Oct. 3 (EUROPA PRESS) –
The Japanese government has sent a formal protest to Beijing for the construction of a gas extraction platform on the Chinese side of the common maritime border, an area in which both countries have agreed on the joint exploitation of this resource.
The protest is based on the detection of flames such as those used on gas platforms in one of the structures built by China in these waters, according to Japanese public television NHK.
The Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs has confirmed the detection of a new flame in one of the structures built in May that would show an ongoing gas exploitation.
Tokyo and Beijing agreed in 2008 to jointly exploit the gas in this area. However, the agreement has not yet been signed and China already has 18 structures in the region and flames have been confirmed in thirteen of them.
The director of the Office for Asia and Oceania of the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Funakoshi Takehiro, has presented the formal protest at the Chinese Embassy in Tokyo and has warned that it is “extremely regrettable” news. He has also asked Beijing to return to the negotiating table to close a treaty.
