China restated its right to gas fields in disputed areas of the East China Sea on Tuesday, days before Japanese Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda is to arrive for talks at which the contested waters will be a major issue.
The East Asian neighbours have a long-running dispute over how to exploit natural gas in the East China Sea and where the dividing line between their exclusive economic zones in the area should lie. "Undeniably, there are some disputes over this issue and China and Japan don't see eye to eye," Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Qin Gang told a regular news conference.
"There is no dispute over China's right to develop the East China Sea gas field, including the Chunxiao gas field," he added, referring to the field from which China's state-controlled CNOOC Ltd has said it is ready to begin production.
"We hope Japan can view this objectively and constructively," Qin said.
Analysts and government ministers say Fukuda's December 27-30 visit to China is unlikely to reach any breakthroughs on the issue, despite warming ties between the countries. Eleven rounds of official-level talks have failed to resolve the row.
Relations suffered a chill under former Japanese leader Junichiro Koizumi over his repeated visits to a Tokyo war shrine seen as a symbol of Japan's past militarism, but ties have warmed since Koizumi left office.
Many in China believe that Japan has not adequately atoned for its World War Two invasion of China, and the history between the two nations remains a sensitive topic.
Fukuda's visit is his first to China since he took office earlier this year. "China attaches great importance to the visit and is willing to work with Japan to build up mutual political trust, to expand mutual interests, deepen all aspects of cooperation and push forward relations to achieve developments in China-Japan relations," Qin said.