The proposed bill, which makes no mention of the East China Sea and the LDP plans to submit to the Diet in late January, would set a 500-meter safety zone around Japanese facilities on the country's continental shelf or in its exclusive economic zone.

Japan granted Teikoku Oil Co. drilling rights in the disputed area in July, but drilling has not yet begun. China has already extracted gas from one field, triggering protests from Japan, which wants China to stop drilling and proposed a joint project.

Talks on the gas fields between the two energy-hungry countries have stalled amid diplomatic rancor partly caused by Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's latest visit to Yasukuni Shrine that defends Japan's militaristic past.

Under the U.N. Convention on the Law of the Sea, to which both Japan and China are signatories, coastal countries can claim an economic zone extending 370 km from their shores. The disputed reserves lie within both countries' claims, and the U.N. has until May 2009 to rule on the matter.

Unauthorized entrants into the safety zone would face up to a year in prison or fines of ¥500,000.

The Japan Times Weekly: Dec. 24, 2005
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