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China and Japan end informal gas talks, to hold new round in weeks
BEIJING (AFP) Jan 09, 2006
China and Japan agreed Monday to hold another round of talks on exploring for oil and gas in a disputed area of the East China Sea, a Japanese diplomat said after informal negotiations in Beijing.

"They agreed to hold the next round as early as possible," the diplomat, who requested anonymity, told AFP, adding the two sides would meet in late January or February.

"They (the Chinese) are still studying the proposal from Japan from last time and will show their reaction in the next round."

The Asian economic giants, two of the world's biggest energy importers, have been sparring for years over potentially lucrative gasfields in an area where their 200-nautical-mile exclusive economic zones overlap.

The latest round of talks on the issue took place last October in Tokyo.

In the informal talks in Beijing on Monday, Japanese chief delegate Kenichiro Sasae and Natural Resources and Energy Agency director general Nobuyori Kodaira met Cui Tiankai, head of the Chinese foreign ministry's Asian affairs department.

The Japanese diplomat said China had indicated in the informal talks that it would not agree to previous Japanese proposals.

"The Chinese side has found some problematic points in the Japanese proposal," the diplomat said.

The Japanese side had earlier proposed joint gas and oil development in the area straddling both sides of what Tokyo says is the maritime boundary.

But China does not recognize the boundary, which divides the overlap in half, and tensions rose last year after Japan said it had spotted flames indicating China had started production. China began test-drilling in 2003.

In its earlier proposals, Japan had also said China must stop its exploration before an agreement could be reached. Japan further demanded that China disclose the details and progress of its gas exploration so far.

On Monday Sasae and Cui also touched on the historical rivals' worsening relations.

These have been badly damaged by Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's visits to a war shrine and worsened amid allegations a Japanese diplomat killed himself in 2004 because he was being blackmailed by a Chinese agent.

Japan has urged China to "deal sincerely" with the death.

But China has described the allegations as "vile" and said Tokyo should drop the issue or risk further damaging ties.

Both sides remained divided on Monday over the issue, the Japanese official told AFP.

But despite the disagreements Japan rated the talks positively, saying it was encouraging that both sides were endeavouring to improve relations after reviewing the status quo.

"The most important thing is that they share their hopes to improve the current situation of the Japan-China relations," the Japanese official said.

"Both sides wish to make things better."

The Japanese diplomat, however, stressed that the two-day talks in Beijing were "informal and brief" and were aimed at exchanging honest opinions rather than reaching concrete results.

The Chinese foreign ministry declined to comment.

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