China and Japan agreed yesterday to hold a fresh round of formal talks to resolve a dispute over gas deposits in the East China Sea, a Japanese embassy spokesman said, a move that could help ease increasingly strained relations.
The exact timing of the discussions has not been determined but they will be held "as soon as possible," perhaps late this month or early next month, the spokesman said.
The agreement followed an informal meeting between Kenichiro Sasae, the head of the Japanese Foreign Ministry's Asia-Oceania bureau, and Cui Tiankai (崔天凱), the director of the Chinese Foreign Ministry's Asian affairs department.
Nobuyori Kodaira, head of Japan's Agency for Natural Resources and Energy, also attended the one-day discussions, he said.
PROGRESS
The spokesman said the agreement represented progress and a wish by both sides "to restore relations."
China's Foreign Ministry had no immediate comment.
The two energy-hungry countries have been trying to hammer out a territorial dispute over oil and gas deposits near Okinawa in the East China Sea, which falls within both countries' exclusive economic zones.
In the second round of talks on the dispute in Tokyo in September, Japan urged China to stop developing the disputed gas fields and called for joint exploration.
A proposed meeting in October failed to materialize because Beijing balked after another visit by Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi to the Yasukuni shrine that China says glorifies Japan's militaristic past.
RESPONSE
Beijing said it would respond to the Japanese proposal for joint exploration at the next meeting, the Japanese embassy spokesman said.
China has already extracted gas from one field, triggering protests from Japan, which fears the reserves might run dry.
Under the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, coastal nations can claim an economic zone extending 370km from their shores.
Both Japan and China signed the treaty, but their claims overlap the disputed area, and the UN has until May 2009 to rule on the matter.
While the two Asian powers are linked by billions of dollars worth of trade and investment, political ties have been severely strained in the past year, aggravated especially over Koizumi's visit to the Yasukuni shrine.
PROTEST
On Sunday, China issued a strongly worded protest after the Japanese government suggested Chinese officials had something to do with a Japanese consular official's suicide last year in Shanghai.
That followed Japanese Foreign Minister Taro Aso's assertion that China's military posed "a considerable threat" to the region, and called for greater transparency in China's defense budget.
Japan's public broadcaster NHK said Tokyo renewed its protest to China yesterday, demanding further investigation.
Beijing said that the case had already been resolved, NHK reported.
RETHINK? The defense ministry and Navy Command Headquarters could take over the indigenous submarine project and change its production timeline, a source said Admiral Huang Shu-kuang’s (黃曙光) resignation as head of the Indigenous Submarine Program and as a member of the National Security Council could affect the production of submarines, a source said yesterday. Huang in a statement last night said he had decided to resign due to national security concerns while expressing the hope that it would put a stop to political wrangling that only undermines the advancement of the nation’s defense capabilities. Taiwan People’s Party Legislator Vivian Huang (黃珊珊) yesterday said that the admiral, her older brother, felt it was time for him to step down and that he had completed what he
Taiwan has experienced its most significant improvement in the QS World University Rankings by Subject, data provided on Sunday by international higher education analyst Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) showed. Compared with last year’s edition of the rankings, which measure academic excellence and influence, Taiwanese universities made great improvements in the H Index metric, which evaluates research productivity and its impact, with a notable 30 percent increase overall, QS said. Taiwanese universities also made notable progress in the Citations per Paper metric, which measures the impact of research, achieving a 13 percent increase. Taiwanese universities gained 10 percent in Academic Reputation, but declined 18 percent
CHINA REACTS: The patrol and reconnaissance plane ‘transited the Taiwan Strait in international airspace,’ the 7th Fleet said, while Taipei said it saw nothing unusual The US 7th Fleet yesterday said that a US Navy P-8A Poseidon flew through the Taiwan Strait, a day after US and Chinese defense heads held their first talks since November 2022 in an effort to reduce regional tensions. The patrol and reconnaissance plane “transited the Taiwan Strait in international airspace,” the 7th Fleet said in a news release. “By operating within the Taiwan Strait in accordance with international law, the United States upholds the navigational rights and freedoms of all nations.” In a separate statement, the Ministry of National Defense said that it monitored nearby waters and airspace as the aircraft
UNDER DISCUSSION: The combatant command would integrate fast attack boat and anti-ship missile groups to defend waters closest to the coastline, a source said The military could establish a new combatant command as early as 2026, which would be tasked with defending Taiwan’s territorial waters 24 nautical miles (44.4km) from the nation’s coastline, a source familiar with the matter said yesterday. The new command, which would fall under the Naval Command Headquarters, would be led by a vice admiral and integrate existing fast attack boat and anti-ship missile groups, along with the Naval Maritime Surveillance and Reconnaissance Command, said the source, who asked to remain anonymous. It could be launched by 2026, but details are being discussed and no final timetable has been announced, the source