.
After China years ago started construction work there, irritating Japan, the two countries agreed in June 2008 that Japanese energy companies would be allowed to invest in the gas field development.
However, progress on cooperation soon stalled, while Japan reported observing unilateral operations by Chinese ships in the area.
In May, China's Premier Wen Jiabao and Japan's then-prime minister Yukio Hatoyama agreed to resume official talks on joint exploration. But Beijing last week cancelled planned talks amid the worsening diplomatic row.