Japan protests China's new structure construction in E. China Sea over gas field
The Japanese Foreign Ministry said on Tuesday that the activity has been confirmed on the Chinese side of the line, known as the geographical equidistance line.
The director-general of the Japanese Foreign Ministry's Asian and Oceanian Affairs Bureau, Kanai Masaaki, issued a protest to a senior diplomat from the Chinese Embassy in Tokyo.
The Japanese side said it is extremely regrettable that China is moving forward with unilateral development in the waters. It called on China to resume talks on the implementation of the "June 2008 Agreement."
Tokyo and Beijing agreed in 2008 on joint development of gas fields in the East China Sea. But negotiations have stalled.
The Japanese ministry says the structure being set up by China is the 20th of its kind, following the one confirmed in May.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yomiuri Shimbun
4 hours ago
- Yomiuri Shimbun
South Korean President Vows to Uphold Agreements with Japan on Comfort Women, Wartime Workers
SEOUL — In an exclusive interview with The Yomiuri Shimbun, South Korean President Lee Jae Myung stressed that he intends to uphold the agreements that previous administrations reached with Japan regarding the issue of so-called comfort women and lawsuits related to former wartime requisitioned workers. Speaking at the presidential office in Seoul on Tuesday, Lee described the presence of Japan as 'extremely crucial' and expressed a strong willingness to strengthen economic and security ties between the two countries. Lee answered questions over about 90 minutes from Shoichi Oikawa, chairman of the board and representative director of The Yomiuri Shimbun Holdings. Oikawa also serves as editor-in-chief of the Yomiuri group. This was Lee's first interview with a foreign media outlet since he took office in June. 'The presence of Japan is extremely crucial, and I hope the presence of South Korea will also become meaningful to Japan,' Lee said of bilateral relations. 'It is important to work together in areas where cooperation is possible and to seek paths that are beneficial to both sides.' Regarding historical issues such as comfort women and former wartime requisitioned workers from the Korean Peninsula, which have been sources of conflict between Japan and South Korea, Lee said: 'There is no need to stick only to those issues, and there is no need to bury ourselves in them. 'It is necessary to face the facts accurately and make efforts to resolve the issues without causing harm to any side.' In 2015, the administration of then Prime Minister Shinzo Abe confirmed with the administration of then South Korean President Park Geun-hye that the issue of comfort women had been 'resolved finally and irreversibly.' The administration of Lee's predecessor, Yoon Suk Yeol, worked out measures to resolve the issue of former requisitioned workers in 2023. In both cases, Lee's left-leaning Democratic Party strongly opposed these agreements. However, the president has emphasized the importance of Japan-South Korea relations and expressed his intention to maintain the agreements since assuming the presidency. In the interview, Lee reiterated such a stance on the agreements concerning comfort women and measures to resolve the issue of lawsuits over the former wartime laborers. 'It is greatly difficult for the South Korean people to accept the agreements, but they are promises between the countries,' he said. 'Trust is at stake, so it is not desirable to overturn it.' 'On the other hand, we have a responsibility to seriously consider the perspectives of the victims and their families. I hope that South Korea and Japan will engage in serious discussions from a long-term perspective and with a fundamental awareness of these issues,' Lee also said, seeking for Japan to consider the feelings of the South Korean people. Lee is scheduled to visit Japan on Saturday and Sunday, his first trip to the country as president. Regarding the summit with Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba scheduled for Saturday, he said, 'I want to discuss areas where cooperation is possible.' He expressed his intention to talk about the expansion of bilateral cooperation in the areas of economy, security and people-to-people exchanges. The president also stressed the need for frequent reciprocal visits by the leaders of Japan and South Korea. During the interview, Lee referred to the Japan-South Korea Joint Declaration issued by the administrations of then Japanese Prime Minister Keizo Obuchi and then South Korean leader Kim Dae Jung in 1998, applauding it as 'having drawn a new line in Japan-South Korea relations.' Lee also expressed his eagerness to work out a new joint statement. 'I hope we can build a future-oriented relationship by releasing a new declaration on Japan-South Korea relations that will further advance [relations] and overcome [challenges].'
Japan Times
8 hours ago
- Japan Times
Lutnick: Japan's $550 billion will be directed by Trump
U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick made it clear that the $550 billion promised by Japan in the course of tariff negotiations will be real funding from Japan deployed and directed by U.S. President Donald Trump to serve American interests. 'What's going to happen is the investments in America are for the benefit of the economic and national security of the United States of America, driven by Donald Trump,' Lutnick told CNBC on Tuesday. His comments closely track and further support earlier comments by Trump, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Lutnick himself. Together, they have described a pledge that involves new capital from Japan being invested in the United States with America in control and taking 90% of the profits. "It is their money," he added, "their money that's going to create these investments so that we can build the pipelines, we can build the nuclear, we can build semiconductors, we can build pharmaceuticals in America to protect America." Japanese officials view the handshake agreement reached on July 22 differently. They have said that Japan will provide loans, loan guarantees and equity investment up to the $550 billion total through financial institutions backed by the government, and that direct equity investment will be just 1%-2% of the $550 billion. They have also brought into question the governance described by the three U.S. officials. 'We can't cooperate on things that don't benefit Japanese companies or the Japanese economy," Ryosei Akazawa, Japan's chief tariff negotiator, said earlier this month. CNBC host David Faber pressed Lutnick — noting that Japan has said the money will mainly be in the form of loan guarantees to Japanese companies already operating in the United States — and suggested the possibility that there is no meeting of the minds between the United States and Japan on the issue. "No, no, no," Lutnick responded. "We're on the same page." U.S. officials have repeatedly said that the money is essentially a payment in exchange for lowering tariff rates — or raising them less than threatened — and that any failure in honoring the commitment could result in tariffs being increased. If the president is 'unhappy' with the progress, tariffs will 'boomerang' higher, Bessent has said. In the CNBC interview, Lutnick noted the connection between the money and tariff rates. 'Japan has offered to buy down their tax from 25% to 15%. They offered us $550 billion investment fund,' he said. Japan and the United States reached an agreement on July 22 to set the 'reciprocal' tariff at 15% and the auto tariff at the same rate. Lutnick said that the two countries are working to get the terms of the deal down on paper, and that progress is quickly being made. The lack of an agreement document has been a major issue in Japan, especially among politicians in Tokyo. "Every night and every morning, we are finishing the documents,' Lutnick said. 'These are weeks away for the Japan and Korea model, but the other models are set.' On Tuesday, SoftBank Group said it will purchase $2 billion worth of Intel shares, though the company declined to confirm whether the announced investment is part of the $550 billion pledge. U.S. tariffs are already starting the bite. Japanese exports to the United States in July fell 10.1% year on year, declining for the fourth consecutive month. Auto exports to the United States dropped 28.4% year on year in value terms and 3.2% in volume.
Japan Times
8 hours ago
- Japan Times
Modi hails China ties as Washington takes swipe at India's 'richest families'
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has welcomed improved ties with China as U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent escalated criticism of the South Asian nation over its purchases of Russian oil. Modi said he's looking forward to visiting China later this month — his first trip to the country in seven years — and meeting Chinese President Xi Jinping. The Indian leader met Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi on Tuesday in New Delhi. Wang was visiting India for the first time in three years. "India-China relations have made steady progress guided by respect for each other's interests,' Modi said in a post on X on Tuesday. "Stable, predictable, constructive ties between India and China will contribute significantly to regional as well as global peace and prosperity.' India has been recalibrating its foreign policy more toward China and other members of the BRICS group after U.S. President Donald Trump threatened to boost tariffs unless New Delhi stops importing Russian oil. Trump administration officials have singled out India for the oil purchases, accusing it of aiding Russia's war in Ukraine and undermining U.S. efforts to end the conflict. Bessent on Tuesday intensified the criticism, saying India was "profiteering' off the oil purchases. "We have planned to up the tariffs on India — these are secondary tariffs for buying the sanctioned Russian oil,' Bessent told CNBC. "They are reselling, they made $16 billion on excess profits — some of the richest families in India,' he added. Bessent also defended the administration's lack of secondary tariffs on China, which buys more crude oil from Russia, saying India only ramped up its purchases after Russian President Vladimir Putin's full-scale invasion of Ukraine. China was importing 13% of its oil from Russia before the 2022 invasion, and now it's 16%, "so China has a diversified input of their oil,' Bessent said. The comments amount to an indirect swipe against Mukesh Ambani, Asia's richest billionaire. Ambani's Reliance Industries, which runs the world's largest petroleum refining complex in western India, has been among the buyers of Russian crude, purchasing cargoes under long-term contracts. Reliance shares fell as much as 0.7% in early trade on Wednesday before reversing losses to trade little changed. Reliance is the nation's most valuable company and an index heavyweight. The benchmark NSE Nifty 50 Index was flat. India's government has repeatedly defended its right to buy oil from the cheapest source, and has called the U.S.'s threat of higher tariffs "unreasonable.' On Monday, Modi spoke with Russian President Vladimir Putin, calling him a "friend.' In meetings in New Delhi this week, India and China agreed to facilitate bilateral trade and investment flows, resume direct flights and process more visas to boost exchanges between people in the world's most populous nations, according to a statement from the Foreign Ministry in Beijing. China has also assured India of supplies of rare earth minerals, fertilizer and tunnel-boring machines, an official in New Delhi told reporters, asking not to be identified because discussions are private. India said separately that both sides had a "candid' exchange on border issues that led to the deterioration in ties following a deadly 2020 clash. They agreed to "jointly maintain peace and tranquility in the border areas through friendly consultations,' according to a statement from India's Ministry of External Affairs. "I am very happy that in the last nine months, there has been an upward trend' in bilateral ties, Indian National Security Adviser Ajit Doval, who met with Wang, said Tuesday. "Borders have been quiet, and there has been peace and tranquility.' Efforts to improve India-China ties have gained new urgency following Trump's tariff policy. Trump has imposed 25% tariffs on Indian exports to the U.S. and threatened to double that to 50% by Aug. 27, to penalize New Delhi for buying oil from Russia. Beijing has loosened curbs on urea exports, India has reinstated tourist visas for Chinese nationals, and a growing number of Indian businesses have been seeking partnerships with Chinese companies for deals including technology transfers. Despite the thaw, however, thorny issues remain, including China's close relationship with Pakistan, India's neighbor and rival. China announced that Wang will be heading to Pakistan on Wednesday. "Our policy is to develop friendly and cooperative relations with both India and Pakistan,' Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning said Tuesday at a regular news briefing in Beijing. China hopes the two nations can find a "proper solution' and is "willing to play a positive role,' she added.
