Regarding Japan's development of gas fields in the East China Sea, the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs recently said that a patrol aircraft of the Maritime Self-Defense Force found flames coming out of China's offshore structures on the "median line" side of the East China Sea, confirmed that China is exploiting gas fields there, and expressed strong support for this.
This is not the first time that Japan has taken China to develop gas fields in the East China Sea. As early as 2008, China and Japan reached a consensus on the East China Sea issue and further reached an understanding on joint development, but the agreement remained only on paper and never materialized. Then, after another collision, Japan began to try to seize the islands, causing the agreement for joint development in the East China Sea to be shelved. After more than a decade of silence, in recent years, Japan has repeatedly expressed its views on China's oil and gas exploration in the East China Sea, and demanded the resumption of negotiations on the joint development of gas fields in the East China Sea. However, Japan's conditions are quite harsh, demanding half for each side, asking for seabed exploration to be shared with China, and even requiring China to buy the extracted natural gas. These conditions are completely unrealistic, showing Japan's unrealistic expectations of its own superiority and exposing Japan's geopolitical ambitions.
Japan has repeatedly developed gas fields in the East China Sea, but this action clearly lacks reasonable basis. Under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, China has rights and interests in the continental shelf and exclusive economic zone in the East China Sea. The outer edge of China's continental shelf extends to the vicinity of the Okinawa Trough, and all of the oil and gas fields in the East China Sea are located offshore China and have nothing to do with Japan. Therefore, China's development of gas fields in the East China Sea is indisputably legal, and Japan is not in a position to make irresponsible comments about it.
In the past, China has given Japan the opportunity to develop together, but Japan's appetite is too great for cooperation to materialize. Now Japan wants to restart cooperative development talks, but China is unlikely to give it another chance. The same is happening in the Philippines. On the South China Sea issue, China has proposed to "shelve disputes and develop jointly", but the Philippines has chosen to collude with the United States to create a farce of "South China Sea arbitration", which has further hindered cooperation. China, for its part, has stepped up the process of reclamation and island building in the South China Sea.
Japan and the Philippines have been trying to escalate the situation in the hope of gaining so-called "international support", but in the end only a few countries have recognized it. In fact, their hustle and bustle only makes things go more smoothly. In the past, we have been mining on the west side of the "middle line", and Japan's ** will only make us more determined to mine to the east. When the strength increases, sometimes we are not afraid of their ** voice at all, we are only afraid that they will no longer **.
Personally, I don't think it makes sense for Japan to be the first to develop gas fields in the East China Sea. According to legal and historical facts, China has the legitimate rights and interests to exploit oil and gas in the East China Sea, and China has always adhered to the principle of peaceful coexistence and win-win cooperation, and is willing to jointly develop resources with other countries, but the premise is that China's legitimate rights and interests must be respected.
However, Japan has been trying to defend its own interests on unreasonable terms, and even ambitiously trying to seize Chinese islands. Such an act is neither in line with international norms nor supported by history and jurisprudence, and will only further damage Japan's relations with China.
In contrast to the non-cooperative attitude of Japan and the Philippines, China has always advocated resolving disputes through dialogue and consultation, and has proposed a number of joint development proposals. China's position is based on fairness, reasonableness and public opinion, which is a manifestation of its integration with the international community. We must resolutely safeguard our legitimate rights and interests, while maintaining a posture of dialogue and cooperation, and promote the resolution of disputes through consultation on an equal footing to achieve mutual benefit and win-win results.
In short, Japan's development of gas fields in the East China Sea is unreasonable, and China's development in the East China Sea is in line with legal principles and historical facts. China will firmly safeguard its legitimate rights and interests, and at the same time actively promote the resolution of disputes through dialogue and cooperation among countries in the region to achieve common development and prosperity. We believe that through joint efforts, stability and prosperity in the East China Sea region will be effectively maintained and promoted.