#Senkaku

China’s assertive attitude towards its neighbors and America’s role in East Asia has slowly morphed since last autumn’s final round of provocative acts into something less strident.

Japanese Vice Foreign Minister Akitaka Saiki left Monday for a two-day trip to China to exchange views with senior officials, according to a Thomas Reuters report. No details were provided on what Saiki planned to discuss with the Chinese on his July 29 to 30 visit, but his trip comes at a time when Japan’s […]

Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga said Wednesday Japan “cannot accept” China’s drill rig near a gas field disputed between the two countries, according to BBC News. The Chinese drill is the latest episode in the long-running series of conflicts over the disputed Pinnacle Islands. The drill is actually on the Chinese side of the territory, […]

photo: Suria In one of the biggest landslides in Japan’s electoral history, the conservative Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) of Shinzo Abe surged back to power in Japan’s general election last Sunday – just three years after a devastating defeat. The LDP and its ally, the New Komeito Party (NKP), won a majority with control of […]

U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates recently traveled to China in hopes of lowering tensions and reestablishing high level bilateral military ties between China and the United States.  This comes on the heels of increasing border tension between China and its neighbors.  One of those neighbors , America’s strongest ally in the region, is Japan.   The […]

Overview Although this year was China’s year of the “Diplomatic Misstep”, it is often overlooked that Beijing, likely because it is not a democracy, has a domestic audience it must cater to.  Much of China’s contemporary foreign policy has it’s roots in smoldering nationalism, a beast which the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) did not create, […]

Chinese PM Wen Jiabao and Japanese PM Kan Naoto; Photo credit should read ADRIAN BRADSHAW/AFP/Getty Images) Since the September Senkaku (Diaoyu) Islands incident involving the Japanese coast guard and a Chinese fishing trawler in Japanese waters,  the world’s 2nd and 3rd largest economies continue to experience strained relations   On Monday October 25, Japan made […]

Update: Hat tip to Michael Turton… “The Japanese coastguard video of the encounter with the Chinese fishing boat and the two minor collisions has now been leaked to Youtube. It’s 46 minutes in all – not the 7 minute edited version shown to the 30 members of the Diet. The Government (or someone) had the […]

I ran across an excellent video I wanted to share concerning the Senkaku (Diaoyu) Incident.  They do an excellent look at both the Chinese and Japanese positions.  If this guy is fully representing the Chinese side, his argument is pretty weak, especially since the actual collision did not take place in disputed waters, but clearly […]

Here is an interesting take on the situation from Taiwan based blogger, Michael Turton.  Warning: Michael is un-apologetically pro-Taiwan, but I believe his take on this issue is quite astute: Context: China kicked up a massive fuss in the world media and put a on a show for the home crowd. Yet in February Russia […]

map from BBC Hot Spot – East China Sea: Senkaku (Diaoyu) Islands: China, Japan, Taiwan In continuation: Over the last few days, China has been increasingly the saber rattling in regard to the arrest of a Chinese fishing crew by Japanese authorities.  Japan contends that the  former rammed the latter (JCG patrol ship Yonakuni) at […]

Nationalism is a beast the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) did not create, but has often tried harness to it’s benefit.  Still, the use of this tool is tempered by the ever present Chinese fear of chaos (luàn:乱).  A potential disaster scenario for the party is one in which it finds itself on the wrong side […]