Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama and Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao Monday, meeting in Tokyo, have agreed to work toward formal talks on signing a treaty on the joint development of gas fields in the East China Sea. In view of the Chinese helicopters that flew close to two Japanese destroyers in April in the seas near Japan, they also agreed to launch a hot line between the two nations' leaders and to establish a maritime crisis management mechanism between the two nations' defense authorities to avoid clashes. The Japanese and Chinese ministers concerned also signed a memorandum aimed at ensuring food safety, following food-poisoning cases in Japan in late 2007 and early 2008 involving tainted Chinese-made gyoza dumplings.
Mr. Hatoyama and Mr. Wen must implement the first two agreements as soon as possible to raise bilateral cooperation to a new level. As for gas exploration in the East China Sea, Japan and China had agreed in 2008 that Japanese firms would invest in a gas field already operated by China, that the two countries would jointly explore gas in a northern area and that they would continue talks on development of other gas fields. But criticism in China that Beijing had conceded too much and Japan's objection to unilateral development of another gas field by China have delayed the start of treaty talks. It is hoped that Monday's agreement will give impetus to starting anew.
In Sunday's summit in Jeju, South Korea, Mr. Hatoyama, Mr. Wen and South Korean President Lee Myung Bak touched on the finding by a multilateral investigation that a torpedo fired by a North Korean submarine sank the South Korean 1,200-ton corvette Cheonan on March 26, killing 46 sailors. (Mr. Wen's remarks on this matter in Tokyo were not disclosed.) Mr. Hatoyama and Mr. Lee called for stern treatment of North Korea, including some action by the U.N. Security Council. But Mr. Wen stopped short of giving clear support to the two leaders. A military conflict on the Korean Peninsula must be avoided at all costs. China, though an ally of North Korea, should not lose any time taking a firm stand against North Korea's provocative behavior.