Chinese civilians voiced strong indignation and condemnation toward the Japanese government's recent approval of a Japanese oil and gas company's drill request in a disputed area in the East China Sea.

Last Thursday, Japanese Economy, Trade and Industry Minister Shoichi Nakagawa announced that the Japanese government granted the Teikoku Oil Co. concessions to conduct experimental drilling in the East China Sea.

The announcement was widely reported in media and Internet portals in China, arousing great concern among ordinary Chinese people.

Sina.com, one of the largest Internet portals in the Chinese mainland, put up a piece of news on the Japanese government's decision at 10:12 a.m. on Saturday, and received feedback from 2, 400 netizens by 4 p.m. the same day.

"The move of the Japanese government is an act not just meant to test China's national interest, it is also encroachment on China's utmost interest," commented on netizen.

"Japan intends to hinder China's development trend by the act, which exposes the ideology of some Japanese who are worried about China's getting strong increasingly," said another netizen.

The Japanese government's move came when Chinese throughout the country were commemorating the 60the anniversary of the victory of the Chinese People's War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression and of the world anti-fascism war.

Japan, China's neighbor which left the Chinese people with bitter memory through invasions but refuses to make self examination, has produced new wounds in the hearts of the Chinese people via the latest provocative act.

"I'm very much interested in Japanese culture, and have got to know a number of netizens from Japan. I believe the Japanese people are very friendly," said Shi Feng, a sophomore with prestigious Beijing University, "However, in recent years, the Japanese government has kept raising disputes in matters involving China's sovereignty and territorial integrity, which are obviously not what a good neighbor should have done."

Bao Dihong, an associate professor with Zhejiang University in east China, believed political factor in Thursday's move of Japan outweighed economic factor.

"Japan's ambition of seizing oil and gas resources on the continental shelf of the East China Sea is a new form of its expansionist and invading ideology during World War II," said Bao.

Professor Lu Youzhi, who is head of the Institute of International Political Sciences with Zhejiang University, said from the point of international law, the Japanese government's approval of the Teikoku Oil Co. request to conduct test drilling east of the "Middle Line" in the East China Sea is an act of encroachment on China's sovereignty.

Citing the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, Lu said, "To my understanding, China and Japan have not settled over the so-called 'Middle Line,' so Japan's move is a unilateral act that goes against international law."

Professor Cheng Baoku, who heads the Institute of the Law on International Economics with Nankai University based in Tianjian, noted that one principle of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea is to respect history and its development.

Many historical records prove that the continental shelf of the East China Sea is among China's sovereign seawater areas, he said.

Source: Xinhua