Japanese newspaper: Revealing China's approval of oil drilling in the East Sea

China's top leaders decided earlier this year to move forward with oil drilling in the South China Sea despite diplomatic consequences.

The Asahi Shimbun, one of Japan's leading newspapers, published this information.

In early May, China unilaterally deployed a drilling rig in Vietnam's exclusive economic zone.

China deployed many ships to protect the drilling rig illegally placed in Vietnam's waters. Photo: Ashahi Shimbun

China National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC) has long wanted to conduct oil and gas drilling in the South China Sea. However, Chinese Foreign Ministry officials have objected, fearing that relations with its neighbors would deteriorate over territorial disputes in the sea.

“CNOOC did not decide to drill alone. Chinese leaders approved it earlier this year,” said a researcher who submits policy proposals to the Chinese government.

According to the researcher, the oil company has been calling for oil drilling in waters near Vietnam’s Paracel Islands for more than a decade. The Chinese military, with ambitions to expand its national interests, has also supported the move.

On May 2, CNOOC towed a giant drilling rig, capable of drilling 3,000 meters deep, to Vietnam's Hoang Sa archipelago in the East Sea.

According to Yi Xianliang, deputy director general of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ Department of Boundary and Ocean Affairs, China began considering activities in the sea a decade ago. However, some oil industry sources said that previous work involved mainly geological surveys.

Among the factors that led to the decision to drill for oil were the growing presence of the Chinese military in the South China Sea, as well as the growing awareness among Chinese people of territorial issues and maritime interests stemming from the Sino-Japanese dispute in the East China Sea.

However, Chinese Foreign Ministry and Commerce officials are quite worried. The Chinese Foreign Ministry is looking to build a stable external environment, which they feel is necessary for economic development. They fear that relations with ASEAN countries and the United States will deteriorate if China starts drilling for oil in the South China Sea and have taken a cautious stance on the issue.

For a long time, the proposal was not implemented because China did not have deep water drilling technology.

However, in 2008, CNOOC spent about 6 billion yuan ($953 million) to start building deepwater drilling equipment. The rig was completed in May 2011.

The rig was deployed in the Liwan gas field, 300 kilometers southeast of Hong Kong. The project was jointly carried out by CNOOC and a Canadian company. Drilling was completed last year, and gas production began in March, according to an official from the Canadian company.

With the Liwan gas field project completed, CNOOC moved the rig into waters near the Paracel Islands to begin operations in early May.

This move is another sign that Beijing pays little attention to international opinion, and seeks to rapidly advance effective control of the East Sea on its own grounds and interests.

Since 2001, when China joined the World Trade Organization, Chinese state-owned oil and gas corporations have rapidly expanded their overseas operations and are also eager to develop resources in the South China Sea.

The administration of then Chinese President Hu Jintao “kept” the oil and gas companies. According to sources from the Chinese Foreign Ministry, that was still the time of the diplomatic principle that the late Chinese leader Deng Xiaoping called “thaoguang yanghui” (hide your strength and bide your time).

However, the current administration has clearly taken a different path by pursuing the goal of turning China into a “maritime power.” This has led to China’s increasing moves in the South China Sea and the East China Sea.

According to Vietnam.net