Japan
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South China Sea Clash: Asia’s Dangerous Game
ADIZ, Air Defense Identification Zone, China, Diaoyu, Intentional Rammings, Japan, Oil Rig, Paracels, Philippines, Poaching, Sout China Sea Dispute, Spratlys, Vietnam, Water CannonCollisions between ships of Vietnam and China following the latter’s installation of a deep water oil rig in the disputed South China Sea mark a dangerous escalation of simmering tensions. Simultaneous to this fracas near the contested Paracel Islands, maritime authorities of the Philippines have arrested Chinese fishermen close to another coveted portion of the South China Sea, the Spratly…
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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, many of them relying on…
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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. Conflict, after all, is much…
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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 airport Sunday morning on a…
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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 up his visit to Asia—Japan,…
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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 was prepared to use its…
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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 before U.S President Barack Obama…
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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 on Yonaguni, which is home…
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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 confiscation for wartime compensation.” The…