Japan
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China Tests American Resolve: More Trouble in the South China Sea
China, Diplomatic Relations, Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement, Foreign Policy, Intentional Rammings, Japan, Oil Rig, Paracels, Philippines, Poaching, Spratlys, USA, Vietnam, Water Cannon“What would America fight for?” exclaimed The Economist, as it cautioned the Obama administration against strategic retreat and neo-isolationism. It dismissed President Obama’s foreign policy as a cerebral doctrine that excuses inaction — one that is based on visceral recoil at confrontation and distaste for strategic gamble. It warned Washington about increasing doubt among allies, […]
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International arbitration the way to go for Asia’s maritime disputes
Media attention during Barack Obama’s four-nation Asian trip focused, understandably perhaps, on the three countries that are US allies – Japan, South Korea and the Philippines – and, in particular, on developments with military significance, such as the American president’s assurance that the US-Japan security treaty covered the Senkaku, or Diaoyu, islands claimed by China. […]
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Japan delegation leaves for Beijing to mend ties with China
TOKYO – A delegation of senior Japanese lawmakers left for Beijing Sunday on a mission to mend ties between the two neighbours amid a territorial dispute, which has prevented a leaders’ summit The bipartisan delegation, led by Masahiko Komura, former foreign minister and vice president of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party, departed from Tokyo’s Haneda […]
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Where Did All China’s Asian Friends Go?
China, Diaoyu, Foreign Relations, Japan, Makaysia, Paracels, Philippines, Senkaku, South China Sea Dispute, South Korea, Spratlys, USAUntil recently, Japan was a country where national law forbade it from using war as a way to settle international disputes. The Philippines was on the U.S. piracy list. Indonesia was a neutral country. And no U.S. president had visited Malaysia in 48 years. All of this has now changed, as President Barack Obama wrapped […]
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US-China naval standoff
During his recent China visit, US Defence Secretary Chuck Hagel reportedly got an earful from his Chinese counterpart and others on his country’s perceived meddling in regional affairs. While maintaining necessary courtesies during such visits, his Chinese hosts did not hold off from saying their piece. China’s Minister of Defence, Chang Wanquan, said that Beijing […]
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China Voice: Stay alert to Japan’s dangerous signals
BEIJING, April 23 (Xinhua) — The international community must keep vigilant as Japan’s right-wing politicians have raised risks for the peaceful development of Asia. On Tuesday, a Japanese cabinet minister and nearly 150 lawmakers visited the Yasukuni Shrine, and Monday saw Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe make a ritual offering to the war-linked shrine, just […]
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Japan to build military station on remote western island, closer to China than Japan’s main islands
Japan is sending 100 soldiers and radar to its westernmost outpost, a tropical island off Taiwan, in a deployment that risks angering China with ties between Asia’s biggest economies already hurt by a dispute over nearby islands they both claim. Japanese Defence Minister Itsunori Onodera will break ground on Saturday for a military lookout station […]
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Chinese Court Seizes Japanese Vessel to Enforce WW2-Related Ruling
The Shanghai Maritime Court has seized a Japanese ship owned by Mitsui O.S.K. Lines (MOL). The vessel, Baosteel Emotion, was seized to provide payment for a judgment against MOL relating to the use (and eventual loss) of two Chinese ships by the firm during World War II. Financial Times called the seizure “an unprecedented asset […]
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US, Japan vow to aid se Asians on sea row
TOKYO—Japan and the United States will pledge to jointly help Southeast Asian nations boost their marine surveillance capabilities, a newspaper said Saturday, as tensions over territorial disputes in the region simmer. US President Barack Obama will discuss the issue with Prime Minister Shinzo Abe during his visit to Japan next week. A deal is expected […]