TOKYO/ BEIJING, July 14 (RIA Novosti) - Japanese Economy, Trade and Industry Minister Shoichi Nakagawa told journalists Thursday that the Japanese government has decided to allow a private-owned company to extract oil from territory disputed by Japan and China. This could fuel another crisis in relations between the two countries, the Asahi newspaper reported.
Experts from Japan's Asahi newspaper said licensing the Teikoku Oil company to carry out appraisal drilling and then develop oil and gas fields in the East China Sea could severely damage Japanese-Chinese relations.
China is in dispute with Japan over the border territory, meaning Tokyo's decision could exacerbate the countries' already uneasy relations. There are also concerns that this could provoke new anti-Japanese sentiments, similar to those that overwhelmed China in April, and deprive Japan, seeking to become a permanent member of the UN Security Council, of China's backing.
Beijing reaction was immediate.
"Japan is violating China's sovereign rights by authorizing the company to drill in this region," said Liu Jianchao, a spokesman for the Chinese Foreign Ministry.
Jianchao said Tokyo's actions would aggravate the situation in the East China Sea, adding that the countries' territorial dispute must be solved verbally.
Jianchao said Tokyo should withhold actions that might infringe on Chinese sovereign rights and damage bilateral relations.
Japan and China are laying claims to the short string of the Senkaku Islands (known as the Diaoyutai Islands in Chinese) in the East China Sea, which Beijing thinks are rich in undersea hydrocarbon reserves. Protecting Chinese sovereignty over the islands was one of the main slogans at anti-Japanese rallies in China.
