Japan has lodged a protest with China after detecting work installing a new structure near the median line between the two countries in the East China Sea. The structure appears to be related to gas field development in the area. The Japanese Foreign Ministry said on Tuesday that the activity has been confirmed on the Chinese side of the line, known as the geographical equidistance line. The director-general of the Japanese Foreign Ministry’s Asian and Oceanian Affairs Bureau, Kanai Masaaki, issued a protest to a senior diplomat from the Chinese Embassy in Tokyo. The Japanese side said it is extremely regrettable that China is moving forward with unilateral development in the waters. It called on China to resume talks on the implementation of the “June 2008 Agreement.” Tokyo and Beijing agreed in 2008 on joint development of gas fields in the East China Sea. But negotiations have stalled. The Japanese ministry says the structure being set up by China is the 20th of its kind, following the one confirmed in May.

Full story : Japan protests China’s new structure construction in East China Sea over gas field.