Free Republic

TOKYO — Yukio Edano, chief of the Constitution Research Committee of the opposition Democratic Party of Japan, proposed Sunday to deploy Self-Defense Forces troops to the disputed Senkaku Islands in the East China Sea to avoid invasion by other countries. "The Senkaku Islands are effectively controlled by Japan. I believe the SDF should be stationed there so other countries will not be able to invade them," he told a TV news show. The Senkakus, about 400 kilometers west of Okinawa Prefecture's capital Naha, are controlled by Japan and also claimed by China and Taiwan.

The government said Friday gas deposits in Japanese waters were linked to the Chinese area of a contentious gas field in the East China Sea and threatened to grant drilling rights to domestic companies if Beijing did not stop projects in the area. China likely will begin drilling for the gas as early as summer, removing Japan's natural resources in the process. The government informed Beijing of the results of its investigation and issued a fervent demand that development in the area be halted. If Beijing does not accede to the request, the Economy, Trade and Industry Ministry, under whose...

China’s top offshore oil and gas producer, CNOOC Ltd., will begin operations this year at a gas field in the East China Sea despite a territorial dispute with Japan. ..CNOOC Chairman Fu Chengyu told reporters on Tuesday he expected the Chunxiao field, located south of Japan, to begin operations in August and September... ....On Monday Japanese media reported Japan had demanded that China halt construction at the Chunxiao natural gas field. Hydrocarbon deposits were found in the early 1970s... In 2004 China’s construction of the Chunxiao natural gas production plant 5 kilometres (3 miles) from the disputed area aggravated tensions...