Japan threatens China with measures if gas recovery accord violated

TOKYO, January 17 (Itar-Tass) - Japan warned China of taking
retaliatory measures if the latter starts gas production in disputable
areas of the East China Sea.
The stand of the Japanese side was made public by Japanese Foreign
Minister Katsuya Okada at a meeting with Chinese Foreign Minister Yang
Jiechi on Sunday. The Chinese minister is now in Tokyo to participate in
the forum of cooperation between East Asian and Latin American countries.
"If the agreement is violated in some way, the Japanese side is ready
to take appropriate measures," the Kyodo news agency quotes the Japanese
minister. Diplomatic sources reported that Yang sharply responded to this
statement, noting that "this is inadmissible". At the same time, the
Chinese minister assured the Japanese counterpart that Beijing intends "to
abide by the 2008 agreement", but emphasised that conditions should be
created for implementing it.
In June 2008, the governments of the two countries came to agreement
on joint development of the Asunaro (Longjing) deposit, located in the
zone of Chinese responsibility. Besides, China permitted Japanese
companies to participate with investments in developing the Shirakaba
(Chunxiao) deposit which is already being developed by the Chinese side.
The sides decided to continue talks on other questions, including the
deposits of Kashi (Tionwaitian) and Kusunoki (Duanqiao).
However, the consultations are dragging feet. As a result, Tokyo
suspects China of doing drilling work in the direct proximity to the
median line, along which Japan divides the exclusive economic zones of the
two countries.
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