Japan activists land on disputed islands amid China row

[lastlid]

Looks like Japan are trying to secure their territory from the Chinese...


"At least 10 Japanese nationalist activists have landed on a group of disputed islands, amid an escalating territorial row with China.



http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-china-19303931

[grahamw48]

Looks like China has more than one country nipping at its ankles...and one with a bit more clout. :)

They certainly have 'history'. :NEW4:

[andy222]

There could be trouble ahead.:omg:

[Terpe]

There could be trouble ahead.:omg:

I think you may be right Andy.
There's always been bad history.

[lastlid]

Japan-China dispute: little islands, big problem

Or AKA Big problem in Little China.

"The governor of Tokyo wants to buy them, Taiwan says it would like them back and China has made their return a national priority. But for the Kurihara family, the islands Japan knows as Senkaku are just a bit of land they would really rather sell.

"The conflict is escalating more and more," Hiroyuki Kurihara told AFP in an interview about the islands, known in China as Diaoyu, where Japanese nationalists landed Sunday after a similar venture by pro-Beijing activists.

All 14 involved in that action were deported Friday in an apparent bid by Tokyo to head off a potentially destabilising row with Beijing.

"We are worried that the government cannot cope with the situation over the islands," said Kurihara.

His powerful merchant family are the legal owners of four of the five islands in the Senkakus, an archipelago some 2,000 kilometres (1,250 miles) from Tokyo but less than 200 kilometres from Taiwan."

"China, Taiwan and Japan all say they are part of their territory. :doh They are administered by Tokyo, which holds title to the fifth island and bans development on them all, not allowing anyone to land."

http://www.bangkokpost.com/news/asia/308378/japan-china-dispute-little-islands-big-problem

[andy222]

Ah well let them fight it out as long as they dont involve the phils. I would say the same about syria leave them to it. Who will help us if there is any trouble? The yanks wont be interested because we have no very little oil.

[lastlid]

What happens here could give us a clue as to what may or may not happen with the equivalent Chinese dispute with the Philippines.

[andy222]

Thats a interesting topic Lastlid. I hope they might forget about the conflict with the phils with all this going on.

[lastlid]

Thats a interesting topic Lastlid. I hope they might forget about the conflict with the phils with all this going on.

Yeah. A distraction. Meanwhile the Phils rigs go in and suck all the oil out of the ground below the sea, while the Japs keep the Chinese occupied...:icon_lol: :xxgrinning--00xx3:

[andy222]

Nice thought. Cheaper trike rides.:icon_lol::laugher:

[grahamw48]

Easy to disarm the Chinese AND the Japs....steal their glasses. :)

[lastlid]

From the Wall Street Journal...The South China Seas Gathering Storm

"China, meanwhile, has insisted that all such issues be resolved bilaterally, which means either never or only under its own terms. Due to China's growing power in the region, by taking no position Washington has by default become an enabler of China's ever more aggressive acts.

The U.S., China and all of East Asia have now reached an unavoidable moment of truth. Sovereignty disputes in which parties seek peaceful resolution are one thing; flagrant, belligerent acts are quite another. How this challenge is addressed will have implications not only for the South China Sea, but also for the stability of East Asia and for the future of U.S.-China relations.

History teaches us that when unilateral acts of aggression go unanswered, the bad news never gets better with age. Nowhere is this cycle more apparent than in the alternating power shifts in East Asia. As historian Barbara Tuchman noted in her biography of U.S. Army Gen. Joseph Stillwell, it was China's plea for U.S. and League of Nations support that went unanswered following Japan's 1931 invasion of Manchuria, a neglect that "brewed the acid of appeasement that . . . opened the decade of descent to war" in Asia and beyond."



"While America's attention is distracted by the presidential campaign, all of East Asia is watching what the U.S. will do about Chinese actions in the South China Sea. They know a test when they see one. They are waiting to see whether America will live up to its uncomfortable but necessary role as the true guarantor of stability in East Asia, or whether the region will again be dominated by belligerence and intimidation."

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10000872396390444184704577587483914661256.html

[lastlid]

China sends patrol ships to disputed East China Sea islands

"Two Chinese patrol ships have been sent to islands disputed with Japan, which has sealed a deal to purchase the territory, Chinese state media say.

The ships had reached waters near the islands - known as Senkaku in Japan and Diaoyu in China - to "assert the country's sovereignty", Xinhua said.

Japan confirmed on Tuesday it had signed a contract to buy three of the islands from their private owner.

Tension has been rumbling between the two countries over the East China Sea.

Japan controls the uninhabited but resource-rich islands, which are also claimed by Taiwan. Some had been in the hands of a private Japanese owner but the government says it has now signed a purchase contract.

"This should cause no problem for Japan's ties with other countries and regions," said Chief Cabinet Secretary Osamu Fujimura."

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-china-19553736