A month has passed since Japan and China last held talks over the development of gas fields in a disputed area of the East China Sea, and both sides appear keen on keeping the issue out of the headlines for now.
The most recent round of negotiations March 6 and 7 ended in deadlock after China proposed codeveloping two areas that had so far not been the focus of the debate -- one near the Senkaku Islands, which are effectively controlled by Japan and the focus of a separate territorial dispute.
The root of the problem lies in differing interpretations between the two sides over the boundaries of their exclusive economic zones. Japan claims the boundary is the median line between the two states, while China says its EEZ stretches to the edge of the continental shelf, near Okinawa.