Japan, China hold talks on gas deposits   (AP)  Updated: 2006-05-18 13:43  
TOKYO -- Japan and China ended talks in disagreement Thursday over their 
competing claims to gas reserves in the East China Sea and planned to meet again 
next month, an official said. 
  Both sides exchanged details about their 
positions on the dispute and underlined the importance of managing boat traffic 
in the area to minimize the chance of an unexpected confrontation, Foreign 
Ministry spokesman Akira Chiba said. 
  
 
 
 
   Hu Zhengyue, chief of 
 Chinese Foreign Ministry's Asian Affairs Department speaks at the start of 
 the China and Japan talks in Tokyo, May 18, 2006. China and Japan held a 
 new round of talks on a disputed gas field in the East China Sea in Tokyo 
 on Thursday, but Beijing doesn't expect any breakthrough, the Chinese 
 Foreign Ministry said. [Reuters] |   But neither 
side presented new ideas in the 5 1/2-hour one-day meeting that could break the 
impasse, he said. 
  "There was no breakthrough," Chiba said. "There was a deepening of 
understanding of the viewpoints of each side." .
  At the 
start of the talks, Kenichiro Sasae, head of the Japanese Foreign Ministry's 
Asia-Oceania Bureau, said the two countries need to cooperate to resolve the 
issue. 
  "There are differences in opinions on both sides, but it is 
important to make progress toward resolving the issue with a broad picture in 
mind," he said at the start of Thursday's talks. 
  Hu Zhengyue, chief of 
the Chinese Foreign Ministry's Department of Asian Affairs, said the two 
countries should remain optimistic. 
  "We should be confident about the 
prospect (of progress). China wants to work hard with Japan so we can make 
progress," Hu said. 
  Earlier this week, China warned not to expect any 
breakthrough at the talks. 
  The issue has strained relations between 
Beijing and Tokyo. China claims it has rights to the gas reserves under the sea 
bed in the East China Sea's Pinghu field, but Tokyo says the two countries 
should share them. 
  Repeated meetings between the countries have failed 
to resolve the dispute. 
  |