Joint marine environmental protection projects with Japan
China has proposed joint marine environmental protection projects with Japan in the East China Sea as part of efforts to ease tensions over the disputed Senkaku Islands, sources said Monday.
Foreign ministers of the two countries are expected to discuss the issue when they meet on the sidelines of a trilateral foreign ministerial meeting with South Korea in Ningbo, China, this weekend, the sources said.
The Chinese government made the proposal earlier this year following an agreement between Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda and Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao in late December that the two countries would create a new bilateral mechanism to discuss maritime security, including crisis management involving incidents in the East China Sea.
The two countries have begun studies on joint projects. In Japan, government agencies such as the Environment Ministry are studying scientific research in areas such as marine ecology as one of the envisaged joint projects, the sources said.
By promoting joint projects, Japan hopes to create an environment in which the two countries can resume negotiations toward concluding a treaty on joint gas development in the East China Sea, the sources said. China may seek to conduct a joint survey on marine resources in the future, they said.
Source: The Japan Times Online