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Sino-Japanese
ties have long been plagued by conflicting claims over a group
of uninhabited East China Sea islets. Last year, Japan called on
China to halt construction of oil-and-gas exploration platforms
in the East China Sea.
At the time, Tokyo accused Beijing of unilateral development
despite a 2008 agreement to maintain cooperation on resources
development in the area, where no official border between them
has been drawn.
China said then it had every right to drill in the East China
Sea close to waters it disputes with Japan.
The Philippines has lodged a case with an arbitration court in
The Hague about its dispute with China in the South China Sea.
China reacted angrily and has pledged not to participate.
Wednesday's resolution by the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP)
called on Abe's government to firmly ask China for the prompt
resumption of talks on the drilling issue, as well as to
consider taking the case to an international arbitration court.
"If China shrugs off the request, some action must be taken,"
Yoshiaki Harada, head of an LDP panel on resources development
in the East China Sea, told reporters.
"Everyone has agreed that we should not shy away from taking the
matter to an international arbitration court and starting
preparation for that step should be considered," Harada said
after an LDP meeting on the resolution.
There has been no bilateral dialogue on resources development in
the East China Sea in recent years despite repeated calls from
Japan for resuming such talks, he said.
(Reporting by Kiyoshi Takenaka; Editing by Paul Tait)
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