Japanese survey move raises tension with China over energy resources
Japan has raised the possibility of exploring for oil and gas around the Senkaku islands, where sovereignty is contested by Japan, China and Taiwan, in a move that appears aimed at raising the stakes in Tokyo's dispute with Beijing over energy resources.
The Japanese government recently earmarked Y10bn ($96m) for construction of the country's first survey ship capable of doing 3-D seismic mapping of the ocean floor. A government official said Japan wanted to build the ship, which would not be finished until 2008, so that it could survey the Senkaku islands, north-east of Taiwan.
He said Tokyo could hire a foreign vessel to conduct tests but would be reluctant to send a non-Japanese vessel into such strongly disputed territory.
Raising the idea of exploring the Senkakus, called the Diaoyus in China, is the latest escalation in a row over energy and territory in the East China Sea. The official said: "We are pursuing a policy of proportional escalation. If they do something, then we'll do something until they understand our determination."
Japan has protested at China's exploitation of the Chunxiao gas field, 4km on China's side of the line dividing the two countries' exclusive economic zones.
Tokyo says China could extract gas from its side of the boundary, a line not recognised by China, and is negotiating with two Japanese companies to start drilling in the area. Tsutomo Toichi, managing director at the Institute of Energy Economics in Tokyo, said Japan was stepping up seismic exploration of the East China Sea.
He also said China had been building a production platform for the Chunxiao field, and that it could start pumping gas to Shanghai as early as summer.
Tokyo would find it hard to justify exploiting gas around Chunxiao on economic grounds because of its distance from Honshu, Japan's main island. Its actions were intended more as an assertion of territorial rights, experts said. But officials believe the field might also contain oil, which is easier to transport.
A sign that the territorial issue is creeping up the political agenda came this week, when Shintaro Ishihara, the powerful governor of Tokyo, complained that Chinese marine survey ships were encroaching on Japan's exclusive economic zone near Okinotori island, 1,740km south of Tokyo but officially under its jurisdiction.
Mr Ishihara told Junichiro Koizumi, prime minister, that he would like to build a power station on the deserted island, designated as a mere "rock" by China, as a way of underlining Japan's presence in the area.
Japan has also sparred with China over Russian oil. In December, Transneft, a Russian monopoly, said it would build a $11.5bn pipeline from Siberia to the Pacific coast of Russia, from where it could be transported to Japan, reversing an agreement by Moscow to route the line to Daqing in China.
日本拟勘测钓鱼岛能源 中日之争可能升级
日本增加了在钓鱼岛 (日本称尖阁列岛)周围开发石油天然气的可能性，此举似乎旨在令日本同中国在能源方面的争议升级。日本、中国和台湾对这一地区的主权存在争议。
日本政府最近拨款100亿日元(合9600万美元)，用于建造日本第一艘能够进行三维海床地震测绘的船只。一政府官员表示，日本需要造这艘船，使之可以对位于台湾东北方的钓鱼岛进行勘测。该船将直到2008年才能完工。
他表示，日本政府应该可以租用外国船只进行勘测，但日本政府不愿将一艘非日本籍船只送入此类有强烈争议的地区。
中日两国在中国东海能源和领土问题上存在争议，而提出开发钓鱼岛的意见是争端升级的最新迹象。该官员表示：“我们奉行按比例升级(proportional escalation)政策，如果他们有所行动，那么我们将有所行动，直到他们明白我们的决心。”
日本已对中国开发春晓气田提出抗议。该气田在中国一侧，距两国专属经济区分界线4公里。
日本政府表示，中国可以在中方边界开采天然气。而中国并没有承认这条边界线。日本政府正与两家日本公司进行商谈，以开始在该地区进行钻探。东京能源经济研究所(Institute of Energy Economics)理事长内藤正久(Tsutomo Toichi)表示，日本正在加大东海地震勘探力度。
他还表示，中国一直在为春晓气田建设生产平台，最早可能在夏季就可开始将天然气输往上海。
由于春晓气田离日本的主要岛屿本州岛距离很远，如果日本在春晓气田周围进行开采，日本政府将很难在经济上找到理由。专家们表示，日本政府的行动更多是在宣示领土主权。但官员们相信，该气田可能含有更易于运输的石油。
本周，权力很大的东京都知事石原慎太郎(Shintaro Ishihara)申诉说，中国的海洋测量船入侵了日本靠近冲鸟岛的专属经济区。冲鸟岛距东京1740公里，但行政上仍属东京管辖。这一迹象表明，领海争端正在逐步登上政治议程。
石原先生对首相小泉纯一郎(Junichiro Koizumi)说，他想在这个无人小岛上建设一座电站，以此强调日本在该地区的存在。中国认为该岛仅仅是一个“岩礁”。
