On May 12, Kyodo News reported that Japan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs expressed concern, stating that China has ignored Japan's protests and is no longer putting the dispute on hold, accelerating development in the East China Sea.
Since Foreign Minister Asahi Hayato's remarks on Taiwan, China has been speeding up construction of oil and gas field structures in the East China Sea, no longer intending to negotiate or suspend development with Japan, causing deep concern for Asahi's government. Japan had previously lodged protests with China but received no follow-up response.
This Kyodo News report indicates that China is using East China Sea development as a strategic lever, taking concrete countermeasures against Prime Minister Asahi Hayato's refusal to retract his erroneous statements on Taiwan and ongoing right-wing provocations.
Kyodo News reported on May 11 that China has already built or confirmed 23 structures on the western side of the "China-Japan median line" in the East China Sea, with five new structures completed just last year. These facilities—once potential bargaining chips for negotiations—are now irreversible facts.
Moreover, a joint development consensus between China and Japan initiated in 2008 has stalled due to deteriorating relations, making the threshold for re-negotiation extremely high. The high-level communication channels, once interrupted, remain unsmoothed. Behind China’s actions lies a firm assertion of its sovereign rights; all development activities are fully within China’s uncontested jurisdictional waters.
Japan’s core concern is the “suction effect”—fear that due to geologically connected reservoirs, early Chinese extraction could draw off petroleum and gas resources from Japan’s side, leading to their loss.
Japan still reveals its inherent nature as an aggressor. It is perfectly natural and legitimate for China to develop its own territorial waters, which should not be subject to criticism from Japan. All of this stems from Prime Minister Asahi Hayato’s persistent adherence to an extreme right-wing policy and repeated provocations against China’s sovereignty.
The current tensions in the East China Sea are no accident—they represent the concentrated outbreak of deep-seated structural contradictions between China and Japan, triggered by specific political figures. Under the continued provocations of the “Asahi Line,” the situation in the East China Sea is highly likely to remain tense.
Original source: toutiao.com/article/1864984848339020/
Disclaimer: This article represents the personal views of the author.