Law of the Sea - Continental Shelf

Song Enlai, chairman of China National Offshore Oil Corp's (CNOOC) board of supervisors, certainly made a name for himself by becoming one of the few Chinese officials whom the Chinese Foreign Ministry called a liar, when he made the following remarks to reporters in Beijing on the disputed Chunxiao gas field in the East China Sea, "It's a sensitive question. But we already started developing the field, we are already pumping oil." After Japan called the statement "very regrettable", the Chinese Foreign Ministry told Japan that the statement is "not true" and pointed out that Song had retired from CNOCC. Later, a Chinese FM spokeswoman reasserted that China has complete sovereignty over the Chunxiao oil and gas field.