Saturday, October 27, 2012

China Will Take Forceful Measures Over "Diaoyu" (Senkaku) Islands, Says China's Vice Foreign Minister


While hardly anyone mentions Senkaku Islands in Japanese Twitter any more, Chinese do not easily forget. With the leadership election coming fast, they need to wag the dog as well, I suppose.

Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Zhang Zhijun didn't fail to mention "history", of course, and said China had to uphold their principles and bottom line.

(Bottom line? There must be some translation error here...)

From China Daily US Edition, citing Xinhua (10/27/2012):

China says no concession on territorial sovereignty

BEIJING - China on Friday said it will take forceful measures in response to any moves that challenge the country's bottom line on sovereignty.

"We want to live in friendship with all countries including Japan, but we have to uphold our principles and bottom line," Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Zhang Zhijun told reporters Friday night.

Zhang said China pursues a policy of friendship and partnership with its neighboring countries and stays committed to the path of peaceful development.

"However, should anyone want to challenge China's bottom line on the issue of sovereignty, China will have no alternative but to respond forcefully so as to remove disturbance and obstacles and move steadily on the path of peaceful development," he said.

Zhang said Japanese government's "purchase" of the Diaoyu Islands, which was announced on September 10, constituted a grave violation of China's territorial sovereignty.

He said the move has caused "the most severe repercussions" on China-Japan relations since the two countries normalized diplomatic relations in 1972.

The Diaoyu Islands are part of China's territory in accordance with historical fact and law, Zhang said.

Japan has no right to buy or sell Chinese territory in any way and no transaction is allowed over even one inch of the Diaoyu Islands or anything on it, he said.

Zhang said the "purchase" farce had been orchestrated by Japan's right-wing forces. The Japanese government, instead of doing anything to stop the right-wing forces from violating China's sovereignty and sabotaging China-Japan relations, has stepped in and "purchased" the islands itself.

"What the right-wing forces had wanted to do and achieve was finally accomplished by the Japanese government," he said.

The dangerous political tendency of the Japanese right-wing forces had once plunged Asia into a major disaster. Such forces, if not stopped but used, if encouraged and indulged out of domestic political needs, will become further emboldened and lead Japan further down a dangerous path, Zhang said.

Some Japanese political figures have swaggered into the Yasukuni Shrine which honored WWII war criminals and paid tribute there without feeling guilty or ashamed, dismissing the feelings of the people in other Asian countries, which were victims of Japan's past aggression, he said.

If Japan cannot face up to history, cannot examine its conscience and sincerely correct its mistakes, no matter how developed its economy is, it will never stand up morally or psychologically, he said.

(Full article at the link)


Swaggered into the Yasukuni Shrine which honored WWII war criminals? There are also soldiers who were drafted and died in the horrible battles, to whom the politicians in the entire National Diet should be apologizing forever.

So the vice foreign minister says his country will respond with force to remove "disturbance and obstacles" (Japan and the Japanese) to achieve peace with neighbors. That makes sense. Akin to some country invading sovereign countries in order to spread peace and democracy.

Speaking of "right-wing forces", the boy-wonder mayor of Osaka and ex-Tokyo Governor Ishihara will join forces. Just as expected. As his popularity plummets, Hashimoto needs a daddy figure in order to win big in the national politics.

To call them "right-wing" is really an insult to the real right-wing (conservatives). They are statists, who genuinely believe in the power of the bigger, stronger government to do (them) good.

15 comments:

Maju said...

I told you that China would get the islands eventually. It's strategically crucial (not the oil but access to open seas), they have been moving very aggressively in South China Sea on less critical islets... China is the rising World Power (expected to surpass US GDP-PPP c. 2016) and that's their "backyard".

Or more exactly a most strategical naval corridor whose loss by lack of interest in the late imperial period was critical in all the historical Chinese decline vs. naval powers (from Europe but also the USA and Japan). Logically they are dead set not to repeat those mistakes and to compensate as much as possible for past loses.

There's little that a fast pace decaying subordinate power like Japan can do other than attempt to initiate WWIII... and fail.

Even for their most direct rival, the USA, China is more important as economic partner than Japan these days. So Japan will have to swallow.

Besides Beijing is in succession skirmishes, with top leaders being accused of too-corrupt-to-rule, what is the Chinese much more real and bloody equivalent to the US presidential campaign. This may want some of them to stir the militarist showdown but I doubt they push things too far: they just need to take the islands and wait in a show of force.

But they will take them, of course. And the USA will allow them to.

As for the shrine, why doesn't Japan move the war criminals to more sidelined cemeteries? While the infamous shrine holds the corpses of many A-class war criminals, it's like holding an official Nazi homage in Germany: unacceptable for all, specially their direct victims.

Not even in Spain, where Fascism was never properly buried, the authorities dare to go to any sort of homage to Franco or other fascist criminals. By keeping A-class war criminals (the Japanese equivalent to the SS) in such a high profile shrine, Japan can only attract the hatred of its former victims and dislike from elsewhere in the world.

Anonymous said...

China - the bully of the modern age

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/china/9637321/Tibetan-man-becomes-fourth-self-immolation-in-a-week.html

Anonymous said...

Maju -

If China continues escalating this conflict, and attempts military action, there are several outcomes that could happen:

1. The US gets involved and whips China's ass.
2. The US does not get involved and Japan whips China's ass (their military assets are more advanced than China's - don't assume China would actually win a shooting war just because they have more boots)
3. The US does not get involved, China takes the islands, Japan sees that the US nuclear umbrella doesn't work, Japan goes nuclear (in about a week since that they seem to have more plutonium than anyone else), and Japan whips China's ass a few months later.
4. The US does not get involved, China takes the islands and then escalates the war to squash Japan's attempts to go nuclear, the US then cannot ignore its treaty obligations, and gets involved and whips China's ass.

In the end, China's ass gets whipped in every scenario.

Much better for China is it were to insist on taking the issue to an international court, and agreeing to be bound by the outcome. Of course that would make it harder for China to walk all over the smaller countries with which it has international disputes, and the whole Tibet thing should probably be put back on the table.

Beijing should be asking itself if all that gas is actually worth it? especially when Japan had been willing to jointly develop the natural resources in the area?

Anonymous said...

I doubt the forceful measures will include military action I think China will deepen their threat to use a bond dump against Japan. Japan doesn't really have anyway to get back at China other than threatening a bond dump on the US if they don't take some sort of action against China. I would hope this stays a staring contest instead of the beginning of a world depression but who knows.

"As for the shrine, why doesn't Japan move the war criminals to more sidelined cemeteries? While the infamous shrine holds the corpses of many A-class war criminals, it's like holding an official Nazi homage in Germany: unacceptable for all, specially their direct victims."

I have to agree Japan isn't doing itself any favors honoring war criminals that only goes unchallenged if you win the war. It has to be the height of dishonor to inter the innocent with the war criminals that put them there. If the Roman Catholic church had a shrine to dead priest and they insisted on also honoring the convicted child molesters in their fold I bet the world would be just as outraged.

The Japanese should have been the first to protest honoring the men who led them to ruin. The fact that the Japanese people tolerate their politicians honoring war criminals sends a very strong signal to the world that they don't want to remember history. The "you've got to take the good with the bad" excuse is pretty lame by that logic the Japanese should tolerate US soldiers raping young girls. After all there are many Japanese that are happy to paint the entire US military as a band of rapist by the actions of a few criminals.

Anonymous said...

Japan is honoring warcriminals because the Japanese people have been so absolutely indocrtinated since school days to believe that Japan did nothing wrong, its all about ignorance and Japans ignorance of their own history , and let me tell you I have never seen such ignorance anywhere else in the world when it comes to history, ...so ask the Japanese why and they will say "what war criminals? " it just doesnt compute...

Anonymous said...

Huh. Do other countries really teach their kids that their country ever did something wrong? From what I've seen and experienced, I doubt it. Nobody wants to admit they screwed up, they just run away from it and fail to learn their lesson.

Anonymous said...

Totally idiotic.
I'm Chinese and live in Japan.
Both sides are doing it for their own ends. Its stupid for people who don't even live in the vicinity to get all worked up about something that would hardly effect them. Pride ? Forget it. Nationalism? Never led to prosperity.
Do notice economically things are getting worse and those who are weak leaders frequently go finger pointing.
As if that has solved things...
Good grief people, be more cognizant, those bold words and rhetoric will cause more suffering and bad times, and only those positioned to benefit from trouble will gain massively, all at your expense.

Anonymous said...

"Do other countries really teach their kids that their country ever did something wrong"?

Yes! Germany went to great lengths to learn from their mistakes. German schools tour death camps and have holocaust survivors speak at schools they don't hide from their past. Germany is well recognized for its direct confrontation with its troubled history. It's actually a federal crime in Germany to deny or minimize the Holocaust yet Japan has many who would deny the rape of Nanking or provide an apology or compensation for comfort women. As a matter of fact Shinzo Abe rescinded the halfhearted apology offered in 1993 in no uncertain terms. This is the same guy who claims he's over his irritable bowels and ready to work again. Personally I think he's still full of shit.

http://www.iearn.org/hgp/aeti/aeti-1998-no-frames/holocaust-ed-in-germany.htm

http://thelede.blogs.nytimes.com/2007/03/05/the-politics-of-apology-for-japans-comfort-women/

Anonymous said...

yep exactly, the Germans are forward thinking in this respect, whereas the Japanese want to go back to their "glory days" of WW2 and are in complete denial, Japan should excluded from the UN and G7 until they own up to their sick crimes..

Anonymous said...

@5:22 AM

China doesn't need to start a shooting war all they need to do is a bond sell off in conjunction with a rare earths blockade while they wait for the Japanese population to age and shrink in another 100 years Japan will be one big nursing home.

http://www.japantimes.co.jp/text/nn20121029a1.html

Anonymous said...

Holocast and War Crimes?
Repeat a story enough times and arrest scholars.
How about concocting falsehoods at the same time to boot?

Many photos of China during the wars are of civil wars, suitably modified for political purpose. Some are quite blatant indeed!

Again people, open your eyes.

Maju said...

^^ There's no falsehood, last Anon. Denial is actually lie and falsehood from people who think that history can be written according to the wishes of imperialist political propaganda.

I feel terrible shame as human sharing my biological identity with the ones like you.

Anonymous said...

hi Maju,

although i agree with your ^^ paragraph, I feel your last sentence may exhibit a disconnect in your logic.

instead of putting down others by resorting to association, ie ethnic or biological (of which no one has control) enlighten those around you proper discourse. perhaps re-reading your last post help you understand what I was trying to say!

also, since this is not the proper forum for continuing this, i will dial down the rhetoric.

cheers.

Anonymous said...

I agree with the OP this is a wag the dog issue for both sides. I think the island dispute should be taken to the UN for resolution instead of everyone puffing up their chests and tossing around vague threats. But that wouldn't allow for a war of words to distract domestic fervor from other issues.

I really don't like talking about WWII with right wing nuts but I can't let this go.

"Many photos of China during the wars are of civil wars"

Yeah the only people you're going to convince with that BS are other Japanese with their heads jammed in the sand. We get it, you've deluded yourself into thinking the ENTIRE rest of the world made up all the crazy shit some of your grandparents did. Well, TOUGH! Everybody knows history is written by the winners and you didn't win so suck it up Buttercup.

"Again people, open your eyes."

I have, China will probably get back "their" islands when they buy Japan in 2100 for expanded nursing home facilities.


arevamirpal::laprimavera said...

Apple had an easy solution on iPhone5 map. See the latest post: http://ex-skf.blogspot.com/2012/10/ot-apple-iphone5s-solution-to-senkaku.html

Post a Comment