It's a really strange territorial dispute that I'm still trying to make sense of. If you have any opinions on the matter I'd be curious to hear them.
Sunday, February 3, 2013
Don't Make Me Come Over There, China
It's a really strange territorial dispute that I'm still trying to make sense of. If you have any opinions on the matter I'd be curious to hear them.
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I know this is just irony comedy, but the options after WWII for what to do with Japan were few. The United States could have simply continued with it's Occupation if that is what is preferred, or leave after some time, giving them back their sovereignty. The Defense-Minded change to the Japanese Military was vry much a necessity at the time. Now, I do feel it is outdated, but we all know why it was written up that way right after WWII.
ReplyDeleteIn regards to the Islands, China is being extremely Agressive, and think they own all of Asia. So no surprise that they try and claim them. On the Flip side, Japan (who I believe to be in the right), should tread carefully, because China would be very aggressive in doing whatever is necessary to not look weak, like they swore never to become (from their "Sick Man of Asia" days)
Soooo I'm living in Japan at the moment and I just wanted to comment on what I've heard on this side of the pond. Apologies in advance for the length.
ReplyDeleteThe general consensus of my circle of Japanese friends here is that a) the Senkaku islands really belong to Japan, as backed by old Chinese documents that include the islands as part of the Japanese territory (news article here), but b) growing unrest/instability in China is prompting/prompted the new/old Chinese politburo to take more aggressive action in order to distract the general public from issues at home, which they can do right now because c) they hold quite of bit of economic power. Japan, on the other hand, d) looks a bit weak because of its dependence on America for military power and e) it's got its own economic problems to deal with, while also going through a regime change of sorts (North Korea, China, Japan, and the USA all had major shifts in power towards the end of last year). However, Japan's not entirely blameless, either, as f) former Tokyo mayor Shintaro Ishihara, an outspoken nationalist, not only sparked the whole debate by declaring plans to buy and develop the islands on behalf of Tokyo (close to the anniversary of the 1931 Mukden incident, and also forcing then-prime-minister Noda to buy the islands from their private owners so Ishihara wouldn't get his hands on them), but also used an archaic (and patronizingly derogatory) term to refer to the Chinese people in a public statement. He is rather well-known for pulling stunts like this. Most of my friends think he's a bit wacko.
I think there's been so little coverage in the US because the US doesn't want to publicly pick sides right now. If this DOES escalate into a full-blown conflict, which I rather doubt, the US doesn't really have a good leg to stand on regardless of who it sides with. Since the US wrote the Japanese constitution following the end of WWII, it's bound to defend Japan until/unless Japan decides to rewrite/is allowed to rewrite their constitution and build their own proper military force. Since China and the US are mutually important economic partners, I don't see an all-out war to be a likely outcome.
In short, I'm thinking we'll be stuck at an impasse until it's temporarily forgotten about again or we have more important things (or less important, but more dramatic!) to blame each other for. A couple lines in
this Guardian article, published soon after the incendiary purchases and the protests in Beijing that followed, basically summed it up for me:
"I think the [Chinese] government is encouraging this," one protester, who gave his name as Uda Chen, told Reuters. "They could have stopped all of us approaching when we were at the subway station. The government has taught us to be anti-Japanese at school, so if they want us to stop it would be like slapping their own mouths," he added.
...and while historically Japan certainly isn't blameless (and could do with some fessing up about their military past), I doubt China's going to be admitting an error on their side any time soon, either.
(The below comment was e-mailed to me from an anonymous reader. -TAK)
ReplyDeleteI’m reaching out to you for several reasons:
1. I’m also Japanese American raised mostly in NYC and perhaps we crossed paths. I thought I saw a photo of you on a bike on the West side highway from the 70’s at one point. Reminded me of my childhood too and perhaps we may have briefly met??? I went to Japanese Weekend school until I graduated High School level in NYC (1984).
2. Responding to your “It's a really strange territorial dispute that I'm still trying to make sense of. If you have any opinions on the matter I'd be curious to hear them.”. Not sure if you’re just egging people on to respond…
In terms of point (2), having lived in the US for the most part of my life, never studied or examined the details of the Sino-Japanese history until now. Come to find out, I realize that what you’re seeing in the news today is about several things, too complex to write in an email. But some thoughts I’d share with you. Mind you I’m not feigning to be a historian in anyway or stating that my research is accurate or that it’s the truth. I’m still learning the other history. Just that as a Japanese American, good to know this history in the face of the changing tides of the times.
· Imperial ideas of expansion masking territorial disputes as a land grab for the last remaining sources of relatively easy access to petrol.
· The 7km2 (tiny) disputed island are strategic observation point, that allows the West to detect activity of Chinese sub-surface nuclear ballistic submarines.
· Sadly I see Koreans as victims of the Imperialist games played out by Japan China. North / South Korea once again being bullied or used as a leverage to confront Western and Chinese militarily threats.
· Korea is the highway into China by the Western powers and Korea is also the gateway into Japan and the south sea is where the big prize sits. Approximately 213 billion barrels of oil much needed for the further economic expansion of Chinese infrastructure, electrical demands and factory production. “Everybody wants some!!”
· If Kim Jong-un is encouraged by Chinese Govt. to provoke the Western Allies Japan/South Korea, this could result in War and allow China to take over Korea in the turmoil. Which would place China one step closer to threatening US forces in Japan.
· On the other hand if the Western powers (Japan, S. Korea, backing US military) control North Korea and allow the reunification of Korea this is a big threat to China. This scenario would lead to the largest military buildup in Asia (land, sea, air).
(Part 2 of anonymous email)
ReplyDelete· China’s number one threat is NOT Japan. Japan is not an economic, political, or military threat especially after Fukushima, closing nuclear plants, no natural resources ( all imported), declining population growth, and the already bad economic stagnation conditions. Will never be a major player in the world stage of politics going forward.
· Primary threats are India, Russia, Korea, Western powers (no specific order that I can determine yet). Did you notice the country India? This country is almost as big as China and has the 4th largest army. Same demands for natural resources to reach its Super Power status. Did you hear about the India based petroleum company performing sea exploration on behalf of Vietnam? Guess why?
· Old wounds between different Asian countries are being opened up to prevent a unified Asian voice so that one power can make individual contracts which each country for access to the remaining oil. Japan’s history trying to “unify” Asia and that fact that there have been other Asian to Asian hostilities doesn’t make it as easy to unify as it did with the EU.
· In terms of China Japan relations prior to world war one…At one point it looked like China being the huge country it is, would be the Ambassador of the East in terms of allowing Western Imperialism access to all of Asia. As it turned out Japan a small country took over that role as Imperialist gatekeeper for the West for various reasons good or bad, wrong or right. If it weren’t Japan, it would have been some other Asian nation--China. In that effort Japan did cruelly abuse violence against many Asian ethnicities. And I agree that Japan needs to face these facts and clear the air on this unfortunate history you and I live with.
· That said, Japan’s power was also nurtured by Western support even after WWII.
· Fast forward to 2013 and the rise of China as a Super Power (economically and politically), China is testing its hand at pushing the limits of political relations against Capitalism to see what leverage it has to return as the “Middle Kingdom”.
· Did you notice last year US interest in supporting ASEAN? Now with the escalated tensions, US is not declaring its position so it doesn’t harm its relations so it can continue its economic relations with China. But finally, if Japan needs diplomatic or military assistance, America is obligated by the WWII post war treaties to back Japan. Which in effect are still Western policy. Keep “Communism” at bay and take it over if you can.
· That said, China is challenging US in all ways as a super power and the military threat is even greater than it was during the Cold War with Russia. China doesn’t declare how much military it is amassing, so it makes the US nervous.
I agree with a lot of your statements, Tak.
ReplyDeleteIn a similar idea, I wonder: what would the U.S. Government do, if PRC/China decided to take over South Korea, with China's Naval ships and China's Army, tomorrow?
Would the USA do very much?
There has been a big reluctance by [many] in the U.S. congress, to put soldiers onto foreign land, aka "boots on the ground" in a foreign war, since the Yugoslavian/Balkan Wars in the 1990s.
This is a [nightmare kind of what-if], I know, but:
what would the U.S. Government do, if PRC/China's military tried to sail down and take over South Korea, tomorrow? Hm.
I say we provide full scale assistance to all Anti-Communist Chinese, and if and when they win, in exchange for us helping them, have them forgive our debt........Genius, I know.
ReplyDelete