Growing tension over the Senkaku islands

[American Patriot]

Japan, China move to dampen down island dispute

A Japan Coast Guard's patrol boat, third from the top, and a Taiwanese patrol boat, 4th from the top, discharge water each other near disputed islands called Senkaku in Japan and Diaoyu in China, in the East China Sea, Tuesday, Sept. 25, 2012. On Tuesday morning, about 50 Taiwanese fishing boats accompanied by 10 Taiwanese surveillance ships came within almost 20 kilometers (about 12 miles) of the disputed islands - within what Japan considers to be its territorial waters, said Yasuhiko Oku, an official with the Japanese coast guard. (AP Photo/Kyodo News)



By PETER ENAV, Associated Press – 3 hours ago



TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP) — Japan and China are taking small steps to dampen a bitter dispute over a group of small islands in the East China Sea following an intense but seemingly controlled confrontation over the islands' sovereignty that introduced wildcard Taiwan in the fray.


Foreign ministers from Tokyo and Beijing met late Tuesday on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly in New York to discuss the issue, two weeks after the Japanese government's purchase of some of the islands from private owners sparked bitter anti-Japanese protests in China and raised tensions between the two Asian giants to their highest level in years.
Vice foreign ministers from the two countries met the same day in Beijing.


Despite the promise of the meetings, it is still too early to conclude that the crisis has passed. China is almost certain to send its own vessels to challenge Japanese control of the islands, raising the possibility of armed conflict arising from mistake or miscalculation.


Tuesday's Japan-China meetings came just hours after Japanese and Taiwanese coast guard cutters exchanged water cannon blasts just off the islands, known as the Senkakus in Japan and the Diaoyu or Diaoyuitai in China and Taiwan. Taiwan also claims the islands, which sit astride rich fishing waters and potentially large reserves of natural gas.


Taiwan, which split from China amid civil war in 1949 but has been drawing ever closer to Beijing in the 4 ½ years since Ma Ying-jeou became president, has become a wild card in the Japan-China dispute, staking out what it claims is an independent stance to assert its sovereignty over the islands.


But reflecting its claim that Taiwan is part of its territory, China has gone out of its way to suggest that Taipei's interest in the islands is identical with its own. Following Tuesday's confrontation between the two coast guards, China's state-controlled media offered clear validation of the Taiwanese actions, presenting detailed coverage of the presence of some 50 Taiwanese fishing boats and 12 coast guard vessels in the disputed island area.


During the confrontation, the two sides used water cannon for the first time, an apparent escalation in their previously low-key tactics. But the almost ritualistic nature of the exchange — the sides separated after only a few minutes, and the Taiwanese flotilla returned to Taiwan — suggested that Tokyo and Taipei were operating within carefully prescribed parameters and they had no interest in letting things get out of hand.


Neither Tokyo nor Beijing has released a full account of the New York meeting, though the mere fact it occurred raises hopes of a peaceful solution to the crisis between an ascendant China, flush with tens of billions of dollars of foreign exchange reserves and a rapidly expanding military, and a Japan that seems eager to prove that despite long years of economic drift it still remains a power to be reckoned with.


China's official Xinhua News Agency reported that Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi told Japanese counterpart Koichiro Gemba that the Japanese government's island purchase constituted "a serious challenge to the post-war international order."


"China will not tolerate the Japanese side taking any unilateral action on the Diaoyu Islands," the Xinhua report said. "China will continue to take firm measures to safeguard its territorial integrity and sovereignty."


Earlier, senior Japanese Foreign Ministry official Naoko Saiki repeated Japan's claims to the islands, and said that while compromise with Beijing would likely be difficult, the two sides should keep talking.


"We don't want to have any wars or battles or use of force," she told reporters. "We have to stabilize the situation through dialogue in a peaceful manner, in accordance with international law."

[MinutemanCO]

Is it me or does the new Chinese UAV look exactly like an American Global Hawk? Why don't we just start selling warfighting equipment directly to the Chinese? No under the table espionage. Maybe it'll erase our debt to them and save all the clandestine thievery. Never mind the fact that we may have to do battle against them some time in the near future.

[American Patriot]

Naw if Obama has his way, we;

1) Won't own guns
2) will fall in line with the UN
3) will simply surrender to the first country that attacks us directly
4) Will be killed outright if we try to defend our country/home from invaders

What difference does it make any more?

[MinutemanCO]

We'll do all that and then say "I'm sorry" to the invaders.

Naw if Obama has his way, we;

1) Won't own guns
2) will fall in line with the UN
3) will simply surrender to the first country that attacks us directly
4) Will be killed outright if we try to defend our country/home from invaders

What difference does it make any more?

[vector7]

Tension runs high as Japan and China hold talks over disputed islands

NEW YORK - Talks between foreign ministers of Japan and China held here ended expectedly without any breakthrough as the tension between the two Asian neighbours escalated over a set of marine-rich disputed islands claimed by both.

The bitter territorial dispute showed no signs of easing as China's Yang Jiechi and Japanese Koichiro Gemba held high-level talks on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly in New York.

China's official Xinhua news agency said Yang reiterated China's "position" claiming full sovereignty of the disputed East China Sea islands"

The islands, called Senkaku in Japan and Diaoyu in China, are in the administrative control of Japan but are claimed by China and Taiwan as well.

Gemba described the atmosphere of the hour-long meeting as "severe" and warned China to exercise restraint over the islands, Japan's Kyodo news agency reported.

Yang in reply reiterated Beijing's "solemn position on the issue of Diaoyu Islands, which have been China's sacred territory since ancient times", Xinhua reported.

This was the first ministerial meeting between China and Japan since Tokyo announced its plan to purchase some of the islands from their private Japanese owner, triggering tension in the region.

Acquisition of the islands by Japan has triggered widespread anti-Japan protests in China with many Chinese refusing to buy Japan-made goods.
The bilateral ties between the neighbours have sunk to their lowest point in years.

Yang said the Japan government had bought the uninhabited islands "regardless of China's stern representations and strong opposition", according to Xinhua.

He said the move was "an outright denial" of the defeat of Japan in World War II "and a grave challenge to the post-war international order".

He warned that bilateral relations could not "return to the track of sound and steady development" unless Japanese officials "take concrete measures to correct its mistakes."

The Chinese news agency however indicated that both the nations, who are important trading partners in Asia, don't want the tension to escalate and promised to maintain "consultations on the issue" and on "bilateral relations."

Tension at the sea also remains high, with China regularly sending patrol and surveillance ships near the Japanese-controlled islands.

On Tuesday, Japanese coast guard ships exchanged water cannon fire with coast guard vessels and fishing boats from Taiwan, which also claims the islands.

The disputed archipelago consists of five islands and three reefs. The Japanese government signed a deal early this year to purchase three islands from Japanese businessman Kunioki Kurihara, who used to rent them out to the Japanese state

The islands were the focus of a major diplomatic row between Japan and China in 2010.

[vector7]

Toyota to suspend production in China next month

• Previous ArticleToyota affiliate to acquire large lithium interest in Argentina
• Next ArticleJapan auto makers to slow output in China amid darkened outlook

September 26, 2012 Tweet
THE ASAHI SHIMBUN



Toyota Motor Corp. plans to effectively halt its production in China in October because of the backlash there over Japan's decision to put three disputed islands in the East China Sea under state ownership.

Toyota will review the decision after the situation calms down, sources said, referring to, among other issues, demonstrations that have flared in dozens of cities over the Senkaku Islands issue.

The auto giant will provide Chinese workers with minimum levels of work to maintain employment, the sources added.

The company will also stop all vehicle exports from Japan to China, including its high-end Lexus models, the sources said.

Toyota told its main business partners that it has set production plans in China at zero for October. Some 78,000 vehicles rolled off its assembly lines in China in October 2011.

Toyota's vehicle production in China totaled about 800,000 units last year. It sold some 880,000 vehicles there, including those made in Japan.

The halt in production also takes into account the possibility of delayed parts supply from Japan, with customs checks in China being tightened.

Toyota also plans to adjust its inventory in October as growth in the Chinese market is slowing.

Production in China traditionally slows in October because of a long holiday period centered around China's National Day.

The territorial dispute is also affecting Toyota’s output in Japan.

The company said Sept. 25 it will cut production at a subsidiary, Toyota Motor Kyushu Inc., by around 20 percent. Lexus models for the Chinese market will be most affected.

Toyota said the cut will continue for the time being because its sales in China have fallen due to the violent anti-Japan protests there.

Toyota sold about 53,000 Lexus vehicles in China in 2011, most of which were produced by Toyota Motor Kyushu, according to research company Fourin Inc.

[vector7]

Noda vows no compromise as Japan, China dig in on islands row

• Previous ArticleINSIDE LOOK: Japan tried but failed to avert disaster in China dispute

September 27, 2012



NEW YORK/BEIJING--Japan will not compromise on the islands at the heart of a dispute with China as Tokyo already has sovereignty over them, Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda said on Sept. 26 after China's foreign minister angrily declared the islets were "sacred territory." "As for the Senkakus, they are an inherent part of our territory in light of history and also under international law," Noda said of the rocky islets China claims as the Diaoyu Islands in a bitter spat between Asia's two biggest economies.

"There are no territorial issues as such. Therefore, there cannot be any compromise that represents a retreat from this position," he told a news conference in New York after attending the U.N. General Assembly.

Earlier on Sept. 26, Chinese state media said China had claimed the uninhabited and remote islands in the East China Sea as its "sacred territory since ancient times" in talks between the two countries' foreign ministers in New York.

Sino-Japanese relations have deteriorated sharply since Japan bought the islands from their private owner, hurting bilateral trade ties and tourism while sparking protests across China.

In hour-long talks on the sidelines of the United Nations on Sept. 25 night, Japanese Foreign Minister Koichiro Genba urged China to exercise restraint over the dispute. Japanese diplomats described the meeting as "tense," as Genba endured a stern lecture from Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi.

Noda noted that Taiwan also claimed the islands -- believed to be located in waters rich in natural gas deposits -- which Japan has administered since 1895. He said Tokyo would handle the dispute carefully to protect relations with its neighbors.

"We will make sure that these cases will not affect adversely our bilateral relationship. We shall maintain reason and try to resolve the issues calmly and make sure there is good communication between us," he added.

Japan's Chief Cabinet Secretary Osamu Fujimura told a news conference in Tokyo the two sides had agreed to keep talking.

"There is no magic bullet in foreign diplomacy. We need to hold talks through various channels taking into account of broad perspective," he said.

Noda voiced frustration that he had "repeatedly explained to China our reason for purchasing the islands, but regrettably this has to this day not been accepted by China," and instead led to attacks on Japanese citizens and businesses in China.

"I must say clearly to China that there is no excuse for violence and strongly urge China to protect Japan's citizens and business," Noda said.

Japanese automakers Toyota Motor Corp., Nissan Motor Co. Ltd. and Suzuki are curtailing production in China as a result of the protests, which have forced the shuttering of dealerships and darkened their sales prospects in the world's top car market.

China's meetings with Japanese diplomats -- both at the United Nations and in Beijing -- suggest that Beijing does not want the row over the island chain to lead to a rupture in relations, in what has been dubbed the Year of Japan-China Friendship.

However, patrol vessels from Japan and China have been playing a tense game of cat-and-mouse in the waters near the disputed islands, raising concerns that an unintended collision or other incident could escalate into a broader clash.

And the unyielding tone of China's published remarks suggests the dispute is far from over.

"The Japanese move is a gross violation of China's territorial integrity and sovereignty, an outright denial of the outcomes of victory of the world anti-fascist war and a grave challenge to the post-war international order," China's official Xinhua news agency quoted Foreign Minister Yang as saying.

RETREAT DIFFICULT

Sino-Japanese ties have long been plagued by China's bitter memories of Japanese military aggression in the 1930s and 40s, as well as its present rivalry over regional resources and influence.

The current row coincides with domestic dynamics that make it hard for either side to retreat. While China undergoes a once-in-a-decade leadership change, Noda's ruling party faces a drubbing in an election expected within months.

The Japanese prime minister is under fire from the main opposition party, which picked former prime minister and security hawk Shinzo Abe as its new leader on Sept. 26.

Abe has been most vocal of the candidates in urging Tokyo take a tougher line in territorial disputes with both China and South Korea, but on Sept. 26 he struck a balanced tone.

"We must show our will to firmly protect our territorial waters and Senkakus amid China's movements," he told a news conference after being elected party chief.

But Abe added: "Even if our national interests clash, we should acknowledge that we need each other and control the situation while thinking things strategically. My stance on this has not changed."

Japan, which says the purchase of the islands was intended to fend off a more provocative bid by the nationalist governor of Tokyo, is trying to keep channels of communication open.

China has postponed a ceremony to mark the 40th anniversary of the resumption of diplomatic ties with Japan, but an official at the Japan-China Economic Association said Toyota Motor Chairman Fujio Cho and Hiromasa Yonekura, chairman of the Japanese business lobby Keidanren, and other representatives of friendship groups, would attend an event on Sept. 27 in Beijing.

[MinutemanCO]

It's getting ugly. Or uglier. I wonder if China and Japan will truly go to war over a couple of rocks in the East China Sea.?

[American Patriot]

AP/ September 28, 2012, 11:27 AM
US will not mediate in China-Japan island dispute

UNITED NATIONS — The U.S. is urging China and Japan make serious diplomatic efforts to peacefully manage their bitter dispute over contested islands.

The two Asian powers traded angry accusations in a late-night exchange at the U.N. General Assembly Thursday over the islands, called Senkaku by Japan and Diaoyu by China.

Top U.S. diplomat for East Asia, Kurt Campbell, told a news conference Friday the U.S. will not play a mediating role in the dispute.

He said both sides recognize the importance of their relationship, and the U.S. strongly believes dialogue would yield positive results.

But Campbell said that it would be wise to set aside the territorial dispute as it would be "extraordinarily difficult" to solve it.

Japan administers the islands, and like China, is adamant they are its territory.

[American Patriot]

China Banks Pull Out of Meetings in Japan

By PHRED DVORAK, ATSUKO FUKASE and DINNY MCMAHON
Chinese banks drop plans to attend this year's World Bank-IMF meeting in Tokyo as the territorial dispute between Japan and China escalates. The WSJ's Dinny McMahon tells us why China has extended the disagreement into a new arena.




TOKYO—Japan's territorial dispute with China appears to be spilling onto the stage of global finance meetings.


Several big Chinese banks say they've canceled participation in the high-profile annual meeting of the World Bank and International Monetary Fund to be held in Tokyo next week as well as in the constellation of events taking place alongside.

Some of the banks say they've also pulled out of another big financial-industry conference scheduled to take place in the western Japanese city of Osaka at the end of the month.


Most of the banks haven't given a reason for their last-minute no-shows. But the withdrawals come amid an escalating tit-for-tat between China and Japan, whose government recently purchased a set of islands in the East China Sea that are also claimed by China and Taiwan. China has shown its displeasure by canceling some diplomatic events and sending patrol boats into what Japan considers its territorial waters—with one group going through Tuesday. Some Japanese companies have reported falling demand for their goods in China and unusually strict inspections as well as processing delays at Chinese ports.


An official at one bank said the island dispute was likely the reason for the pullout from the meetings.
"Quite frankly, it's Japan-China relations," said an official at the Tokyo branch of the Agricultural Bank of China Ltd., 601288.SH +0.41% explaining why the bank was pulling out of both IMF-related events and the Osaka conference, which is sponsored by the Belgium-based Society for Worldwide International Financial Telecommunication, or Swift, a group set up by financial institutions to handle transactions. The bank is still sponsoring and participating in a meeting of the Institute of International Finance—a global association of financial institutions—that is taking place in Tokyo at the same time as the IMF meeting, another official said.


The moves by the Chinese banks are the latest sign that souring relations between Asia's two biggest economies are starting to affect the broader economic realm, and go beyond regional squabbling. The annual meeting of the IMF and World Bank is the largest single gathering of finance and economic officials, nongovernmental organizations and bankers. Organizers estimate some 20,000 delegates will be in Tokyo for a range of meetings and seminars, taking place Wednesday through Sunday.


China has long sought a more important role in such global forums, even as its dynamic economy has been playing an increasingly significant part in bolstering global growth. But some experts warn that letting bilateral spats spill into key economic and financial areas may be a sign China isn't quite ready to be at the international leaders' table.


"The point is really about China being a global player," said Fraser Howie, a Singapore-based co-author of "Red Capitalism," a book on China's financial system. "China may rightly demand a seat at the head table, but what signal does it send when they go off in a huff over these types of issues. Such boycotts are pointless."


China has argued for more say for emerging markets in the matters of both the IMF and the World Bank.


An official at the Tokyo branch of the Bank of Communications Corp. 601328.SH +0.71% —another big Chinese lender—said it had pulled out of IMF-related events, while a Tokyo-based official at the China Construction Bank Corp. 601939.SH +1.53% said attendees from China had canceled due to "scheduling problems" but that some Tokyo staffers were planning to go. An official at the Tokyo branch of the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China Ltd. 601398.SH +0.54% said it had pulled out of the Sibos conference, and that nobody was coming from headquarters in China for next week's events in Tokyo. An official from Bank of China Ltd.'s 3988.HK 0.00% Tokyo branch said bankers still hadn't decided whether to attend the IMF meetings.


Organizers for Sibos, scheduled for Oct. 29-Nov. 1, confirmed that the ICBC, Agricultural Bank of China and Bank of China had officially withdrawn from the exhibition and speaker participation, but overall registrations were still running ahead of target.


A few Chinese speakers appear to have dropped off the IMF and World Bank schedules as well. The latest schedule for a British Broadcasting Corporation-sponsored debate on rescuing the global economy, for instance, leaves out China Investment Corp. President Gao Xiqing, who was originally scheduled to be a panelist. A BBC spokesperson said that Gao Xiqing had "accepted an invitation to join the panel, but has subsequently made the decision not to travel to Japan for the meeting and so will be unable to take part in the debate. We are still in the process of looking for a suitable replacement for Mr. Gao.''


The CIC couldn't be reached for comment.


"We are aware of the changes in the schedule by some participants in the IMF-World Bank Annual Meetings, but have not been informed why their plans are changing," said IMF spokesman Jeremy Mark. "It is not unusual for the lineup of speakers to change in advance of the meetings."


A World Bank spokesman declined to comment on any matters related to shareholder participation.

[American Patriot]

Friday, Oct. 5, 2012

Unwelcome visitor: A Japan Coast Guard cutter (left) approaches a Chinese surveillance vessel in an attempt to shoo it away from Uotsuri, one of the five main islets in the Senkaku group in the East China Sea, on Monday. KYODO

CIA: Japan's Senkaku claim the strongest

Report in 1970s concluded China has no basis for territorial bid

Jiji
WASHINGTON — A report compiled by the CIA on the sovereignty of the Senkaku Islands around the time China started to formally claim them as its own concluded that Japan's sovereignty case was by far the stronger and more convincing.
"The Japanese claim to sovereignty over the Senkakus is strong, and the burden of proof of ownership would seem to fall on the Chinese," said the intelligence report, which was drafted in May 1971 and was included in declassified documents from the National Security Archive of George Washington University.
In related documents, the CIA stated that any dispute between Japan, China and Taiwan over the islands would not have arisen had it not been for the discovery of potential oil reserves on the nearby continental shelf in the late 1960s.
The islets in the East China Sea are known as Diaoyu in China and Tiaoyutai in Taiwan.
"The Senkaku Islands, uninhabited and unimportant, have emerged from obscurity to give their name to an undersea region that conceivably could cause international conflict: If oil in commercial quantities is not found, they could ultimately lapse again into obscurity," the report noted.
The documents illustrate the skepticism some U.S. officials felt about the validity of China's ownership claim over the isles, although this has never become Washington's official position on the matter.
The report noted that the Red Guard atlas, which was published in 1966 in Beijing during the Cultural Revolution, includes a map of Communist China's international administrative areas.
"This map definitely indicates that the ocean area in which the Senkakus are located is beyond China's border," it pointed out.
The atlas, along with another map, indicate that "the Senkaku Islands belong to the Ryukyus (now Okinawa Prefecture), and therefore to Japan," the report concluded.
In addition, "none of the Chinese Nationalist (Taiwanese) maps that were examined indicate that the Senkaku ocean area is within China's boundaries," it stated.
A random selection of maps published in Europe also fail to show the Senkakus are part of China's sovereign territory, while the 1967 edition of the Soviet Union's official world atlas included a chart specifically designating the Senkakus as Japanese territory, the report said.
An April 1978 memorandum the U.S. National Security Council prepared for Zbigniew Brzezinski, national security adviser to President Jimmy Carter, said, "Our interest is in doing nothing to undercut the Japanese, but at the same time remaining aloof from this potentially contentious Sino-Japanese territorial issue."
These documents demonstrate that while affirming that the Senkakus fall under Japan's jurisdiction, U.S. administrations dating back to the 1970s have consistently maintained a neutral stance on the issue.
Boycott spreads in China

Kyodo
BEIJING — A campaign to boycott Japanese products has spread rapidly among China's medical, construction and other sectors, according to business sources in Japan, in yet another sign that Beijing is keeping up the pressure over the Senkakus row.
Sales of Japanese cars already have slowed in China, the world's largest auto market, forcing Japan's automakers to slash their output in the country.
Meanwhile, Japanese pharmaceutical companies have reported a sharp increase in returned products from Chinese hospitals, while other medical facilities are refusing to renew procurement contracts with Japanese suppliers, the business sources said.
Hospitals in Beijing began sending back drugs to Japan after massive protests broke out in China last month to denounce the nationalization of the Senkaku Islands, which are controlled by Japan but claimed by both China and Taiwan.
The boycott of pharmaceutical products from Japan has now spread to the northeastern megalopolis of Tianjin and to the even larger city of Chengdu in the southwest, among other major urban areas in mainland China.
Major construction companies, meanwhile, have vowed not to use any Japanese elevators or construction materials, Chinese media have reported, while Beijing also shut out Japanese companies from a major international trade fair held recently in Chengdu.

[vector7]

Chinese paratroopers storm island during mass exercise

A recent joint exercise by the Chinese People's Liberation Army is caught on camera, as the world's largest military force mounts a show of strength in response to mounting tension with Japan over disputed islands.

[vector7]

Japan, U.S. troops consider drill to retake island

National Oct. 15, 2012 - 10:45AM JST ( 92 )

The drill would involve Japan and U.S. troops making an amphibious and airborne landing to retake the island. AFP

TOKYO —

Japan and the United States are mulling a joint military drill to simulate retaking a remote island from foreign forces, reports said Sunday, amid a festering row between Tokyo and Beijing over disputed islets.

The exercise, part of broader joint maneuvers to start in early November, would use an uninhabited island in Okinawa, southernmost Japan, Jiji Press and Kyodo News agencies quoted unidentified sources as saying.
The drill would involve Japanese and US troops making an amphibious and airborne landing to retake the island using boats and helicopters, Kyodo said.

Japan and China have long been at loggerheads over the sovereignty of rocky outcrops in the East China Sea known as the Senkaku Islands in Japan and the Diaoyu Islands in China.

The Tokyo-administered island chain is uninhabited, but is thought to be sitting on top of valuable resources.
The dispute flared in August and September with landings by nationalists from both sides and the subsequent nationalisation of the islands by Tokyo.

The exercise would reportedly use the uninhabited island of Irisunajima. The tiny island, used as a firing range for U.S. forces, is also in the East China Sea but hundreds of kilometres (miles) away from the disputed island chain.

Jiji said some Japanese and U.S. government officials were cautious about holding the drill, fearing a likely angry response from China.

[American Patriot]

Better get to practicing boys.....

[vector7]

Japan, US call off joint drill to 'retake' disputed islands fearing backlash from China

New Orleans Sun (ANI) Sunday 21st October, 2012



Japan and the United States have decided to cancel a joint security drill to recapture a remote island in Okinawa Prefecture, according to sources.

Tokyo and Washington were considering holding the drill on the uninhabited island of Irisuna as part of joint military exercise slated for November.

Sources said that the drill could lead to a backlash from Beijing, which has reacted harshly to Japan's nationalization of the Senkaku Islands, which are also claimed by China and Taiwan.

According to the Japan Times, a government source said that the decision to skip the Irisuna recapturing drill 'reflects the opinion of the prime minister's office'.

Another reason was opposition from residents on Okinawa Island, about 60 km away, where sentiment against US bases has flared up following allegations that a Japanese woman was raped by U.S. sailors on Tuesday, the report said.

More:
http://www.neworleanssun.com/index.p...ash-from-China

[American Patriot]

I mentioned that elsewhere yesterday... that the US cancelled the exercises with Japan. It wasn't Japan that cancelled it, it was the US. That article is wrong. It wasn't a mutual decision.

[vector7]

China's take...

Japan, US call off military exercise out of "bully mindset"

2012-10-23 04:19:22 GMT2012-10-23 12:19:22(Beijing Time) SINA English

By Yuan Yue, Sina English

There are reasons behind Japanese and US governments' decision to call off their planned joint military exercise, commentated Sing Pao, a Hong Kong-based newspaper, in October 21.

Primarily, it is out of their "bully mindset", as Japan and the United States have seen Chinese people's determination to protect their territory, and realized military confrontation would do neither of the countries good; also, anti-American sentiment is now running high in Japan, due to the misconduct of American marines; and most importantly, Japan has received worldwide opposition for its attempt to escalate the rift with China, and people with common sense would turn a cold shoulder to its "islands nationalization" farce.

The large-scale exercise conducted by the naval and air forces of People's Liberation Army in East China Sea is a also demonstration of China's unyielding resolve to safeguard the islands. For fear of infuriating China, and thus deteriorating the situation, Japan and United States have ultimately canceled the exercise scheduled from Nov. 5 to 16.

According to the plan, the exercise would be carried out on an uninhabited island in Japan's Okinawa Prefecture, with Japan's Self-Defense Force for Ground, Maritime, and Air all showing up. The aim of the exercise is to occupy the Diaoyu Islands permanently. It was called off, as reported by the Japanese media, principally because the U.S. worries the exercise would add oil to the flames of Sino-Japanese tension.

In fact, the real reasons behind that are as follows: First, Japan and the United States have witnessed the China's determination to protect its territory, and its rising military strength; and they thus realized military confrontation would do them neither good.

Then, the anti-American sentiment has been intensified as Japanese people noticed the repeated exercise of American fighter in Okinawa, and were angered by the recent case where U.S. soldiers raped a Japanese woman.

In this circumstance, Japan has to reconsider the exercise, and to hold down the anti-American sentiment at home.

But most importantly, Japan's move to intensify the Diaoyu Islands issue, and its "nationalization" farce, has received jibes and taunts from across the globe.

A few days ago, the Japanese Foreign Minister Koichiro Genba paid a four-day visit to France, Britain, and Germany, to rally support for Japan's "sovereignty claims" over the Diaoyu Islands. However, all the three countries keep distance and reticent from the dispute, an embarrassing situation the Foreign Minister had never expected. On the surface, Japan's cancellation is a compromise, but its desire to take the Diaoyu Islands has never dented.

A Bonn University professor has made a very good point in this respect, "Japan's attempt to lobby Germany is an underestimation of Germans' philosophical reflection and their awe of history." as he said during Genba's European tour. He also said that compared with Germany, Japan has never thoroughly reflected on itself after WWII, "because Japanese culture lacks the spirit of rational self-reflection". It had never occurred to the Japanese, therefore, that they would face up to their past.

Insightful remarks, indeed. Japan has never regretted over the crimes it committed during the war in its past militarist days, because it has been emboldened by the U.S. promise.

"The Japanese visits to the Yasukuni Shrine (which honors Japan's war dead, including some convicted war criminals) have intensified its conflict with China," says Austria's Die Presse newspaper, "and in so doing, the country has actually enraged not only China but the entire Asia as well."

If Japan can make some soul -searching efforts to seek forgiveness from China, and from the world, it has to first of all forgo its “bully mindset”. It has to learn to stand in awe of history, repent on its crimes, and give the Diaoyu Islands back to China.

http://english.sina.com/world/2012/1022/519048.html

[vector7]

Beijing hints at bond attack on Japan

A senior advisor to the Chinese government has called for an attack on the Japanese bond market to precipitate a funding crisis and bring the country to its knees, unless Tokyo reverses its decision to nationalise the disputed Senkaku/Diaoyu islands in the East China Sea.


Jin Baisong called on China to invoke the 'security exception' rule under the World Trade Organisation to punish Japan Photo: Reuters

By Ambrose Evans-Pritchard
8:31PM BST 18 Sep 2012
Comments

Jin Baisong from the Chinese Academy of International Trade – a branch of the commerce ministry – said China should use its power as Japan’s biggest creditor with $230bn (£141bn) of bonds to “impose sanctions on Japan in the most effective manner” and bring Tokyo’s festering fiscal crisis to a head.

Writing in the Communist Party newspaper China Daily, Mr Jin called on China to invoke the “security exception” rule under the World Trade Organisation to punish Japan, rejecting arguments that a trade war between the two Pacific giants would be mutually destructive.

Separately, the Hong Kong Economic Journal reported that China is drawing up plans to cut off Japan’s supplies of rare earth metals needed for hi-tech industry.

The warnings came as anti-Japanese protests spread to 85 cities across China, forcing Japanese companies to shutter factories and suspend operations.

Fitch Ratings threatened to downgrade a clutch of Japanese exporters if the clash drags on. It warned that Nissan is heavily at risk with 26pc of its global car sales in China, followed by Honda with 20pc. Sharp and Panasonic both have major exposure. Japan’s exports to China were $74bn in the first half of this year. Bilateral trade reached $345bn last year.

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  09 Sep 2012

Mr Jin said China can afford to sacrifice its “low-value-added” exports to Japan at a small cost. By contrast, Japan relies on Chinese demand to keep its economy afloat and stave off “irreversible” decline.

“It’s clear that China can deal a heavy blow to the Japanese economy without hurting itself too much,” he said. It is unclear whether he was speaking with the full backing of the Politburo or whether sales of Japanese debt would do much damage. The Bank of Japan could counter the move with bond purchases. Any weakening of the yen would be welcome.

A recent study by the US Defence Department concluded that a Chinese firesale of US debt was not a serious threat.

The US defence secretary, Leon Panetta, was in Beijing on Tuesday to try to stem the political crisis, calling for restraint on both sides.

He warned earlier that “provocations” over the islands could spiral out of control and lead to conflict.

Mr Panetta said the US is neutral but this is a hard balancing act, given the US nuclear umbrella for Japan and its use of military bases on Japanese soil as an “unsinkable aircraft carrier”. The ambiguity of the US role was glaring after a deal with Tokyo on Monday to build a new anti-missile radar shield – ostensibly against North Korea.

Diplomats say China is calibrating the crisis to probe the strength of US ties with Japan, knowing that alliance fatigue in Washington and the clumsy handling of the dispute by Tokyo has created a rare opportunity.

The Obama administration must navigate a delicate course. A tough line against China risks putting the world’s two superpowers on a collision course: a soft line risks setting off alarm bells in Japan and pushing the country towards rearmament.

Christian Le Miere from the International Institute for Strategic Studies said the crisis had become dangerous, citing Mao Zedong’s aphorism from 1930 that “a single spark can start a prairie fire”.

He said the region is “rife with historical enmity and chauvinism”, encouraged by Tokyo’s “seeming lack of contrition for wartime atrocities” and China’s own well-nurtured narrative of humiliation by foreigners.

China’s post-Maoist regime derives its legitimacy from nationalism, especially now that the boom is fading and China is losing some of its competitive edge.

The anti-Japanese fervour was systematically stoked by the “Patriotic Education Campaign” of Jiang Zemin in the 1990s to divert attention from party corruption and the growing gap between rich and poor.

But it is a double-edged sword for China’s leaders. “Given its potency, it is difficult to control.

Nationalism can turn against the government, if it is perceived as doing too little,” he said.

Navigation Control Technology, which makes missile systems, have jumped 30pc in recent days.

China is becoming self-sufficient in defence. It was the world’s biggest net importer of weapons six years ago. It fell to fourth place last year.

Japan is at the other extreme. An official report this year – “A Strategy for Survival” – said Japan’s spending on its “Self-Defence Force” had shrunk by 4pc in 10 years. It called for “urgent” action to rebuild the country’s military.

If there is any silver lining in an Asian arms race, it may at least soak up the region’s excess savings and pull the world out of semi-slump. But be careful what you wish for.


China to pointedly publish 80-volume set on Tokyo war crimes tribunal



BEIJING — China is compiling a series of 80 books documenting the post-World War II “Tokyo trials” of Japanese war criminals, state media said Friday, at a time of souring ties between the historic rivals.

“Many right-wing Japanese politicians and historians doubted the justice of the trials and distorted the reality… so we have to accelerate our research to counter their version of events,” said Zheng Zhaoqi, head of the centre producing the series, as quoted in the China Daily newspaper.

News of the project comes a week after two Japanese ministers visited a controversial Tokyo shrine that honors 14 war criminals, provoking an angry response from China, as prior visits by Japanese politicians have also done.

Sino-Japanese relations had already been strained over a decades-old dispute about an island chain that flared up again in August, and Beijing has long resented what it sees as Japan’s failure to fully atone for its aggression in the early 20th century.

“It’s only the beginning,” Zheng said, adding that the full volume of books, containing 50,000 pages, would be published by the end of 2013. “We plan to expand relevant research based on this original file.”

The 1946-48 Tokyo trials, formally known as the International Military Tribunal for the Far East, were akin to the Nuremberg trials of the Nazis, set up after World War II by the victorious Allied forces to convict war criminals.

All 28 Japanese defendants were convicted by 11 judges from Allied nations, with sentences ranging from seven years in jail to execution. Scholars have since debated if the process was one of unfair “victor’s justice”.

The Chinese have protested against atrocities committed when Japan invaded and occupied parts of China, from forced labour and sex-slave “comfort women” to mass killings including the infamous 1937-38 massacre known as the Rape of Nanjing.

The collection of documents will be the first project undertaken by the centre, which was set up specifically to study the tribunal by the National Library of China and Shanghai Jiao Tong University.

Bilateral ties between Japan and China have deteriorated since Tokyo last month nationalised disputed East China Sea islands which Beijing also claims.

The move sparked massive protests across China and forced Japanese firms in the country to suspend operations as both governments traded insults and refused to back down.

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Japan sends out fighter jets after China air breach


By Kyoko Hasegawa (AFP) – 8 hours ago



TOKYO — Japan scrambled eight fighter jets on Thursday after a Chinese state-owned plane breached its airspace for the first time, over islands at the centre of a dispute between the countries.

It was the first incursion by a Chinese state aircraft into Japanese airspace anywhere since Tokyo's military began monitoring in 1958, the defence ministry said.

The move marks a ramping-up of what observers suggest is a Chinese campaign to create a "new normal" -- where its forces come and go as they please around islands Beijing calls the Diaoyus, but Tokyo controls as the Senkakus.

It also comes as ceremonies mark the sensitive 75th anniversary of the start of the Nanjing Massacre, when Japanese Imperial Army troops embarked on an orgy of violence and killing in the then-Chinese capital.

F-15 jets were mobilised after a Chinese Maritime Surveillance twin turbo-prop aircraft ventured over the islands just after 11 am (0200 GMT), Chief Cabinet Secretary Osamu Fujimura told reporters.

"It was a fixed-wing Y-12 aeroplane belonging to the Chinese State Oceanic Administration. We confirmed that this aeroplane flew in our country's airspace," he said.

"It is extremely regrettable. We will continue to resolutely deal with any act violating our country's sovereignty, in accordance with domestic laws and regulations," he said, adding a senior Chinese diplomat had been summoned.

Japan mobilised eight F-15 jets and an E2C early-warning aircraft, the Asahi Shimbun reported, citing a defence ministry source. But the incident appeared to have passed off without any direct confrontation.

In Beijing, China's foreign ministry said the flight had been routine.

"China's maritime surveillance plane flying over the Diaoyu islands is completely normal," said spokesman Hong Lei.

"China requires the Japanese side to stop illegal activities in the waters and airspace of the Diaoyu islands," Hong said, adding they were "China's inherent territory since ancient times".

The incident came as Japan's coastguard chief told reporters he was digging in for a protracted dispute.

"As China has publicly said it will make this a permanent situation, we are preparing to be better equipped for this long, drawn-out contest," Takashi Kitamura, the commandant of Japan Coast Guard, told a news conference.

"Because we have various other responsibilities other than patrolling for border security, we are asking government to consider building up our capacity," he said.

Chinese government ships have moved in and out of waters around the islands for more than two months -- four vessels were there for several hours on Thursday.

Such confrontations have become commonplace since Japan nationalised the East China Sea islands in September, a move it insisted amounted to nothing more than a change of ownership of what was already Japanese territory.

But Beijing reacted with fury, with observers saying the riots that erupted across China had at least tacit backing from the Communist Party government.

Mitsuyuki Kagami, an expert in Chinese politics at Aichi University said there would be no let-up from Beijing.

"China will keep sending official ships and probably aeroplanes to undermine the status quo of Japan's control over the islands," he told AFP.

He said it would be more alarming if it began to send military vessels or aircraft, but he believed Beijing had no interest in a war with Tokyo.

"China hopes to draw Japan to the negotiating table," he said, adding that the likely victory of the hawkish Shinzo Abe in Japan's general election on Sunday might make any Japanese compromise more difficult.

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Chinese Military On "High Alert" After It Scrambles Fighter Jets To "Counter" Japanese Jets

Submitted by Tyler Durden on 01/11/2013 10:58 -0500


The one thing that most seem to forget in the epic 30 year old story (which has a very sad ending) that is the Japanese floundering economy, is that while the new Abe government may and will likely try everything to crush the Yen (which is already nearing the 90 USDJPY target, however briefly, before it resumes its grind lower once it dawns on investors what it will mean for the Japanese Treasury when bond yields soar), the main reason it has posted three massive monthly trade deficits in a row has nothing to do with its currency, and everything to do with what is now a permanent boycott of Japanese exports by China.

The paradox is that Abe, a well-known nationalist, may well crush the Yen but he will only aggravate Chinese tensions (thus hurting Japanese exports, GDP, and the current account even more) which recently approached boiling point on several occasions over the past few months, most notably in the spat over who owns the Senkaku/Diaoyu islands, and soon over other symbols of nationalist pride. And with the escalations coming faster and more frequent with each passing day, there is little room for optimism that despite all Japan is doing that its economy stands any hope of recovery in 2013 (or later).

In fact, the latest escalation in the seemingly neverending saga over a strategically located rock in the East China Sea, came hours ago, when Xinhua reported that Beijing has scrambled two J-10 jets to counter "Japanese military aircraft disrupting the routine patrols of Chinese administrative aircraft."


From Xinhua:

At a press conference, an official with the ministry confirmed that China sent two J-10 fighters to the East China Sea after a Y-8 aircraft was closely followed by two Japanese F-15 fighters as it patrolled the southwest airspace of the East China Sea oil platform on Thursday.

The two J-10 fighters were sent to monitor the Japanese fighter jets tailing the Y-8 as well as another Japanese reconnaissance plane spotted in the same airspace, the official said.

Furthermore, the official said Japanese military aircraft have been increasingly active in closely scouting Chinese aircraft. The activity zone of Japanese military aircraft has also expanded recently, which is the root cause of security disputes concerning territorial waters and airspace between the two countries.

The Chinese military will be on high alert and China will resolutely protect the security of its air defense force and uphold its legitimate rights, the official said.

Suddenly very real concerns over a flare up in military escalations aside, it doesn't look like anyone is ready to back down in what is becoming an ever more heated and rancorous expression of nationalist pride, and it certainly does not appear likely that China will lift its "blockade" on Japanese imports any time soon.
As to how China continues to see what is going on in Japan, we go to another Op-Ed from China Daily printed earlier today, titled "Unwise foreign policy turns Japan into own enemy" and this time even the Chinese propaganda is 100% accurate:

The Japanese economy, under the burden of years of deflation and an aging population, has been the "Patient of Asia" for the last two decades.

The Japanese people can cite many reasons for their economic malaise, from bad government policies that led to the forming and bursting of a giant economic bubble in late 1980s and early 1990s to cumbersome mega companies that have been losing money and shedding jobs due to increasing global competition.

More recently, the Japanese economy has suffered another blow due to a bitter row with China, a crucial trade and investment partner, ignited by Tokyo's repeated provocations over the Diaoyu Islands, an integral part of Chinese territory.


Yet new Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe turned the facts upside down when he claimed Friday that China has deliberately targeted Japanese companies as part of a strategy to confront Japan over the territorial dispute.

It is true that economic ties between China and Japan have chilled considerably since former Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda's cabinet decided to "buy" part of the Diaoyu Islands in September despite strong Chinese opposition.


The outcome is nothing but natural, as good economic relations are always based on sound political ties. It is naive to believe that Japan can maintain strong trade and investment ties with China while repeatedly provoking China on critical issues.

In addition, the pinch felt by Japanese companies results largely from an across-the-board boycott of Japanese goods spontaneously staged by Chinese consumers who felt betrayed by the bellicose Japanese government. The Chinese government has nothing to do with this.


Japanese politicians, including Abe, have only themselves to blame, because their brinkmanship is the root cause of the deterioration of China-Japan economic ties.

They have also been stoking fears about the so-called "China threat" in the broader Asia-Pacific region and trying to build a coalition of countries against China.


For many in China, Abe's latest remarks are just part of an attempt by the Japanese government to depict China as the villain and gain an upper hand in the territorial dispute.

But Tokyo is doomed to lose the gamble, as more and more countries have come to realize that China acts responsibly in the international arena and its development is a real blessing for the whole world.


Meanwhile, Japan has raised concerns in capitals worldwide that its increasingly hawkish policy toward China will further escalate the situation and pose a serious risk to regional peace and stability.


For Japan, its fragile economy is in urgent need of the opportunities a sound China-Japan relationship brings, but Japan's unwise foreign policy has made these opportunities harder to come by.


Thus it is of pressing importance that Abe immediately arrest his country's self-destructive tendency and put its foreign relations and economic recovery back on track so as not to waste his second chance at the top.

Bottom line: don't bet so fast on anything remotely resembling inflation or GDP growth in Japan yet. In fact, it may be time to take advantatge of the recent euphoria and to double down on red.

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2013-0...-japanese-jets