Japanese hegemony threatens peace in North East Asia

Vanguard November 2012 p. 3
Contributed

Over the past few months, Japan has been at the centre of various territorial disputes in the Northeast Asian area, principally disputes with Russia, South Korea and China over ownership of the islands of South Kuril, Dokdo and the Diaoyu Islands respectively.  The issue of the sovereignty of the Diaoyu Islands with China has become a focal point of contention.

The causes of this contention lie in the Japanese Government’s recently expanded ocean exploration policy (currently Japan controls an ocean area that is the 6^th biggest in the world and to a depth of 5,000 metres which is the largest worldwide), the forthcoming Japanese election (in which the ruling Democratic Party of Japan is seen as diplomatically weak and seeks to show strength in this field) and Japan’s military alliance with the U.S.  As observed by Zhao Xinli from the Communication University of China, the inevitable outcome of this contention will be to turn Japan’s neighbours into enemies.

It is no coincidence that this is happening in the light of the U.S.’s shift or “leverage” of focus to the Asia Pacific Region.
 

Without going into a detailed history of the sovereignty of the Diaoyu Islands, the facts are that these islands (located in the East China Sea between Japan and China) have belonged to China since ancient times and have consistently appeared on Chinese maps since 1368.  Japanese claims of ownership date from 1884 when it claimed to “discover” them.

When Japan was occupied by the U.S. after it was defeated in the Second World War,  Japan and the U.S. illegally signed a treaty (in China’s absence) assigning the Diaoyu Islands to the zone under American control.  A strong protest was lodged by the Chinese Government which said it would never recognise this treaty.

Aside from the obvious issue of this Japanese threat to China’s territorial integrity, this dispute may have far reaching consequences for Australia.

US confrontation strategy

Since the U.S. shifted its focus from the Middle East and to the Asia Pacific Region, it has encouraged its allies in this area (including Japan and The Philippines) to conduct a strategy of fierce confrontation with China which has inevitably led to the escalation of territorial disputes in the area.

The American strategy in this regard is to encourage its Asian allies to take a tough stand against China and then use the ensuing squabbles as an excuse to increase its presence in the Asia Pacific.

As a U.S. military ally, Australia will be required to support the U.S. and its other allies against China.  In the last few days the Philippines Government has called for increased Australian support in its territorial dispute with China.

So here we have the following:

(a)  the permanent stationing of U.S. troops in Darwin, together with expanded Australia Port facilities for the U.S. Navy and the projected use of the Cocos Islands as a U.S. military drone base;

(b)  aggressive posturing and military activities by the U.S. and its allies aimed at China and

(c)  the marked increase in monopoly media attacks on China and its alleged military and territorial ambitions.

 
Our position should be to vehemently oppose the increase and escalation of U.S.-fuelled contention in the Asia Pacific area, and to support the peoples of the Asian Pacific Region, including China. In the face of united opposition and with a correct understanding of the issues, it will be again proved that Imperialism is in fact a paper tiger.