Japan, China to Hold Talks on Gas Deposits

TOKYO - Japan and China will hold talks on disputed undersea gas deposits next week in Tokyo, Japan's top government spokesman said Tuesday.



China claims it has rights to the gas, but Tokyo says the two countries should share them. Repeated meetings between both countries aimed at resolving the dispute have ended in disagreement.

The dispute between the two Asian neighbors is centered over the stretch of undersea gas fields in the East China Sea claimed by both energy-hungry countries.

"I understand Japan and China have reached an agreement to hold the fifth round of Japan-China dialogue on the East China Sea involving undersea gas deposits" next week, Chief Government Secretary Shinzo Abe told a news conference.

Ties between the two Asian neighbors have plunged to their worst in decades over Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's visit to a Tokyo war shrine linked to Japan's militarism, Japanese history textbooks and other territorial issues.