Japan rejects China gas proposal

Japan has rejected a Chinese proposal to jointly develop gas fields in a disputed area of the East China Sea.
"This proposal is something that is not acceptable," Chief Cabinet Secretary Shinzo Abe said on Wednesday.

China and Japan have recently held talks aimed at resolving their conflicting claims to the rich oil and gas deposits near their sea border.

Little progress was made during the talks, but the Japanese left promising to consider the Chinese proposal.


TROUBLED WATERS

China and Japan's exclusive economic zones (EEZs) overlap
Japan claims EEZ extends 200 nautical miles from its shore, while China claims EEZ extends to edge of its continental shelf
Two countries have never agreed a maritime border
The UN says it will arbitrate by May 2009
Also dispute ownership of Senkaku/Diaoyu islands

Japan and China have long had overlapping claims in the East China Sea.

China refuses to recognise Japan's off-shore border, believing its own territory runs further east to the edge of the continental shelf.

The area is believed to contain large reserves of natural gas and neither side can agree on who should extract them.

Earlier this year Beijing sent a naval reserve fleet to the area after Tokyo granted drilling rights to a Japanese company.

Four rounds of talks on the issue have now failed to reach agreement.

Relations between the two countries are already poor, with disagreement over the gas fields being only one of series of disputes.

There is also continuing tension over Japan's war record in the region and China's growing military power.



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