China, Japan to hold gas talks on Fri., Sat.
(Kyodo)
Updated: 2005-09-27 19:54

Japan and China will hold talks on Friday and Saturday in Tokyo to discuss a dispute over China's gas and oil development in the East China Sea, the Foreign Ministry said Tuesday.

Separately, Economy, Trade and Industry Minister Shoichi Nakagawa said earlier in the day that Japan has given a Japanese name to a gas field disputed with China in the East China Sea.

The gas field, now under development and called Tianwaitian by China, is called "Kashi" for oak in Japan, Nakagawa said in a press conference.

The naming is aimed at clarifying Japan's claims over the disputed development project.

During the upcoming director-general-level talks that will be the third of their kind, Japan plans to lodge its demand for a halt of the Chinese gas projects and ask for concrete data on the exploration.

On Sept. 19, China began gas production in the field located just a few kilometers away from what Japan claims is a median line that separates the two countries' 200-nautical-mile exclusive economic zones in the East China Sea.

Although the production facilities are located on the Chinese side of the median line, Japan is concerned that the Chinese consortium exploring the field might siphon off resources that could be buried under the seabed on the Japanese side.

Japan has subsequently lodged a protest with China over such a move.

The Japanese delegation to the talks will be represented by Kenichiro Sasae, head of the ministry's Asian and Oceanian Affairs Bureau, and Nobuyori Kodaira, head of the Natural Resources and Energy Agency of the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry.

China will be represented by Cui Tiankai, head of the Chinese Foreign Ministry's Department of Asian Affairs.

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