08-04-05 Japan may accept China's offer to jointly explore natural gas and oil in the East China Sea only after Beijing provides details on its ongoing gas projects and halts explorations there, Economy, Trade and Industry Minister Shoichi Nakagawa said.
"We cannot accept such an offer under current circumstances, but we will not totally exclude the possibility when conditions are met," Nakagawa said.

Chinese Ambassador to Japan Wang Yi said the same day the two countries can settle their dispute over the gas projects "in a mutually satisfactory manner." Japan and China should work for realizing joint development, Wang said in a lecture meeting in the city of Kagoshima.
China agrees with Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi calling for developing the East China Sea into "sea of peaceful cooperation," Wang said. The Chinese envoy made the remarks after Cui Tiankai, head of the Chinese Foreign Ministry's Asian Affairs Department, told that he felt it "unfortunate" that Japan has been reluctantto pursue a joint development plan proposed by China.

Cui indicated that China does not plan to provide data on its projects in the area as demanded by Japan, saying that Japan is "unilaterally demanding data and making it a premise for the resumption of negotiations" on the issue.
Nakagawa said Japan is ready to offer its data on the sea area to China for joint explorations if Beijing presents data and stops explorations in line with Japan's repeated demands.
"If we stand on an equal footing and jointly explore natural resources, the area will become 'sea of friendship,"' Nakagawa said.

Japan told China it may allow Japanese companies to conduct test-drilling for natural gas and oil in the disputed waters if Beijing does not respond to Japan's demands to supply data and halt the gas projects. Nakagawa said Japan will begin preparations for test-drilling in the area if China fails to provide a "sincere" response to its demands soon.
The move follows the release of a government geophysical survey which said that underground structures in two Chinese-developed natural gas fields in the disputed sea area extend into waters claimed by Japan. But the probe stopped short of confirming the existence of natural resources in the area sought by Japan.

A Chinese consortium has been conducting natural gas projects in an area close to what Japan claims is a "median line" separating the two countries' exclusive economic zones in the East China Sea. China has not accepted the median line, arguing that its economic waters stretch further than those designated by Japan.
The state-owned China National Offshore Oil Corp. plans to begin full-fledged drilling in the area in August.