Japan and China, Asia's two biggest energy users, agreed to hold annual ministerial-level talks as they seek to repair relations strained by territorial disputes over oil and gas fields.
"Cooperation between Asia's two largest energy consumers will contribute to market stability," Japanese Trade Minister Akira Amari told reporters in Beijing yesterday after holding talks with Ma Kai (馬凱), head of China's National Development and Reform Commission, the country's top economic planning body.
The two nations have sparred over energy rights in the East China Sea, which may contain as much as 200 billion cubic meters of gas. The talks came a day after the countries joined an energy summit with the US, India and South Korea where China announced that it would award a US$5.3 billion nuclear reactor contract to Tokyo-based Westinghouse Electric Co.
The five nations, which account for almost half of global energy consumption, agreed yesterday to cooperate on promoting energy conservation and the use of alternatives such as nuclear power. The summit will become an annual event, Amari said yesterday, with Japan and China planning to hold separate, annual talks.
Asia's two largest economies disagree over their sea border, with China claiming its territory extends to the end of the continental shelf, while Japan regards the border as the half-way point between the countries' shores.
The Japanese government lodged a formal protest over China's drilling near the disputed area on Nov. 2, a day after discovering the activity, Cabinet Secretary Yasuhisa Shiozaki said on Nov. 8. that China had rejected Japan's request to halt production.
In July, the two governments agreed to form expert groups to settle the dispute. Technical and legal representatives are expected to discuss issues including the development of gas and oil deposits.
Westinghouse Electric on Saturday won a contract to build four nuclear power reactors in China, making it the first Japanese company to be asked to build reactors in the world's fastest-growing major economy.
China, which wants to get 4 percent of its power from nuclear energy by 2020 from about 2.3 percent now, needs to build about 30 reactors to meet the target.
"It's good news for us," Amari said yesterday at a briefing.
ROLLER-COASTER RIDE: More than five earthquakes ranging from magnitude 4.4 to 5.5 on the Richter scale shook eastern Taiwan in rapid succession yesterday afternoon Back-to-back weather fronts are forecast to hit Taiwan this week, resulting in rain across the nation in the coming days, the Central Weather Administration said yesterday, as it also warned residents in mountainous regions to be wary of landslides and rockfalls. As the first front approached, sporadic rainfall began in central and northern parts of Taiwan yesterday, the agency said, adding that rain is forecast to intensify in those regions today, while brief showers would also affect other parts of the nation. A second weather system is forecast to arrive on Thursday, bringing additional rain to the whole nation until Sunday, it
CONDITIONAL: The PRC imposes secret requirements that the funding it provides cannot be spent in states with diplomatic relations with Taiwan, Emma Reilly said China has been bribing UN officials to obtain “special benefits” and to block funding from countries that have diplomatic ties with Taiwan, a former UN employee told the British House of Commons on Tuesday. At a House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee hearing into “international relations within the multilateral system,” former Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) employee Emma Reilly said in a written statement that “Beijing paid bribes to the two successive Presidents of the [UN] General Assembly” during the two-year negotiation of the Sustainable Development Goals. Another way China exercises influence within the UN Secretariat is
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
Taiwan’s first drag queen to compete on the internationally acclaimed RuPaul’s Drag Race, Nymphia Wind (妮妃雅), was on Friday crowned the “Next Drag Superstar.” Dressed in a sparkling banana dress, Nymphia Wind swept onto the stage for the final, and stole the show. “Taiwan this is for you,” she said right after show host RuPaul announced her as the winner. “To those who feel like they don’t belong, just remember to live fearlessly and to live their truth,” she said on stage. One of the frontrunners for the past 15 episodes, the 28-year-old breezed through to the final after weeks of showcasing her unique