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China Describes Shipping Ban as a Mistake: Japan



April 18 (Bloomberg) -- China has acknowledged that closing a disputed area in the East China Sea to international shipping was a mistake, Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary Shinzo Abe said. Last month, China announced a ban on shipping through a disputed area in order to allow for the installation of gas production equipment in the area.


China's Foreign Affairs Ministry informed the Japanese government the notification of the ban, made on the Chinese marine authority's Web site, was because of a ``technicality,'' Abe told reporters today at a regular news conference in Tokyo.


``While the error was made on a technicality, this issue is over an area of particular sensitivity between China and Japan,'' Abe told reporters. ``We want China to immediately investigate this matter and notify us of its findings.'' The ban zone in the erroneous notice included an area that straddles the median line between China and Japan, or halfway between the countries' shores. China and Japan are arguing over drilling rights in the area because they can't agree on their sea border. China has started drilling for gas in an area Japan says may infringe on its sovereignty.


China says its territory extends to the end of the continental shelf which goes beyond the median line. Japan says the sea border is the midway line. The notice accidentally said the ban would apply to areas ``between 27.7 degrees north latitude and 29.4 degrees,'' instead of ``between 29.7 degrees north latitude and 29.4 degrees.'' Abe explained. China is fixing the error.


Japanese Minister of Foreign Affairs Taro Aso criticized China for a delay in informing Japan of the ban, Kyodo News reported on its English wire service. ``I think it is but natural to show respect to the other country'' by informing Japan of the ban, Aso was quoted saying at a press conference in Tokyo.


The ban was posted on a Chinese government Web site on March 1 but the Japanese Coast Guard didn't learn of it till as early as March 27, Aso told Kyodo. The Japanese government asked China for information about a newspaper report that production has started at one of the disputed gas fields, Japan's Vice Trade Minister Hideji Sugiyama said on April 6 at a press conference in Tokyo.


Cnooc Ltd., China's largest offshore oil producer, started pumping gas ahead of schedule the field, the Wall Street Journal reported earlier, citing an unidentified person the paper said was familiar with the situation.


The Chunxiao field is one of four where the Japanese government asked China to halt development, saying it will siphon gas from Japanese territory. Cnooc began producing gas from the Chunxiao field on Jan. 28, after a company spokesman had said output was to start later in the first half of this year, the newspaper reported. The start of production was kept secret to keep it from undermining talks to resolve an ownership dispute, the newspaper said.

Japan is still waiting for a reply to a previous request to China for information about the area Cnooc is developing, Sugiyama said. Japan rejected a Chinese proposal for joint development of two areas near the four fields already under development by China after a fourth round of talks ended in Beijing on March 7. The two countries have yet to decide on a date for subsequent talks, Sugiyama said on April 6.



To contact the reporter on this story:
Lily Nonomiya in Tokyo at [email protected]
Last Updated: April 18, 2006 01:23 EDT