A Dangerous Rift Between China and Japan

[AsahinaKimi]

Chinese demonstrators wearing anti-Japan T-shirts march during a protest over the Diaoyu/Senkaku islands on Sept. 18, 2012.

When Prime Minister Kakuei Tanakavisited Beijing in 1972 to restore Japan's relations with China, a country that had been devastated by Japanese military aggression in the 1930s and '40s, his host Mao Zedong allowed himself a moment of levity. Responding to Tanaka's apology for what Japan had done during the war, Mao answered that there was absolutely no need to apologize. After all, he said, without the Japanese invasion, the Communist revolution would never have succeeded.

Secure in his nationalist credentials, as the leader who unified China, Mao could afford this little joke, which also happened to be the truth. Such a remark would be unimaginable for any of the technocrats who rule China today. Maoism can no longer justify the Communist Party's monopoly on power, since few Chinese believe in any kind of Communism. Nationalism is now the dominant ideology, and the rulers have to prove their mettle, especially toward Japan. This need is particularly acute when a new leader takes power. The latest party boss, Xi Jinping, needs to show people, not least the military brass, that he is in charge.

Which is why a petty dispute over a few uninhabited rocks in the East China Sea is causing a serious and possibly dangerous rift between the two major powers of East Asia. The Chinese have recently sent naval ships close to the islands, as well as military aircraft. Japan responded by scrambling F-15s. And the U.S., still the major military power in the region (though, if China has its way, not for very much longer), is urging the two parties to remain calm, while voicing its continuing support of Japanese administration over the territory. A conflict in East Asia could be much more dangerous than anything happening in the Middle East. Taiwan might be involved, as well as the Korean peninsula. Apart from the potential loss of life, it would be a huge threat to the world economy, and it would pit the U.S. directly against China.

The Japanese call the tiny island group the Senkaku, and the Chinese call it the Diaoyu. Fishermen have trawled the waters around there for centuries, and in 1968, a United Nations commission discovered potential oil and gas reserves there, too. But neither the fish, nor the possible access to oil, quite explain why emotions are running so high, why Japanese businesses have been boycotted and Japanese stores and factories torched, why Japanese tourists and businessmen have been molested, and why hotheads in both countries indulge in talk of war.

MORE...http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887324326504578465032155562000.html

[bemildred]

1. When empires decline, old rivalries reassert themselves. nt

[TRoN33]

2. Isn't it a coincidence...

That Chinese government became too aggressive and belligerent toward Japan after Chinese PLANF naval military launched their first foreign-built aircraft carrier? Yeah I would like to think so because carriers are pure pinnacle of naval air power that are designed to conquer the lands. I would suggest Japan to have their own aircraft carrier anytime soon.

[Franker65]

3. Japan has declined and China has risen

The boot is on the other foot and the Chinese have not forgotten how they were treated in the Second World War. So they are exerting their influence while they can. Still, it won't come to any form of war - a small skirmish at most. Both countries are interdependent on each other for survival - just look at trade statistics between China and Japan. If the Chinese start something with Japan, a domino effect will result where they lose their most important trade partners - South Korea, Taiwan, Australia and the United States. It's a no go.

[Brigid]

4. When was the last time . . .

Japan and China got along?