Japan, China talks make little headway on East China Sea dispute

Tokyo (Platts)--13Feb2006

Officials from Japan and China failed to make progress on resolving their
dispute over disputed gas fields in the East China Sea during talks held Feb
10-11 in Tokyo, Japanese government sources said Monday.
     The sub-cabinet level talks led by Japanese vice foreign minister Shotaro
Yachi and Chinese vice foreign minister Dai Bingguo followed informal meetings
earlier this month and in Beijing on Jan 9. The formal dialogue was the first
since October 2005, when talks between the two countries broke off after China
protested Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's visit to a Tokyo shrine
honoring 2.5-mil Japanese war dead.
     "Japan and China have agreed to continue holding the sub-cabinet level
talks, which is designed to discuss plans to improve Japan-Sino relations
through such things as cultural exchange programs. However, both countries
have not made arrangements for setting the date for the next round of
high-level talks over the East China Sea issue," one government source said.
     In January one Japanese government source said the fourth round of
high-level talks specifically focused on the East China Sea issue was planned
for the second half of February.
     Before the talks broke down last October, the two countries had been
moving towards a compromise solution for the development of offshore gas
fields in the area.
     Tokyo has objected to Chinese companies exploring and developing a number
of gas fields in the East China Sea that it believes could extend into its
territory. Beijing does not recognize a median line that Tokyo uses to
determine the boundary between the two countries' so-called exclusive economic
zones.

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