welcome to "newsline." i'm keiko kitagawa in tokyo with the latest at this hour. u.s. secretary of state hillary clinton says she'll encourage american businesses to invest in myanmar. she says she wants u.s. investment to help the people of myanmar grow their economy and reform their political system. >> the united states is putting in place protections to ensure that the increased investment we would like to see advances the reform process. >> clinton met with myanmar's president, thein sein. she asked him to improve the business environment for u.s. investment. u.s. government leaders eased their sanctions on myanmar on wednesday as a reward for pro-democracy reforms.

they gave u.s. companies permission to invest in myanmar with certain conditions. u.s. firms can't deal with companies owned by the military, with people who abuse human rights or with companies that do military trade with north korea. a chain of rocks in the east china sea is casting a shadow over diplomatic relations between tokyo and beijing. the object of the dispute, the senkaku islands known in china as the daoyu. the japanese government says they're part of okinawa prefecture but officials from china and taiwan have been challenging that claim since the early 1970s when surveys indicated the presence of oil resources in the area. decades later, the dispute remains very much alive. public opinion in china is once again focused on the territorial

dispute with japan over the senkaku islands. the issue was revived in april when the outspoken governor of tokyo, shintaro ishihara, proposed to purchase the islands from their private owners. prime minister yoshihiko noda said last week that the central government is considering similar plans. >> translator: the point is for japan to administer the islands in a peaceful and stable manner. we're communicating with the private owners and working on a comprehensive plan. >> the proposal drew furious comments on chinese online forums. >> translator: the chinese military should occupy the islands. >> translator: japan needs to pay for its attitude. >> monday's press briefing at the foreign ministry suggested chinese officials were ready for stronger action. >> translator: buying or selling china's sacred land is unacceptable.

the government will do what it takes to protect her sovereignty over the islands. >> two days later, three chinese patrol boats entered waters near the islands and were challenged by japan coast guard vessels. the confrontation lasted several hours. >> translator: this was a significant case of trespassing into our territorial waters. we'll have to keep watching china closely. >> the incident occurred just 12 hours before both countries' top diplomats held talks on the sidelines of an asean meeting in phnom penh. japan's foreign minister koichiro gemba protested the intrusion. his counterpart, yang jiechi, repeated that the islands belong to china. janese coast guard officials say crew members from a chinese patrol ship have done something they've never seen before. they say people from the chinese ship boarded a chinese fishing boat just outside japanese

territorial waters near the senkaku islands. the japanese officials say three chinese patrol ships were in the area. they say crew members on one of the ships lowered a rubber dinghy into the water, then went and boarded the chinese fishing boat. the japanese officials say they challenged the chinese ship. they say crew members claim they were performing official duties. all the chinese vessels left the area on friday. some of the senkaku islands are owned by a japanese family. tokyo governor shintaro ishihara wants to buy them for the nation but national government leaders seem reluctant to let city officials land to conduct a survey. ishihara says he can't understand why. >> translator: japanese nationals need to stay on the islands. self-defense force personnel should be deployed there. japan needs to permanently station japanese people in its territory. >> government leaders have also

announced plans to buy the islands. they say they are studying ways to use the land. in other news, japan is planning to start the first trial production of shale oil this autumn. the oil is contained in a sedimentary rock called shale found in bedrocks deep underground. its excavation had been considered difficult for a long time. but the development of new technologies has made shale oil drilling easier, and surging fuel prices have made this new source of energy more attractive. the united states has been trying to tap shale oil for some time, and now japan petroleum exploration company or japex plans to go ahead with the first test production in the country. the test is scheduled 1,800 meters underground at the ayukawa oil-gas field in southern akita prefecture. japex also plans tests at two other oil-gas fields also in akita prefecture.

it's hoping to drill a total of about 5 million barrels of shale oil. company officials say they could potentially find up to 100 million barrels of shale oil in the prefecture. that's about 6% of oil consumed in japan in 2010. >> translator: i think we can maintain a stable supply of energy by developing a variety of new resources. >> advancing exploration and mining technologies have made it possible to develop new oil and gas resources like methane hydrate in the oceans around japan as well. such resources usually require considerable amounts of time and high costs before commercial production can begin. but expectations for the development of new natural resources are growing in japan amid escalating global competition. officials at japan's industry ministry have come up with a way to overhaul the way electricity is generated and supplied.

they say they want to completely liberalize the power market so people can choose their suppliers. the officials want to unbundle the generation and transmission operations of power companies and want lawmakers to revise legislation quickly to make that possible. the changes would end the regional monopolies of utilities that have been generating, transmitting and selling electricity for decades. all suppliers would get equal access to power lines. people in japan endured a serious shortage of electricity after the nuclear accident in fukushima. that shortage prompted government officials to start discussing ways to overhaul the supply system in february. people in myanmar have heard that national symphony orchestra for the first time in years. the musicians couldn't perform while the military was in charge. now the new government has brought them back to the stage.

♪ the orchestra gave a concert of classical and local traditional music in the city of yangon. they first got together in 2001 but weren't allowed to hold a single concert under military rule. japanese conductor yoshikazu coached the musicians for their comeback. >> translator: i think they're still far from an international level but i believe they'll be a great orchestra in two to three years because they're enthusiastic and they have a pure love for the music. >> the orchestra will play again this weekend in the capital i a napidyaw. now here's the three-day

world weather forecast. that concludes this edition of "newsline." i'm keiko kitagawa in tokyo. on behalf of our team, thank you for staying with us on nhk world.