中国ガス田開発 実態公開して自制を促したい

The Yomiuri Shimbun
Japan reveals truth to stop China from accelerating maritime advance
中国ガス田開発　実態公開して自制を促したい

China’s self-serving moves to develop marine resources in violation of a bilateral agreement with Japan cannot be allowed. Japan must persistently urge Beijing to refrain from such actions.
　日中間の合意に反して海洋資源を開発する中国の独善的な行為は容認できない。日本は、中国に粘り強く自制を促さねばならない。

The government announced Wednesday that China has been constructing a total of 12 new offshore platforms and related structures since June 2013 for the development of gas fields in the East China Sea, where Japan and China have yet to demarcate the boundaries.
　政府は、日中の境界が画定していない東シナ海で、中国がガス田開発のため、２０１３年６月以降、新たに１２基の海洋プラットホーム（海上施設）などを建設していると発表した。

The government also posted aerial photos of the structures and a map showing their locations on the Foreign Ministry’s website.
　施設の航空写真や地図も、外務省のホームページで公開した。

“It is extremely regrettable that China is unilaterally developing resources,” Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga said at a press conference Wednesday.
　菅官房長官は記者会見で、「一方的な資源開発は極めて遺憾だ」と述べた。

It is appropriate for the government to convey the actual nature of China’s maritime advances to the international community, and try to restrain such actions.
中国の海洋進出の実態を国際社会に幅広く訴え、中国をけん制する狙いは適切である。

Suga said the government decided to release the map and the photos because the Chinese government has accelerated its development of natural resources in recent years, while refusing to resume negotiations on the implementation of an accord in which Japan and China agreed to cooperate on the development of natural resources in the East China Sea.
　公開した理由について、中国政府が日本との共同開発の交渉に応じない一方、開発を近年、加速させていることを挙げた。

Some within the government had called for caution about releasing the photos and the map, saying it would only cause China to take a tougher line. But Japan’s taking an excessively conciliatory stance would only benefit China, which is trying to secure its interests by accumulating a number of faits accomplis.
　中国が態度を硬化させるとして、政府には公開に慎重な意見があった。だが、過度の融和姿勢は既成事実を積み重ね、権益確保を狙う中国を利するだけだろう。

China’s foreign ministry responded to Japan’s criticism Wednesday by stressing that China’s development of gas fields in the East China Sea is “completely justified and legitimate.”
　中国外務省は、ガス田開発について「開発活動は完全に正当で、合法だ」と強弁した。

China’s reasoning flawed

As long as the bilateral boundaries have yet to be demarcated, the development sites are within disputed waters. It is illogical for China to try to justify its actions with the reasoning that the gas fields are on the Chinese side of the Japan-China median line.
　境界が未画定な以上、開発地点は、係争中の海域である。ガス田が日中中間線の中国側海域にあるという理由なら、筋が違う。

Japan and China agreed in 2008 that both countries will jointly develop the Shirakaba gas field located near the median line. Both countries also agreed to designate specific waters stretching over the median line as the joint development area.
　日中は０８年、中間線に隣接する白樺ガス田を共同開発し、中間線をまたぐ特定海域を共同開発区域とすることで合意した。

In 2010, China postponed treaty negotiations on the implementation of the 2008 accord, and the talks have been suspended ever since.
中国は１０年に合意実現への条約交渉を延期し、中断したままだ。

Japan needs to demand that China stop its unilateral development and call again for China to resume the talks at an early date.
　日本は、中国に開発の中止と、交渉の早期再開を改めて求める必要がある。

The possibility that China will utilize the offshore facilities for military purposes is worrying.
　懸念されるのは、海上施設の軍事利用である。

China has been conducting reclamation work on rock reefs in the South China Sea and moving ahead with making these reclaimed reefs into military strongholds.
　中国は南シナ海で岩礁を埋め立て、軍事拠点化を進めている。

Defense Minister Gen Nakatani has pointed out the possibility of Chinese forces also utilizing the offshore facilities in the East China Sea to deploy radar and serve as operational bases for reconnaissance helicopters.
　中谷防衛相は、東シナ海の海上施設についても、中国軍がレーダーを配備したり、偵察のためのヘリコプターの活動拠点として利用したりする可能性を指摘する。

China unilaterally announced in November 2013 the establishment of an air defense identification zone over the East China Sea, a zone that includes the airspace over the Senkaku Islands of Okinawa Prefecture.
　中国は１３年１１月、沖縄県の尖閣諸島上空を含む防空識別圏（ＡＤＩＺ）の設定を一方的に発表した。

Deploying radar near the median line would make it possible for China to cover areas that the radar on its mainland cannot.
中間線付近でのレーダー配備が実現すれば、中国本土のレーダーでカバーできなかった隙間を埋めることが可能になる。

Japan must heighten its vigilance by closely cooperating with the United States. It is also urgent to introduce a bilateral maritime liaison mechanism to avoid accidental clashes between aircraft or vessels of the Japanese Self-Defense Forces and the Chinese forces.
　日本は米国と緊密に連携し、警戒を強化しなければならない。自衛隊と中国軍の航空機や艦船の偶発的な衝突を防ぐ「海上連絡メカニズム」の実現も急ぎたい。

It is likewise important for Japan to improve bilateral relations from the viewpoint of a strategically reciprocal relationship with China, while also continuing to assert its position regarding Japan’s sovereignty.
　日本の主権に関わる主張は守りつつ、戦略的互恵の観点から日中関係を改善することも大切だ。

(From The Yomiuri Shimbun, July 23, 2015)