SHANGHAI (Interfax-China) -- As Japan's Teikoku Oil Corporation prepares to begin controversial test drilling in disputed areas of the East China Sea, the government in Tokyo is hoping to resume negotiations on the demarcation issue between China and Japan within the month. However, an expert on the issue told Interfax that China is unlikely to agree to further talks at this stage.
"China has already made progress on exploration [in the East China Sea]. So the Chinese government is not so anxious to hold talks with Japan. Given no obvious changes in the Japanese government's attitude towards the issue, the new round of negotiations is unlikely to take place," said Guo Dingping of the Japan Research Institute at Shanghai's Fudan University .
Teikoku Oil, a private Japanese oil company, was awarded test drilling rights in the disputed areas of the East China Sea by the Japanese Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry on July 14. Experts have suggested that the decision to allow the company to explore the area was a way of raising the stakes and forcing China back to the negotiating table.
"The Japanese government is on the one hand urging the Chinese government to sit down for a new round of negotiations, and on the other hand it needs to take some sort of real action in order to exert pressure on China," said Guo.
Japan's Nikkei News reported on September 6 that Teikoku Oil had started to prepare vessels and other equipment for its foray into the East China Sea. The company will give priority to areas close to the Chunxiao and Duanqiao gasfields, said the report. Both fields are under development by China, and the first is expected to begin pumping out gas to China's eastern coast next month.
"However, it will be hard for Teikoku Oil to officially launch drilling given the economic concerns," said Guo, "because the Japanese side has no specific expectations about the oil and gas resources in the areas."
"That's why Japan is urging China to provide exploration data for the sea," added Guo.
NHK reported that the Japanese government hopes to enter another new round of negotiations, with the aim of persuading China to cease oil drilling in the East China Sea and provide detailed exploitation data to Japan. Japan believes that many of China's concessions stray into its exclusive economic zone, including the Chunxiao field.
A report in Sankei News also said that members of the Japanese government were planning to ask for financial compensation from China. Guo said that such a suggestion was nonsense from the Chinese government's perspective.
The latest statement from the Chinese side came from Qin Gang, the spokesman for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, who said on September 1 that the East China Sea issue should be solved through further negotiations between the two countries. No timetable has yet been set for further talks, he added.
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