China urges Japan to consider gas proposal

BEIJING, Mar 9 (Reuters) China today urged Japan to consider its proposal to jointly develop gas fields in the East China Sea, but reiterated its sovereignty over the disputed area, one of several sources of tension souring relations.

Japan's chief cabinet secretary Shinzo Abe yesterday said Tokyo would reject a Chinese proposal made during two days of talks earlier this week, without elaborating on details of the proposed plan.

Japanese media reports said China wanted to jointly develop the area around the disputed islands, known in Japan as the Senkakus and in China as the Diaoyus, which the giant neighbours have been at odds over for decades.

''We hope Japan can carefully study the plan proposed by China,'' Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Qin Gang told a regular news conference.

''The Chinese proposal takes the actual situation of the East China Sea into consideration and it demonstrates our principle of putting aside disagreements to jointly explore the area. It is very reasonable,'' he said.

China and Japan, the world's second- and third-largest consumers of crude oil, have long been split on the position of the border between their exclusive economic zones in the area around the islets.

China has criticised Japan for starting to award exploration rights to private companies, and Japan objects to China's starting work in the area, fearing it could tap into resources beyond what Tokyo recognises as the midway line.

''China will not accept joint exploration with the precondition of a median line,'' Qin said.

''The Diaoyu islands are part of the innate territory of China, over which China has undisputed sovereignty,'' he said.

Japan would not begin test drilling in the area to counter Chinese work there, Kyodo news agency quoted Vice Minister for Economy, Trade and Industry Hideji Sugiyama as saying. Tokyo wanted to continue the dialogue, he added.

But negotiations have been hampered by strained relations between the two over a range of disputes, most stemming from Japan's invasion and occupation of much of China from 1931 to 1945.

China especially objects to Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's visits to Tokyo's Yasukuni Shrine, where war criminals are honoured along with millions of war dead.

Japan lodged a protest with Beijing's ambassador in Tokyo over Chinese Foreign Minister Li Zhaoxing's strong language in criticising the shrine visits, but Qin defended his remarks.

''It is not his personal position, it is the position of the entire Chinese people,'' Qin said.

REUTERS SHR RN1623