Eric Watkins
Senior Correspondent
LOS ANGELES, July 15 -- China has formally protested Japan's decision to grant drilling rights in a part of the East China Sea also claimed by Beijing.
Cui Tiankai, a Foreign Ministry official, summoned a diplomat from the Japanese Embassy in Beijing to issue a strong protest against the Japanese government's July 14 award of drilling rights in the disputed area to Teikoku Oil Co. Ltd. (OGJ Online, July 14, 2005). Cui told the embassy's economic section minister that Japan's decision was a severe provocation and a violation of China's sovereignty and interests.
Japanese trade minister Shoichi Nakagawa responded by urging China to resolve the dispute with Japan over the gas projects through dialogue.
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