(MENAFN- Kuwait News Agency (KUNA)) Japan on Wednesday criticized China's unilateral development of a gas field in the East China Sea that lies in an area where both countries' claimed exclusive economic zones overlap.
"It is extremely deplorable that China is unilaterally proceeding with the development while the border has not been settled," Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga told a press conference, adding that the government has lodged a protest against China's action through diplomatic channels.
According to the top government spokesman, Japan in mid-September confirmed flares at two more Chinese platforms near the median line, suggesting Beijing has started gas production there.
China has built 16 offshore gas drilling rigs close to a Japan-proposed boundary, with Tokyo already spotting the flares at five of them.
Although all the facilities are located on the Chinese side of the Japanese-claimed median line, the government is concerned that China would siphon off gas from the sea bed from the Japanese side of the median line.
The two countries have been at odds over the extent of their respective exclusive economic zones in the East China Sea. In 2008, Japan and China agreed to jointly develop the resources, but negotiations have stalled since 2010.
In July, Tokyo released maps and aerial photos of the Chinese drilling facilities it has detected since June 2013.
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