Japan, China meeting unlikely to resolve East China Sea dispute

Tokyo (Platts)--9Apr2007

There is unlikely to be major inroads made in discussions over the
disputed territory in the East China Sea when the Japanese and Chinese prime
ministers meet Wednesday afternoon in Tokyo, a senior Japanese government
source told Platts Monday.

The concern comes after no major development being made in the latest
round of technical talks on the East China Sea last Friday in Beijing, the
source said.

The technical talks were expected to focus on exchanging information on
the disputed areas in the East China Sea including structures around the
Shirakaba field. The Shirakaba oil and gas field is called Chunxiao by China.

Chunxiao lies in an area of the East China Sea that is claimed by Japan
too. It is one of six fields in the Xihu Trough basin, which Chinese offshore
producer China National Offshore Oil Corp. is developing. The company believes
the basin contains oil and gas reserves of around 77.8 million barrels of oil
equivalent.

Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's meeting with Chinese Prime Minister
Wen Jiabao Wednesday will be followed by a joint statement on energy and
environment, a foreign ministry source said Monday.

On Thursday, Japan's Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry, Akira Amari
and China's National Development Reform Commission chairman Ma Kai are
scheduled to meet and are expected to talk about energy issues including the
East China Sea gas field development and energy conservation.

The dispute between China and Japan centers on areas of the East China
Sea over which both countries claim to hold jurisdiction. Japan has objected
to Chinese companies exploring and developing a number of gas fields in the
sea that it fears could extend into its waters.

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