Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
06TOKYO1295
2006-03-10 09:45:00
CONFIDENTIAL
Embassy Tokyo
Cable title:  

EAST CHINA SEA TALKS DISSOLVE INTO ACRIMONY

Tags:  ECON ENRG JA 
pdf how-to read a cable
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ZNY CCCCC ZZH
R 100945Z MAR 06
FM AMEMBASSY TOKYO
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 9616
INFO RUEHBJ/AMEMBASSY BEIJING 1062
RUEHCN/AMCONSUL CHENGDU 0045
RUEHFK/AMCONSUL FUKUOKA 5061
RUEHGZ/AMCONSUL GUANGZHOU 1198
RUEHHK/AMCONSUL HONG KONG 5915
RUEHNH/AMCONSUL NAHA 7692
RUEHOK/AMCONSUL OSAKA KOBE 8185
RUEHKSO/AMCONSUL SAPPORO 6242
RUESLE/AMCONSUL SHANGHAI 1997
RUEHSH/AMCONSUL SHENYANG 0295
RUEHIN/AIT TAIPEI 5936
C O N F I D E N T I A L TOKYO 001295 

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/10/2016
TAGS: ECON ENRG JA
SUBJECT: EAST CHINA SEA TALKS DISSOLVE INTO ACRIMONY


Classified By: Ambassador J.T. Schieffer. Reasons 1.4 (b/d).

C O N F I D E N T I A L TOKYO 001295

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/10/2016
TAGS: ECON ENRG JA
SUBJECT: EAST CHINA SEA TALKS DISSOLVE INTO ACRIMONY


Classified By: Ambassador J.T. Schieffer. Reasons 1.4 (b/d).


1. (SBU) SUMMARY. This week,s director general-level
meetings in Beijing failed to bring the two sides any closer
to an agreement on development of oil and natural gas
resources in the East China Sea. Instead, China has provoked
Japan,s ire by suggesting joint development of an area which
Japan claims as its own - the Senkaku islands. End summary.


2. (C) Japan and China are no closer to resolving their
differences over oil and natural gas drilling in the East
China Sea after director general-level meetings in Beijing on
Monday and Tuesday of this week. China appears to have
replaced its conciliatory stance with a provocative one by
introducing a plan to co-develop hydrocarbon deposits near
the the Senkaku islands, an area that Japan strongly defends
as its own. MOFA Director General for Asian and Oceanian
Affairs Bureau Kenichiro Sasae reported to Emboff that the
offer was so bad he told the Chinese he refused to take it
back to Tokyo with him.


3. (SBU) The issue of developing the resources that lie under
the sea between Japan and China is complicated by the fact
that the two countries have never agreed an international
boundary and are using separate international treaties to
justify their claims. Japan relies on the UN Convention on
the Law of the Sea which allows coastal countries to claim an
economic zone extending 200 miles (370 Kilometers) from their
shores. China bases its claim on the 1958 Geneva Convention
of the Continental Shelf that allows coastal countries to
extend their borders to the edge of the undersea continental
shelf, a perimeter that would lie very close to Okinawa.


4. (SBU) This is Japan and China,s fourth attempt to iron
out differences over the oil and natural gas exploitation.
The four meetings have produced several proposals for joint
development but no agreement. In March 2005 Japan turned
down China,s proposal to work together because Japan claimed
it was unclear what China was offering. In May 2005 China
offered joint development on Japan,s side of the median line
but Japan rejected the idea. In late September Japan offered
joint development of the fields on both sides of the
Japan-China median line but China declined.


5. (SBU) Comment. After Koizumi replaced then Trade Minister
Shoichi Nakagawa, who had taken a tough stance toward China,
with Toshihiro Nikai, it appeared that a solution to this
problem might be possible. However, it now appears that this
issue will continue for some time to come. End comment.
SCHIEFFER