Sino-Japanese relations over the East China Sea: The Case of Oil and Gas Field

Abstract

Purpose—The East China Sea (ECS) dispute is characterized as a mixture of various issues, at the forefront is the issue regarding political sovereignty over the Diaoyu/Senkaku islands and the economic benefits of the surrounding oil and gas fields. The purpose of this article is to focus on the energy potential in the ECS and argues that the nature of the disputes has not changed in the past two decades and has always been on maritime delimitation. Design, Methodology, Approach—Different from both the macro- level regional international relations and the micro- level domestic narratives, this article adopts a meso- level political economic analytical framework. By adopting historical institutionalist approach, this study examines how China and Japan interact over the issue of gas field in the East China Sea. Findings—The maritime dispute is constrained by growing Sino- Japanese economic relations. In order to maintain a critical and deepening economic relationship between the two countries, China and Japan have adopted the tactics of selfconstraint and have limited their charges of the other side’s wrongdoing to certain level. The status of the oil and gas fields in the East China Sea is thus made quite stable and both sides will give tacit consent to the disagreement on boundary delimitation without taking further substantial action. Practical Implications—This article provides a different perspective in analyzing Sino- Japanese relations. For policy makers, it proposes a political logic of conflict management between two countries that economic interaction may not well facilitate political negotiation but it at least prevents political conflict from escalating Original Value—This article enriches our understanding of the constant nature of maritime dispute between China and Japan—with maritime delimitation as the bottom line, thereby realizing that although the tension is unavoidable there are always possibilities for negotiation and dialogues.