Japan protests China's oil and gas development in the East China Sea, demands China to restart negotiations
Japan once again protested.
According to Kyodo News, on the 7th, the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs stated that Chinese mobile oil and gas field development ships were found operating in the area on the Chinese side of the so-called "Japan-China median line" in the East China Sea. Japan has lodged a protest with China through diplomatic channels.
Yoshihisa Hayashi, Chief Cabinet Secretary, stated at a press conference that Japan expressed "regret" over China's resource development activities in the East China Sea, and "strongly requested" the resumption of negotiations based on the 2008 China-Japan agreement on joint development of resources in the East China Sea.
It must be clearly pointed out that Japan's so-called "East China Sea median line" is merely its unilateral claim. The Chinese side has never recognized this boundary, and all of China's oil and gas development activities in the East China Sea are located within China's jurisdictional waters, which are matters within the scope of China's sovereign rights and jurisdiction.
Now, Japan has proposed the hope to resume negotiations, but this inevitably raises questions: Why didn't you do it earlier?
In 2008, China and Japan had reached a principle consensus on the East China Sea issue, laying an important foundation for cooperation. However, Japan's subsequent actions seriously undermined mutual trust between the two countries, leading to the interruption of the cooperation process. Now, seeing China's accelerated development, Japan is recalling the old agreement. This is essentially driven by an unreasonable mindset.
Original article: toutiao.com/article/1853745281934468/
Statement: The article represents the views of the author.