Japan checking disputed oil production

Japan is checking whether China has started production at a disputed gas field in the East China Sea that Tokyo says may extend into its territory, a Japanese Foreign Ministry official said.

The stated-owned parent of China’s CNOOC Ltd. said on its Web site on Friday that the firm had begun production at the Chunxiao field in the East China Sea.

“We are in the middle of checking whether production has actually started there,” a Japanese Foreign Ministry official said. “We have no option but to tell them to stop if they have already started.”
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