China says Japanese companies participating in a
joint gas exploration deal in the East China Sea will be subject to Chinese law.
China also says it has not given up its legal claims to disputed territory in
the East China Sea. Stephanie Ho in Beijing has more on the
story.
Less than 24 hours after a China-Japan deal was announced,
China made great efforts to stress the accord is not considered a formal
joint-development agreement.
Vice Foreign Minister Wu Dawei told
reporters in Beijing the difference in this case is that the two governments are
not taking the lead in cooperation to develop the Chunxiao oil and gas
field.
He says enterprises will play a major role and governments will
only give some guidance.
Wu says Chinese-Japanese cooperation in the
Chunxiao oil and gas field will follow Chinese law and that both sides recognize
China's sovereignty over the field.
China and Japan have conflicting
claims over a nearby island chain in the East China Sea. The Chinese call them
the Diaoyu Islands, while the Japanese know them as the Senkaku.
Wu says,
for the deal to have been reached, both sides have pretty much shelved, for now,
differences of sovereignty and sovereign rights.
The agreement announced
Wednesday allows Japanese companies to invest in and claim proportional profits
from several projects from the Chunxiao gas field, which Japan calls
Shirakaba.
Japanese officials say they expect long and difficult
negotiations before joint exploration can start. The agreement did not set a
specific timeline.
The Chinese Foreign Ministry's tough talk Thursday
reflects some of the Chinese public's continuing antipathy toward Japan.
Meanwhile, in an unrelated development, a Japanese military destroyer is to make a visit Tuesday to southern China's Zhanjiang port.
The missile destroyer will be the first Japanese warship to make an appearance in a Chinese harbor since the end of World War II, when the two countries were bitter enemies.