U.S. has responsibility to rein unruly allies for Asia-Pacific stability

WASHINGTON -- U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta on Sunday began his three-nation Asia-Pacific tour, during which he will pay his first visit as Pentagon chief to China to deepen military ties, a visit overshadowed by rising tensions in the region.

To prevent the tense situation from further escalation, the U.S. government should take the responsibility to rein in its unruly allies in the region including Japan and the Philippines.

Washington should discourage Japan's provocations and rectify its own wrong position of applying the U.S.-Japan security treaty to China's Diaoyu Islands in the East China Sea. It also should warn Manila against making further provocations in the South China Sea, and urge it to return to the negotiating table.

When Panetta made remarks before reporters aboard ahead of his landing in Tokyo on Sunday evening, the first stop of his trip, the U.S. apparently was attempting to play a "detached" arbitrator of the territorial disputes, a role that hadn't been invited by any concerning parties.

Panetta said, "I am concerned that when these countries engage in provocations of one kind or another over these various islands, that it raises the possibility that a misjudgement on one side or the other could result in violence, and could result in conflict."

He even alarmed that provocations over the territorial disputes could blow up into a war unless governments exercised more restraint.

To be frank, the U.S. isn't qualified to behave as a judge for the disputes, because it hasn't played a constructive role in the process.

Instead, it shoulders certain historical responsibilities for the chronic disputes, and has, more or less, fanned relevant countries' provocative moves with its biased words or actions and added instability to the region.

Both Japan and the Philippines have been making reckless provocations against China this year in an attempt to obtain undeserved territorial gains in the East China Sea and South China Sea, emboldened by the U.S. "Pivot to Asia" policy, which has featured increased military deployment and involvement in the region.

In the past week, the world witnessed one of the most blatant acts of sabotaging Asian peace and stability by Japan, the staunchest ally of the U.S. in the region, with its completion of the so-called "nationalization" of the Diaoyu Islands that are inherently part of China's sovereign territory. China totally rejects Japan's act of theft, and is taking necessary steps to protect its sovereignty and territorial integrity.

On the dispute, Washington cannot shake off its responsibility for sowing the seeds of conflict. The U.S., through a backroom deal with Japan in 1971, transferred the administration of Ryukyu Islands (known as Okinawa today) and Diaoyu Islands, which were then under the U.S. trusteeship after World War II, to Japan. China has firmly opposed this deal from the very beginning.

Earlier this year, the Philippines, partially encouraged by U.S. support, also sparked a tense standoff with China in the South China Sea by sending a naval ship to harass Chinese fishermen operating legally in China's territorial waters around the Huangyan Islands.

Panetta's China visit, on the bright side, symbolizes the continuation of a good momentum in the U.S.-China relations, which feature regular high-level dialogues and exchanges of visit by senior political and military leaders.

The visit was reciprocal to the one paid by his Chinese counterpart Liang Guanglie to the Pentagon in May.

The visits have helped increase mutual understanding and advance the China-U.S. cooperation partnership and military-to-military ties.

On the other side, due to the current rising tensions in the Asia-Pacific region, the success of Panetta's visit will be judged by how he will reassure Beijing that Washington is willing to do more things conducive to regional peace and stability, which are now threatened by some of the U.S. allies.

The U.S. should understand that, if it continues to allow its allies to fish in troubled waters in the Asia Pacific and let the tensions spin out of control, no countries in the region can escape unscathed.

The U.S. must know better than other countries what it should do to benefit Asia-Pacific stability. 

By Zhi Linfei (Xinhua)

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Who owns Diaoyu Islands?

Historical documents dating back to the Ming Dynasty establish Diaoyu Islands as Chinese territory. The challenge to Chinese ownership came from Japanese annexation of the islands in 1894-5 following the first Sino-Japanese War.

TENSIONS are rising in the dispute between China and Japan over the Diaoyu Islands — five tiny islands and three rocks covering a mere 7sq km in the East China Sea.

It is a pity that this is happening especially when Chinese-Japanese economic ties have reached a new level since the end of last year with the two countries agreeing to use their respective currencies in their bilateral trade, instead of the US dollar.

To de-escalate tensions, Japan should make the first move. It was the Japanese government’s purchase of three of the islands from the Kurihara family on Sept 11, 2012 that ignited the present crisis. That decision should be rescinded immediately.

In fact, Japan has been upping the ante on Diaoyu — which Japan calls the Senkaku Islands — for some time now. It will be recalled that on Sept 7, 2010 when a Chinese fishing boat collided accidentally with a Japanese patrol vessel near Diaoyu, the captain and the crew of the Chinese boat were detained by the Japanese Coast Guard for a few days.

Though they were all released in the end, the incident revealed a new toughness on the part of the Japanese. The Chinese have been reacting to this and other such incidents.

What explains this new toughness? Some analysts attribute it partly to the growth of the political right in Japanese politics.

Japanese economic stagnation for more than two decades and China’s success in replacing Japan as the world’s second-most important economy have increased the influence of conservative nationalist forces in the country who are now targeting China.

Impending elections within the ruling Democratic Party and the forthcoming general election have also widened the berth for conservative politics.

It is also not a coincidence that the Japanese right-wing has become more vocal — especially vis-a-vis China — at a time when the United States is seeking to re-assert its presence and its power in the Asia-Pacific region. In the last couple of years, US political and military officials have on a number of occasions underscored the significance of US-Japan security ties.

Even on the Diaoyu dispute, the US government, while professing to remain neutral, has through the Pentagon made it clear that the Japan-US Security Treaty would come into force in the event of a military conflict between Japan and China.

This stance has to be viewed in the larger context of the US’ active military alignment with the Philippines in its recent clash with China over the Huangyan Island in the South China Sea and its support for Vietnam in its long-standing tiff with China over parts of the Spratly Islands and the Paracels.

For both Japan and the US there may also be other reasons why the Diaoyu Islands are important.

In 1968-9, a United Nations agency, it is reported, had discovered potential oil and gas reserves near Diaoyu. The US military, it is not widely known, also uses one of the five islands — Kuba — as a practice range for aircraft bombing.

Whatever the reasons for holding on to Diaoyu, Japan’s claim to ownership is weak. There are books, reports and maps from the 15th century, during the period of the Ming Dynasty, that establish in no uncertain terms that Diaoyu is Chinese territory. The books Voyage with a Tail Wind and Record of the Imperial Envoy’s Visit to Ryukyu bear testimony to this.

Even writings by Japanese scholars in the late 19th century acknowledged this fact. The challenge to Chinese ownership of Diaoyu came from Japanese annexation of the Islands in 1894-5 following the first Sino-Japanese War. China under the Ching Dynasty was too weak to fight back and regain lost territory. But annexation through military force does not confer legitimacy upon the act of conquest.

This is why when Japan was defeated in the Second World War the victors who included China and the US recognised that Diaoyu was Chinese territory.

Both the Cairo Declaration and the Potsdam Declaration acknowledged this though for administrative purposes Diaoyu was placed under US control as part of its governance over the Ryukyu Islands. The US was then the occupying power in Japan following the latter’s surrender.

However, when China was taken over by the Chinese Communist Party in 1949, the US changed its position and began to treat the Islands as part of Japan. The Chinese communist leadership protested vehemently.

In 1971, the US Senate returned the Diaoyu Islands, together with Okinawa, to Japan under the Okinawa Reversion Treaty. Again, the Chinese government in Beijing objected, as did the Taiwan government which also regards the islands as part of China.

Since the normalisation of relations between China and Japan in 1972, both sides have agreed to allow their fishermen to operate in the waters surrounding the islands without resolving the issue of ownership.

Of course, neither China nor Japan has relinquished even an iota of its claim in the last 40 years. Recent incidents have, however, forced this unresolved issue into the open.

Apart from taking the first step by abrogating its purchase of the islands, as we have proposed, Japan should also come to terms with undeniable historical, legal and ethical facts. It must accept the irrefutable reality that the Diaoyu Islands belong to China.

We realise that there are powerful vested interests that will not allow Japan to embrace this truth.

Nonetheless, we should all try to persuade the Japanese government and the Japanese people that it would be in their best interest to do so.

Governments in Asia should convey this message to Japanese elites through quiet diplomacy. Citizen groups throughout the continent should speak up in a firm and courteous manner.

The media too should play its role by laying out the arguments for an amicable resolution of the dispute which respects truth and justice.

Comment by CHANDRA MUZAFFAR

>Dr Chandra Muzaffar is the President of the International Movement for a Just World (JUST)

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Japan should drop its sense of superiority and tricks over China, Asia

Sept. 18 - Eighty-one years have passed since the Japanese invasion of China's northeast. But now, it is time for Japan to drop its sense of superiority regarding China and Asia in general.

Japan has to recognize that China is no longer weak and poor as it was in the 1930s, when it suffered great disasters brought by Japanese militarism. The balance of power between the two countries has drastically changed.

Sept. 18, 1931 is a day of disgrace in Chinese history, as it marks the day Japan launched an invasion of China's northeast and occupied the whole region four months later. The incident was followed by Japan's invasion of Pacific Asia in 1941, leading to one of the greatest disasters in the region.

The anniversary this year is quite different from before, as it coincides with Japan's "purchase" of part of the Diaoyu Islands, triggering fierce anti-Japan sentiment in China.

Japan's arrogance and provocation regarding the Diaoyu Islands is in line with its complex formed over one century ago, when it proclaimed superiority over China and Asia.

The two countries became rivals over the last 500 years, with Japan catching up with and defeating China in the late 19th century. Even its defeat in World War II could not break its sense of superiority, as Japan considered China's victory to be a present from the United States and the Soviet Union, turning a blind eye to the Chinese people's heroic resistance.

Japan has been heavily influenced by China and learned a great deal from Chinese culture. China enjoyed comprehensive superiority over its neighbor in all fields, including military strength, at that time.

However, China experienced decline since the late Qing Dynasty (1644-1911), while Japan rose as a world power in the late 1860's, when the country completely reformed its political and social structure by using European powers as models.

During the Meiji Restoration, Japan adopted a policy of breaking away from Asia and merging with Europe. It viewed China at that time as an antiquated and decaying country.

Its fear of China died with Japan's overwhelming victory in the First Sino-Japanese War (1894-1895). The defeat also obliterated China's first attempt to modernize.

Japan subsequently established its superiority over China, both in actual strength and in mentality, as it no longer viewed China as a teacher.

During its expansion, Japan forced China to cede Taiwan in 1895 and annexed the Korean Peninsula in 1910. In the early 1940s, Japanese aggression saw little resistance in Asia and reached its peak after the attack on Pearl Harbor in December 1941.

Japanese militarists called for a "Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere" in the 1930s, attempting to create a bloc led by the Japanese and free of Western powers.

Although Japanese militarists and war criminals' pipe dreams ended with the country's unconditional surrender to Allied powers, Japan's sense of superiority continued due to the U.S. desire to contain the Soviet Union and China.

But 60 years after World War II, the situation has completely changed. China has maintained rapid economic development and in 2010 surpassed Japan to become the world's second-largest economy. The strength of China's national defense has grown accordingly.

Japan is now suffering from a long-term economic downturn, along with an aging population.

China's rise has touched the nerves of some Japanese, who have resorted to tricks to disturb China's peaceful development. This may be the cause of the tension experienced after a short friendly period in the 1980s.

The present China is not the same as the China of years past. Japan should face the situation, drop its obsolete sense of superiority and take a constructive attitude to solve disputes.

This is the only way to achieve common development in both countries and Asia as a whole.

 By Xinhua writer Ren Ke 

China announces geographic codes for Diaoyu Islands baseline to UN

BEIJING, Sept. 16 (Xinhua) -- Releasing the geographic coordinates of Diaoyu Island and its affiliated islets marks China's latest move to affirm its sovereignty and administrative jurisdiction over the islands, according to a maritime expert.

China has had the islands under continuous surveillance for a long time, said Jia Yu, vice director of the China Institute for Marine Affairs attached to the State Oceanic Administration (SOA), in an interview with Xinhua on Saturday.

The SOA announced the exact longitude and latitude of Diaoyu Island and 70 of its affiliated islets while publishing location maps, three-dimension effect graphs and sketch maps for the islands on Saturday.

Since 2009, the SOA carried out a general survey of all Chinese islands, including the Diaoyu Islands, and announced their standard names and locations in March, Jia said.

"Diaoyu Island and its affiliated islets have been an inherent part of Chinese territory since ancient times and China has indisputable sovereignty over the islands," Jia said.

Announcing the geographic codes is an important step for the country to exercise its administrative jurisdiction over the islands, he said.

"Only the sovereign state and its government can do that and no other nation, organization or individual has the right to do it. Even if they did, the announcement would be invalid," he said.

The move also aims to help the public learn about the islands more vividly through the location maps, three-dimension effect graphs and sketch maps, provided that it remains difficult for the general public to visit the islands, Jia said.

"Through these documents, the country will conduct better surveillance and protection over the islands for future development," Jia added.

On Monday, the Chinese government announced the base points and baselines of the territorial waters of Diaoyu Island and its affiliated islets, as well as the names and coordinates of 17 base points.

Also on Thursday, China's permanent representative to the United Nations Li Baodong met with UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and filed a copy of the Chinese government's Diaoyu Islands baseline announcement with the United Nations.

"The two sets of coordinates are meant to maintain China's sovereignty over the land as well as its adjacent waters," Jia said.

UN receives China announcement on Diaoyu Islands baseline

Play Video

 VIDEO: UN RECEIVES CHINA ANNOUNCEMENT ON DIAOYU ISLANDS BASELINE CCTV News - CNTV English

The United Nations has received a copy of Chinese government’s Diaoyu Islands baseline announcement, submitted by China’s permanent representative to UN, Li Baodong.

A spokesman for UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon says the document will be dealt with appropriately on the basis of the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea. On Thursday, Li Baodong met with Ban Ki-moon, and filed the copy, officially fulfilling the country’s obligations as stipulated in the UN Convention.

Under the Convention on the Law of the Sea, coastal states are required to deposit with the UN chief charts showing straight baselines and archipelagic baselines, as well as lists of geographical coordinates.

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Move displays jurisdiction as tensions keep growing over sea dispute

China Marine Surveillance 15, one of six patrol ships sent by China, arrives at the waters off Diaoyu Island on Friday. Zhang Jiansong / Xinhua

Six Chinese surveillance ships patrolled the waters around China's Diaoyu Islands Friday morning, Xinhua News Agency reported, amid few signs that tensions over the territorial dispute were subsiding.

Television footage showed a Chinese Marine Surveillance officer aboard one of the ships radioing Japanese vessels to demand they leave.

"The actions of your ships violate China's sovereignty and rights," the officer was shown saying. "Any unilateral act from your side regarding the Diaoyu Islands and its affiliated islands is illegal and invalid. Please stop any infringing acts. Otherwise, your side will bear the consequences caused by your actions."

The patrols are aimed to demonstrate China's jurisdiction over the Diaoyu Islands and their affiliated waters and ensure the country's maritime interests, a government statement said. The government has vowed that more action will be taken if the Japanese government doesn't withdraw its deal to "purchase" and "nationalize" the islands.

It was the first surveillance mission by Chinese vessels in waters around the islands in the East China Sea since Beijing announced on Monday the base points and baselines of the territorial waters of the Diaoyu Islands and their affiliated islets, as well as the names and coordinates of the 17 base points.

"Announcing base points and baselines is the basis of establishing waters under national jurisdiction, on the basis of which the sea territory, exclusive economic zone and continental shelf can be established according to the provisions of the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea," Assistant Foreign Minister Le Yucheng said on Friday at a symposium.

Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda's cabinet approved the plan to "nationalize" the Diaoyu Islands on Monday, and the next day the Japanese government signed a deal to buy three of the Diaoyu Islands from "private owners".

There is a "sinister tendency inside Japan that is taking Japan and China-Japan relations down an extremely dangerous road", Le said.

"China will in no way recognize Japan's illegal occupation of and so-called actual control over the Diaoyu Islands," Le said.

The Japanese government's "nationalization" of the Diaoyu Islands has sparked protests and countermeasures in China. The diplomatic standoff between Beijing and Tokyo has led to a series of canceled visits and exchanges.

A trip to Beijing later this month by a bipartisan group of incumbent and former Diet members was called off at the request of the Chinese host, according to Kyodo News.

China Comfort Travel Group stopped accepting reservations to Japan at its 220 affiliated travel agencies across China, according to Xinhua.

The company said the group will not resume Japan-bound tours unless the territorial issue is resolved.

China has a major holiday period from late September to the first week of October and if other agencies follow suit, Japan-bound tourism during the period could plummet.

The Japanese government's moves over the Diaoyu Islands have scuttled bilateral cultural events, further dimming prospects for any fanfare to fete the 40th anniversary of ties.

Chinese pop singer Sun Nan canceled a concert scheduled for Tokyo later this month, and Japanese singer-songwriter Shinji Tanimura will postpone a Sept 25 concert in Beijing.

Both concerts had been organized to mark the 40th anniversary of the normalization of China-Japan diplomatic ties.

Panetta visit

US Defense Secretary Leon Panetta departs this weekend on an Asian tour with stops in Japan, China and New Zealand. He has decided to stop in Japan prior to his China visit, given the escalating tensions between the two countries, according to Kyodo News.

Panetta is scheduled to meet Japanese Defense Minister Satoshi Morimoto and Foreign Minister Koichiro Gemba on Monday.

"The US government should stay neutral," said Gao Hong, deputy director of the Institute of Japanese Studies at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.

The US was directly involved in making the Diaoyu Islands a dispute.

In 1951, the Treaty of Peace with Japan was signed between Japan, the US and other countries, placing the Ryukyu Islands (known as Okinawa today) under the administration of the US. In 1953 the Civil Administration of the Ryukyu Islands under control of the US arbitrarily expanded its jurisdiction to include the Diaoyu Islands and its affiliated islets, which are Chinese territories. In 1971, Japan and the US signed the Okinawa Reversion Agreement, which included the Diaoyu Islands and other islets to be reverted to Japan.

China has firmly opposed and never recognized the backroom deals between Japan and the US.

By Cai Hong and Zhang Yunbi ( China Daily)

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China defense ministry acts as Japan buys its Diaoyu Islands

(Reuters) - Japan brushed off stern warnings by China on Tuesday and bought a group of islands that both sides claim in a growing dispute that threatens to deepen strains between Asia's two biggest economies.

A territorial dispute between China and Japan has intensified with Beijing sending patrol ships near disputed East China Sea islands in a show of anger over Tokyo's purchase of the largely barren outcroppings from their private owners.

The arrival on Tuesday of the two patrol ships of the China Marine Surveillance off the islands was meant to assert China's claims, said the Chinese government's official news agency, Xinhua.

The marine agency is a paramilitary force whose ships are often lightly armed, and Xinhua said it had drawn up a plan to safeguard China's sovereignty of the islands.



BEIJING, Sept. 11 (Xinhua) -- The armed forces of China are completely opposed to the Japanese government's move to "purchase" the Diaoyu Island and two of its adjacent islands, Chinese Defense Ministry Spokesman Geng Yansheng said Tuesday.

Xinhua said two marine surveillance ships had reached the waters near the islands to "assert the country's sovereignty" (AFP/JIJI PRESS/File, Jiji Press)

Geng issued a statement on the Japanese government's implementation of so-called "nationalization" of the Diaoyu Islands.

Despite strong opposition from the Chinese side, the Japanese government blatantly announced on Sept. 10 to "purchase" the Diaoyu Island and its affiliated Nan Xiaodao and Bei Xiaodao. This act is a severe infringment of Chinese territorial sovereignty, Geng said.

Geng said the Diaoyu Island and its affiliated islands are China's inherent territory. China has sufficient historical and jurisprudential evidence surrounding this.

Geng said the Japanese government's action and the so-called "island purchase" was totally illegal and invalid.

In the statement, Geng said since the start of the year, the Japanese government has endorsed right wing forces to clamor for the "island purchase" and even move in to "purchasing the islands" by itself. He said this severely harmed the general situation of the development in China-Japan relations.

Geng said in recent years, Japan has expanded armament under various excuses, frequently incurred tension in regional situations and repeatedly stirred up troubles on the issue of the Diaoyu islands. Such moves are worthy of high vigilance by its Asian neighbors and the international community.

"The Chinese government and armed forces stand firm and are unshakeable in its determination and will safeguard sovereignty over the nation's territories," Geng said.

"We are watching closely the evolution of the situation and reserve the right to take reciprocal measures," Geng said.

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Japanese gov't signs purchase contract on Diaoyu Islands: media

TOKYO, Sept. 11 (Xinhua) -- The Japanese government has exchanged the official contract on the purchase of Diaoyu Islands with Kurihara family whom the Japanese side called "the private owner", NHK reported Tuesday morning.

Japanese Cabinet on Tuesday morning decided to disburse reserve funds to purchase part of China's Diaoyu Islands, before signing a sales contract with whom the Japanese side called "the private owner" of the islands scheduled later Tuesday, it said.  Full story

Two Chinese patrol ships reach waters around Diaoyu Islands

BEIJING, Sept. 11 (Xinhua) -- Two ships of the China Marine Surveillance (CMS) have reached the waters around the Diaoyu Islands Tuesday morning to assert the country's sovereignty.

The CMS has drafted an action plan for safeguarding the sovereignty and would take actions pending the development of the situation, the CMS sources said.  Full story

Hu states China's stance on Japan ties, Diaoyu Islands

VLADIVOSTOK, Russia, Sept. 9 (Xinhua) -- Chinese President Hu Jintao met with Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda here on Sunday and made clear China's position on its relations with Japan and the Diaoyu Islands issue.

The two leaders met on the sidelines of the 20th informal economic leaders' meeting of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum.  Full story

Top legislator reiterates China's stance on Diaoyu Islands

TEHRAN, Sept. 10 (Xinhua) -- China's top legislator Wu Bangguo said here Monday that Japan's decision to "buy" the Diaoyu Islands is illegal and invalid.

Wu, chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress, briefed Iranian parliament speaker Ali Larijani on the latest development concerning the Diaoyu Islands.   Full story

"Absolutely no concession" on Diaoyu Islands, says Chinese premier

BEIJING, Sept. 10 (Xinhua) -- Premier Wen Jiabao said Monday the Diaoyu Islands are an inalienable part of China's territory and China will "absolutely make no concession" on issues concerning its sovereignty and territorial integrity.

Despite repeated solemn representations of China, the Japanese government announced Monday it would "purchase" part of China's Diaoyu Islands from "private Japanese owners" and bring the islands under "state control."   Full story

Full text of Statement of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the People's Republic of China

BEIJING, Sept. 10 (Xinhua) -- Following is the full text of the Statement of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the People's Republic of China issued on Monday.

Statement of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the People's Republic of China

10 September 2012

Regardless of repeated strong representations of the Chinese side, the Japanese government announced on 10 September 2012 the "purchase" of the Diaoyu Island and its affiliated Nan Xiaodao and Bei Xiaodao and the implementation of the so-called nationalization" of the islands. This constitutes a gross violation of China's sovereignty over its own territory and is highly offensive to the 1.3 billion Chinese people. It seriously tramples on historical facts and international jurisprudence. The Chinese government and people express firm opposition to and strong protest against the Japanese move.  Full story

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Japan's buying Diaoyu Islands provokes China to strike back 

Japan's buying Diaoyu Islands provokes China to strike back

China should strike back over sale: experts

Analysts Friday slammed Japan's plan to nationalize the Diaoyu Islands in the East China Sea as provocations which would further trash Sino-Japanese relations, and called on the Chinese government to take corresponding measures to counter Japan's scheme.

This video image, taken by the Japan Coast Guard on Aug 15, and released on Aug 27 shows a Chinese boat carrying Hong Kong activists after landing on the disputed island called Senkaku in Japanese and Diaoyu in Chinese in the East China Sea.
Japan's Yomiuri Shimbun paper reported that Japan is scheduled to hold a cabinet meeting on Monday to officially "nationalize" the Diaoyu Islands on Tuesday.

The Japanese government will sign a deal with the so-called private owners on Tuesday to purchase the islands. And the Japanese government believes that putting the Diaoyu Islands under state ownership at an early date could minimize the backlash from China, said the report.

The paper also noted that the actions of Tokyo Governor Shintaro Ishihara, who had pushed strongly for the island purchase, had helped drive the state toward the purchase.

Qu Xing, director of the China Institute of International Studies, told the Global Times that by buying the islands, Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda's administration is attempting to reinforce Japan's claim of sovereignty over the Diaoyu Islands.

"The repeated provocations have greatly undermined Sino-Japanese relations," said the expert.

"We should resort to corresponding countermeasures to strike back against Japan's unilateral move. Japan is making their assertion by legal means. Accordingly, China could also reinforce our claims of sovereignty over the islands through legal means," said Qu.

According to the Kyodo News Agency, Japanese Foreign Minister Koichiro Gemba said that Noda is unlikely to hold summit talks with Chinese President Hu Jintao and South Korean President Lee Myung-bak on the sidelines of the ongoing Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum in Vladivostok, Russia, indicating that formal talks would not be appropriate given renewed territorial rows.

Gemba added that informal and "spontaneous" exchanges may take place, the report said.

Wang Ping, a researcher with the Institute of Japanese Studies under the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, told the Global Times that Sino-Japanese relations are bound to be further undermined if Tokyo continues to inflame the situation.

"Japan's national interests as well as its strategic interests in East Asia and the West Pacific will also be hurt. It should better recognize the consequences of its moves," warned Wang.

The impact of the diplomatic rows between the two countries have already extended to the sphere of economic ties.

Reuters quoted Toshiyuki Shiga, a senior executive of Japanese auto maker Nissan, as saying that Japanese car manufacturers were having difficulty in holding big, outdoor promotion campaigns, which may have hurt August sales.

Foreign ministry spokesman Hong Lei said Thursday that in order to change the current situation, Japan must immediately stop encroaching upon China's territorial sovereignty.

China is Japan's largest trading partner, while Japan is the fourth largest trading partner of China.

Though Japan relies much more on its trade with China than China does Japan, economic friction is a double-edged sword, Qu said.

"The adverse political climate will definitely affect economic relations. But smashing Japanese cars and boycotting Japanese goods don't help resolve the problems," said Qu, calling for the public to remain rational.

Separately, Taiwan leader Ma Ying-jeou Friday inspected the Pengjia Islet, which is located 156 kilometers from the Diaoyu Islands. He made a speech in front of a monument on the islet and praised those who have helped to protect the Diaoyu Islands, reported the Xinhua News Agency.

Responding to a question about Ma's visit, Hong Lei said Friday that all Chinese, including those from both sides of the Taiwan Straits, are responsible for safeguarding the sovereignty of the islands.

By Jin Jianyu and agencies contributed to this story

 

Taiwan warns Japan against nationalising islands

Pengchia:  Taiwan’s president used a high-profile visit to a Taiwanese islet on Friday to warn Japan against making any attempts to nationalise islands that are part of a disputed chain in the East China Sea.

Escorted by warplanes and naval vessels, President Ma Ying-jeou flew by military helicopter to Taiwan’s Pengchia Islet, which lies off northern Taiwan, only about 140 kilometers (85 miles) west of the disputed chain.

The chain — known as Senkaku in Japan and Diaoyu in China — is controlled by Japan but also claimed by China and Taiwan, and has been a key part of simmering regional tensions over rival territorial claims. Japan’s government reportedly is planning to buy several of the islands from their private Japanese owners.

Analysts say Ma chose the Taiwanese islet to make his well-measured gesture to raise international attention without further aggravating tensions.

South China Sea. Agencies

Disputes have flared over island chains in the East China and South China seas, rich fishing grounds with potentially lucrative oil and gas reserves.

But diplomatically isolated Taiwan — which China claims a part of its own territory 63 years after the two sides split amid civil war — has been largely left out of the spotlight.

Ma called on the East China Sea chain’s three claimants — Taiwan, China and Japan — to put aside their disputes and hold dialogues to jointly develop the rich resources there. He suggested bilateral or trilateral talks “to resolve the issue in a peaceful way.”

Ma also asked commanders at two Taiwan-controlled islets in South China Sea’s Pratas and Spratly island chains to strengthen guards. Those chains are claimed by Taiwan, China, Vietnam, the Philippines, Brunei and Malaysia.

“Ma has tried to avoid provoking tension, but as Taiwan’s leader, he must make a gesture even though the impact may be limited,” said Lo Chih-cheng, a political scientist at Taipei’s Soochow University.

While Taiwanese media were generally skeptical about the visit’s impact, some say Ma’s trip may manage to rebut Beijing’s appeal for a united front with Taiwan over the disputes. Many Taiwanese fear Beijing may be using its warming economic ties with Taiwan in recent years to further its goal of unifying with the self-ruled democratic island.

“The mainland is trying to create the false scenario of cross-Strait cooperation in the East and South China” seas, Taiwan’s China Times said in an editorial. - AP

No let-up in protests over Diaoyu Islands

By CHOW HOW BAN hbchow@thestar.com.my/Asia News Network

There have been protests on many fronts after the move on Monday by Japanese government to buy the islands from their “owners”.

CHINESE actress Li Bingbing became the latest ordinary citizen to publicly show her outrage against Japan over its claim of the disputed Diaoyu Islands (known in Japan as Senkaku Islands).

The Golden Horse Best Actress award winner turned down an invitation to attend the premiere of her latest film, Resident Evil: Retribution, in Tokyo on Monday in protest of the move by the Japanese government to buy the islands from their “owners”.

“The premiere in Tokyo was an important event for this film because it was the first premiere around the world. During the shoot, it was already decided that all the production crew should go for the Tokyo premiere,” she said.

“I do not like to break an appointment but after what had happened to the Diaoyu Islands, I did not feel like going. It is something I cannot stand and I thank the film company for their understanding,” Li was quoted by the Chinese media as saying on Thursday.

Two weeks ago, two Chinese men, aged 23 and 25, were detained for stopping the car of the Japanese Ambassador to China, Uichiro Niwa in downtown Beijing.

The duo allegedly emerged from their car and pulled the Japanese flag off Niwa’s car when the ambassador was on his way back to the Japanese embassy.

Another man was issued a warning for blocking Niwa’s car.

Earlier last month, hundreds of Chinese protesters took to the streets in Shenzhen and Hangzhou and called on the Chinese government to protect the islands, following an incident where 10 Japanese nationalists swam to the islands in East China Sea in response of a similar landing by seven Chinese activists.

Some Chinese protesters also surrounded the embassy in Beijing and the Japanese consulate office in Shenyang, Liaoning province.

Two senior citizens who threw eggs at the embassy were persuaded to leave, while another demonstrator was stopped by the police when he attempted to enter the premises.

Other demonstrators held a 7m-long banner expressing their indignation over Japan’s detention of the Chinese activists who landed on the islands.

Last Monday, Kyodo News Agency reported that Tokyo was in the final stages of reaching a deal to buy the islands by the end of this month.

Japanese television images showed that a team of surveyors dispatched by Tokyo Governor Shintaro Ishihara was surveying the shoreline and waters around the uninhabited isles.

The surveyors then released the outcome of their investigation, detailing the geographic composition of the islands.

Apparently, Ishihara called on the Japanese government to build a harbour in the area.

It was reported that the administration of Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda had agreed to pay two billion yen (RM79mil) for the islands.

The controversial islands are counter claimed by China and Taiwan.

China and Taiwan claim that the islands have been a part of Chinese territory since at least 1534 until Japan took brief control of it during the first Sino-Japanese war (1894-1895), while Japan has rejected claims that the islands were under China’s control prior to 1895.

In its editorial, China Daily warned that Japan was dicing with danger of leading the Sino-Japanese relations to their worse path.

“Japan is escalating tensions between itself and China. Our protests, be it official or civil, have fallen on deaf ears with the Japanese government.

“The deal for the islands was signed just five days after a letter from Japanese Prime Minister Noda to Chinese President Hu Jintao was delivered in Beijing on Aug 31. Noda was then said to have talked about lowering tensions between the two countries.

“The Noda administration now lacks credibility. They said they wanted to maintain and manage the islands in a peaceful manner but the islets are not part of Japan’s territory,” it said.

The newspaper said while China had kept its word to seek common ground on the islands and to maintain peace in the area, Japan had no longer shared the same goal.

China had failed to understand Japan’s diplomatic strategy, after all, and should re-look into its stand on the issue, it added.

Xinhua news agency slammed the islets purchase deal, saying that it would put to test Japan’s credibility over an historical commitment made in 1978 friendship treaty between Japan and China to resolve the issue.

Renmin University’s Centre for East Asia Studies director Huang Dahui said the pressure from the Japanese elections and fears of China’s economic development were reasons for the move.

“Japan is playing a two-faced game with China. What Ishihara and Noda are trying to do share the same purpose, which is to nationalise the Diaoyu Islands. China should strongly protest,” he told Global Times

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Events in East Asia, stakes and realities

Meaning in the region’s mishmash

In decoding the latest events in East Asia, it is important to know the stakes and the realities.

DAILY news reports span events with their highs, lows and in-betweens. As a whole, they suggest a world of randomly unconnected currents and irrationally contradictory events with insubstantial or unpredictable outcomes.

There may be times when the planet is like that, but most of the time it may look that way while being something else again. If not exactly a method in the madness, there is usually meaning in the mishmash.

That is why policymakers and their advisers have their work to do, acting proactively or retroactively. For sleuths, it is important to expose conspiracies without necessarily resorting to conspiracy theories.

In recent days alone, global society learned that Miss China won the Miss World contest in Ordos, Inner Mongolia. This was the second time that a Miss China won, and the fact that it happened in front of a home crowd made it that much more special.

Meanwhile at the intergovernmental level, China and the US established a Sino-US Partnership on Smoke-free Workplaces to restrict smoking and its consequences in public and private sector workplaces. Several such agreements involving governments and NGOs have emerged between China and the US in recent years.

In economics, much more continue to happen between East Asia and the rest of the world, spurred particularly by China’s spectacular growth profile. Despite ideological differences and occasional bumps over specific trade, investment or currency issues, the Chinese and US economies have never been more closely linked or interdependent, and increasingly so.

Periodic spats continue between countries across national borders, sometimes over where those borders should be. While they gain wider attention with diplomatic forays or military missions, in involving social, economic and political dimensions, these disputes become far more intractable.

The latest dispute to flare again over the week has been rival claims over the Pinnacle Islands in the East China Sea, which Japan calls the Senkaku, China calls the Diaoyu and Taiwan calls the Diaoyutai.

Earlier this month, a group of Japanese lawmakers and right-wing NGO members had planned a trip to the islands to reaffirm Japanese sovereignty as well as to commemorate Japanese victims of the Second World War. This followed spats between China and the Philippines, and Vietnam, earlier in the year over rival claims to other islands in the South China Sea.

Japan had already been administering the Pinnacles with its presence. The government of Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda felt the nationalists’ trip would be unduly provocative and tried to stop it, earning the rebuke of nationalist groups and the right-wing mayor of Tokyo.

In the event, some 150 Japanese activists aboard 20 boats landed in the Pinnacles last Sunday. By then, Chinese activists from the Hong Kong-based Action Committee for Defending the Diaoyu Islands had landed on the Pinnacles’ biggest island four days before.

The activists were detained by Japanese authorities, who had earlier failed to dissuade them with water cannons and ramming their boat, Kai Fung No. 2. As Chinese protesters insisted on the activists’ release and Japanese nationalists demanded their imprisonment, Japan deported them.

Earlier in January, Hong Kong authorities had refused Kai Fung No. 2 permission to leave port “because the Marine Department had grounds to believe that the vessel would not be used for fishing and fishing-related purposes”. The boat’s owner is a known Chinese nationalist activist.

But during the week, Chinese activists on board the boat returned to Hong Kong to a public hero’s welcome. The governments in Beijing and Taipei protested when Japan detained the activists, but once they were freed, the general public in China and Taiwan took over the spotlight.

The governments involved wanted to show a measure of restraint without halting such activism altogether. It helps to keep popular support for official claims alive, without allowing it to overwhelm official policy or relations.

The Chinese activists had planted the flags of both China and Taiwan, symbolising a unity of the claims by the “two Chinas”. While previously both claims were handled separately by their respective governments, they lately appear to merge in relation to other countries.

The common misperception remains that Chinese communism is an evil that compounds differences with other countries. That classic ideological posture from the Cold War ill serves anyone in the present era.

As communist ideology wanes and the Chinese Communist Party’s grip nationwide recedes, the only framework that Beijing can access to mitigate the country’s multiple challenges is nationalism. And on the other side of the Taiwan Straits, the Kuomintang party in government is defined by Chinese nationalism.

If and when single party rule on the mainland ceases, a much more nationalist government is likely to emerge. A party in such a government would be more amenable to popular nationalist sentiment, while also less inclined to limit nationalist activism, creating new challenges for other countries.

China already has to confront multiple rival claims over territory with other countries. It behoves Chinese policymakers to minimise and streamline the issues for easier handling, such as by neutralising the dispute over sovereignty between Beijing and Taipei.

Until recent years, the Taiwan Straits and the South China Sea had been persistent flashpoints in East Asia. Now that cross-straits relations have improved, disputes in the South China Sea simmer while East China Sea territory is being contested again.

There is an apparent trade-off in flashpoint potential between sub-regions. China’s immediate neighbours have at the same time contributed to friction in the adjoining waters.

Two weeks ago, South Korean President Lee Myung-bak visited the Dokdo islands occupied by his country but which are also claimed by Japan. While there, Lee declared that the Japanese Emperor had to apologise to Koreans for Japan’s wartime misconduct before he could visit South Korea.

The Japanese Foreign Minister replied by calling South Korea’s presence in Dokdo an “illegal occupation”. The spat continued for weeks, with Seoul filing a formal protest against Tokyo two days ago.

However dramatic, these disputes are unlikely to cause a major conflagration. While China always looms larger because of size and potential, there are also opportunities amid the risks.

China’s historic transition is led by econo­mics, but not without social and political ramifications. One feature here is the transformation of the foreign policymaking elite.

Maoist China’s policymakers in the Foreign Ministry had long been typical party ideologues. But as its economy blossomed, a new array of inputs have come to constitute an elite sourced from both the private and government sectors.

Meanwhile, the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) has still been less amenable to change. It is still constitutionally required to serve in the defence of the nation without interfering politically, but there is a growing temptation to signal its political positions.

So far the party and the state have mitigated this by allocating bigger budgets for defence, while also keeping PLA pressure on policymaking at bay. A party or government more vulnerable to populist pressure or lobbying may have to give the military more leeway.

The challenge for other countries is to work constructively with the more progressive elements in China’s political establishment towards more agreeable foreign relations. But from some of the latest events in the region, that challenge may be very difficult to meet.

Behind The Headlines By Bunn Nagara

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