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Subscribe to RSSTOKYO - Senior Japanese and Chinese diplomats have met to discuss a dispute over East China Sea islets hat both countries claim, the Japanese government said on Wednesday, underscoring willingness to talk despite a sharp deterioration in ties.
Sino-Japanese relations took a dive after the Japanese government bought the islands, called Senkaku in Japan and Diaoyu in China, from a private Japanese owner in September, triggering violent protests and calls for boycotts of Japanese products across China.
Chief Cabinet Secretary Osamu Fujimura confirmed talks between Tokyo and Beijing after domestic media reported that Japanese Vice Foreign Minister Chikao Kawai secretly met senior Chinese officials, probably including his counterpart, Zhang Zhijun, in Shanghai last week to discuss the dispute.
Anti-Japan demonstrators damaged a car carrying U.S. ambassador Gary Locke outside the American embassy in Beijing. The protest was in response to an ongoing territorial dispute between China and Japan. NBCNews.com's Alex Witt reports.
"I am aware of the reports. That was part of the communications going on between Japan and China in various forms and at various levels," Fujimura told a regular news conference without giving details.
"It just shows we are in constant contact at many levels."
Much at stake for US as tensions rise in troubled China Seas
Following Japan's purchase of the islands, China sent fishery patrol and marine surveillance vessels to waters near the islets, raising concern that confrontation with Japanese patrol ships could escalate into a broader conflict.
Protesters in China rally in Beijing, Shanghai and Hong Kong in response to a territorial dispute with Japan. NBCNews.com's Dara Brown reports.
The row with China, the world's second-largest economy and Japan's largest trading partner, has prompted the Bank of Japan to cut its outlook for economies in the region.
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None of us own any land. Mother earth does and when ever she feels like it she will take her land back or destroy it.
We need to learn how to survive here.
At some point in time when just enough volcanoes go off or a comet/Asteroid strike, will destroy this planets surface as we know it and this planet will not be livable for many many years.
Like... wow man... stuff lives... and dies... at the whim of Mother Nature... And like stuff... from space... that is like, not from Earth... like... falls... and destroys stuff... it's so awesome... uh... that like... to know that we could be wiped out... like, even now... because of Mother Nature... is... like awesome cosmic chaoticness, maaaaaan!
Duuuuude ....... that's cosmic. I knew there was a reason why Newsvine's motto is "Get smarter here."
Welcom to Newsvine Beavis and Butthead!
Anyone that has been reading the International News, knows this is ALL about the energy reserves located around these islands...
Currently China is in resource/island disputes with Vietnam, Russia, Tibet, Taiwan, Philippines, Korea, Japan, Indonesia, etc...
The USA is currently renewing treaties and military ties with Vietnam, Philippines, Australia, etc...
While Obama is cutting the US Navy and USAF programs, that enable the USA to conduct a Sea conflict...
AC is looking for more conflicts for the USA to get involved in. AC wants to increase the national debt and sacrafice more American lives. AC is an old lady.
Anyone that has been reading the International News, knows this is ALL about the territorial disputes of the islands.
China has no territorial dispute with Taiwan in respect of these island. China and Taiwan both agree these belong to China, known as ROC to Taiwan and PROC to China.
China has no dispute with Tibet which is an integral part of China since 13th century. This is also the position adopted by Taiwan.
US is currently pivoting in the Asia Pacific region to solely contain China from its peaceful rise. US wants to remain the sole superpower and consider China's rise a threat to US hegemony position. US has military alliance with Australia, Japan, S Korea and now formulating alliance with Philippine, Vietnam, India and even attempting to court Mynmar and Mongolia. These alliances will have China rimmed in from all sides.
AC:
USA and Russia are locked into the biggest resource conflict over Arctic resources. A few nations with continental shelves reaching into the Arctic want their share of the Arctic resources as well. All the smaller nations are worried that the two super-powers, USA and Russia, will grab most of the resources. An Arctic commission has been established in an attempt to defuse a potential military conflict.
Both the Russia and USA have dispatched naval vessels into the Arctic Ocean as a demonstration of resolve. The Russian upped the ante when one of its submarine planted an unwater flag as a symbolic claim of the resources. A photo of it was provided to the world's media for public distribution. Neither the USA nor Russia seem to be seriously interested a dialogue that might resolve the dispute any time soon.
The hope is that both China and Japan will reach an accord as to these disputed islands by either concessions or out right purchase.
During the Cold War, USA surrounded the USSR with military bases. From the west, military bases in Germany, Italy, Greece. From the south, Turkey, Pakistan, Diego Garcia. From the east, Japan, Taiwan, Korea, Guam, and Alaska.
Prior to Gary Power's shoot-down, US regularly conducted secret spy mission over USSR using U-2. Subsequently, secret high speed SR-71 Blackbird conducted hit-and-run missions. Such naked violation of USSR's airspace reinforced their notion that USA intended to take-over Russia.
@Heinrich: Sure, China has no dispute with Tibet, but Tibet has a dispute with China. How do you define "integral part"?
As far as how the U.S. is aligning its strategic position in the Pacific Rim, I'm al for it!
@WallstFatCat: "...naked violation of the USSR's airspace...". Oh, please!!!! The Soviets were a paranoid breed, but most of their decision makers knew this spying was not a prelude to a conventional or nuclear first strike. Andropov, the former head of the KGB and later the Premier, overreacted in 1983, but cooler heads prevailed.
Now, about violating USSR airspace - dude, it was the Cold War. Did you know the Soviets had human intellegence gatherers posted near almost every military base ion U.S. territory? Knowing this as a USAF veteran stationed at SAC bases , I find your comment about our violating Soviet airspace to be nothing more than uniformed liberal dribble.
SR-71 is a supersonic SPY plane that almost melts it travels so fast.. It can not carry any weapons...
Look up the dictionary for the meaning of integral part.
@Henirch: I know the definition, but your use is vague.
Time to prep the water cannons.
The government is encouraging them to protest. Otherwise, none of them would even care!
As in the heirarchy of power in USA, it is the Men of Power in China and Japan with political, military, or economic power at stake who incite the ignorant proletariates to protest under the banner of nationalism.
If the passion of demonstrators reach a feverish pitch and their number reaches critic mass, then the Men of Power would allow the patriotic youngmen and women the privilege to die for their nation in the name of freedom, liberty and the fatherland or motherland.
There are many conflicting views about who exactly has ownership of the islands, but it's my understanding that no one had claim to them prior to 1895. Before this time, these islands were basically the Sino-Japanese boundary between the Qing Empire and the Ryukyu Kingdom (which was annexed following the Meiji Restoration) and therefore neither power had control of them. During the First Sino-Japanese war, Meiji Japan put the islands under the administration of Okinawa and when the Qing Empire lost, they ceded Formosa and all islands belonging to it, but it's unclear if the Senkaku Islands are part of this deal (either way, it sounds like they were the spoils of war for Japan). Obviously after WWII, the U.S. had control of the islands from the San Francisco Treaty, but eventually gave back ownership to Japan in 1972.
Also, both China and Taiwan started to claim ownership of the islands in 1971, which was two years after a NATO report concluded there may be large deposits of petroleum and natural gas beneath the island chain. Clearly not a coincidence.
Anyway, I don't see how China or Taiwan can dispute they own the islands when Japan took control of them back in 1895. It's like if England today started telling the U.S. that the original 13 colonies belong to them, even though our ancestors won their independence over 200 years ago and therefore gained the land occupied by the 13 colonies. Personally, it sounds like China is being extremely greedy and using the ignorance of their young populace (and the national hatred for the Japanese occupation, which had nothing to do with the islands) to fuel the claims for ownership.
know-how
ryukyu kingdom doesn't exist anymore. most descendants from that kingdom live in taiwan. on top of that ryukyu are a tribute state that pay tribute regularly to qinq empire. so in a sense qinq is in control of those island and have major influence in ryukyu kingdom. the reason japan got the island is because china lost the war in 1895, if china was the winner, the island will still be under china control. looking at the map, the island is closet to taiwan.
From what I understand Taiwan has a claim prior to 1895.. when the islands were part of Jinan County. Then Japan conquered Taiwan and carved up the archipelago of islands that comprised the former Chinese province (China presumably can prove that the islands were part of Taiwan at the time, but that evidence doesn't help them since they can hardly now argue that they have a claim to the islands separate from their claim to Taiwan, so they stay pretty quiet about that one), including the Tiaoyutai Islands (to use their taiwanese name). Unfortunately, this isn't the "claim" getting attention, since Japan and China are much more powerful countries.. neither of which can show ownership.
Once again people, this is one of those things that the press has made a mountain out of a molehill out of just because China is involved. Strong views and protests aside - stemming from not-too-distant memories of a genocidal war - there was simply never any chance that either of the two disputants would ever let this situation devolve into a shooting war. According to local reports, the two sides never stopped talking during all the hullaballoo last month.. with conflict mgmt teams active in both capitals throughout the latter days of the "crisis" (as portrayed to a fever pitch by the media), each involving the other side. Like it or not, this simply isn't really one of the world's hotspots, however determined the US press is determined to make it into one for purposes of pure sensationalism and yellow journalism.
These current negotiations may succeed or fail, but, either way, nobody will be shooting at anybody, between China and Japan, anytime soon, and either way you'll see one of them or the other prioritize a claim to an integral part of Jinan County, Taiwan (which is currently part of neither Japan or China and most likely the islands' legitimate owner.. not Japan or China).
My academic interest in this matter aside, there really isn't much to see here (unless, of course, you're long-suffering Taiwan and roundly ignored by the two regional powers fighting over your own land.. hence their resorting to water guns).
Separately, it should be noted that China has opened up negotiations with the Philippines too, over the Spratlys - another disputed island group (following delivery of a massive "I'm sorry" foreign aid package to Manila from Beijing).
Does anyone else find it interesting that so much of the news coverage mentions protests in China against Japan and vandalism of Japanese cars etc. Yet so little is said about Japanese protests? Possible that they exist, but I haven't seen much. The same seems true of the Japan-Korea dispute, very emotionally one-sided. Protests, demonstrations and political statments from the Koreans are all over the news, yet relative calm from Japan.
Japan has come up with a fix for this situation. They will register all their fishing boats in China so they will have Chinese markings and will be indistinguishable from Chinese fishing boats. That way, Japan can continue to steal fish from China.