Japan ready to be more assertive against China : PM

[third eye]

http://www.tehrantimes.com/world/111745-japan-ready-to-be-more-assertive-against-china-pm

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, in an interview published on Saturday, said Japan was ready to be more assertive in guarding against what he said might be an attempt by China to use force to attain its diplomatic goals.

But a top retired Chinese diplomat said any move by Tokyo to contain China could amount to an attempt to conceal ulterior motives in the region and prove to be "extremely dangerous".

Abe, interviewed by the Wall Street Journal, said he had realized during recent meetings with South East Asian leaders that the region was looking for leadership from Tokyo in terms of security amid China's more forthright diplomacy.

"There are concerns that China is attempting to change the status quo by force, rather than by rule of law. But if China opts to take that path, then it won't be able to emerge peacefully," he told the newspaper.

"So it shouldn't take that path and many nations expect Japan to strongly express that view. And they hope that as a result, China will take responsible action in the international community."

Former Chinese foreign minister Tang Jiaxuan, addressing a forum in Beijing, said that Japan hoped to enlist the United Nations and the international community to curb China's actions in the region, according to media reports.

Tang made no reference to Abe's latest comments but said any attempt to contain China either amounted to a distorted view of China or "the rendering of an image of the 'Chinese menace' to achieve an ulterior political goal".

Relations between Japan and China have deteriorated sharply in the past year, with the main sticking point being conflicting claims to uninhabited islets in the East China Sea, known in Japanese as the Senkaku islands and in China as Diaoyu.

Ties have taken a further battering over visits by Japanese lawmakers this month to the Yasukuni shrine in Tokyo honoring both war dead and Japanese leaders convicted as war criminals.

China is also at odds with several South East Asian countries, which contest its claims to wide swathes of the South China Sea.

(Source: Reuters)

 

[anilindia]

Abe Warns China on Island Spat as Japan Dispatches Jets

Japan sent up fighter jets for a third day yesterday after Chinese aircraft flew between its southern islands without entering Japanese airspace, the Self-Defense Forces said on their website. Abe said yesterday the country would not allow any shift in the status quo regarding islands both governments claim in the East China Sea. Abe made similar comments in an interview with the Wall Street Journal on Oct. 25.
“We will show the nation’s determination not to allow any change in the current situation by force,” Abe told Japanese troops in a speech at a military base on the outskirts of Tokyo, saying Japan would cooperate with countries that share its values of freedom, democracy and basic human rights. He has previously used such phrases in reference to Japan’s territorial dispute with China.

Since Japan’s September 2012 purchase of three islands also claimed by China, patrol boats from the two countries have tailed one another through the area and the row has damaged trade and tourism ties, with no summit between the leaders of Asia’s two largest economies for about 18 months. The tensions reflect China’s broader assertiveness in Asia as it extends the reach of its military, at a time Japan is also seeking a greater role in the region.

Japanese ‘Provocations’
“The repeated remarks on China by Japanese leaders are provocations,” Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying told journalists at a briefing today in Beijing. “This again shows the pretentious Japanese politicians are deceiving themselves.”

Four Chinese coast guard vessels entered what Japan regards as its territorial waters today near the disputed islands, known as Senkaku in Japanese and Diaoyu in Chinese, the Japan Coast Guard said in an e-mail message, in the first incursion since Oct. 1. The ships later left the Japanese-controlled area.

“If you look at the kind of remarks Abe has made regarding China since he came to power, it’s become clear he wants to play up the China threat rhetoric,” said Dong Wang, director of the Center for Northeast Asian Strategic Studies at Peking University. He added that Abe seemed to be making the comments to back his policy of reinterpreting Japan’s pacifist constitution.

Drone Flights
Newspaper reports that Japan is considering asserting its right to shoot down unmanned drones that come into its airspace have added to the tensions. An unidentified drone was spotted outside Japanese airspace close to the disputed islands on Sept. 9.

Chinese unmanned aircraft have not violated Japanese airspace and the shooting down of a drone would prompt retaliation, Defense Ministry Spokesman Geng Yansheng told reporters in Beijing on Oct. 26, according to a statement on the ministry’s website.

“China absolutely does not permit other countries’ aircraft to violate China’s airspace,” Geng said, according to the statement. “If the Japanese side shoots down or takes other coercive measures, to me that’s a serious provocation, it’s an act of war, and we will take decisive measures to fight back.”

Stern Protest
Japan would respond to any airspace incursion in accordance with domestic and international law, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga told reporters today. Japan’s Foreign Ministry said last year international law allowed the government to take “necessary measures” to stop an airspace incursion.

“We are a country governed by law, so it is a matter of course for us to adhere strictly to international law,” Suga said. He added that Japan would sternly protest today’s incursion by Chinese ships.

China’s state-owned newspapers the People’s Daily and the PLA Daily carried front-page stories today lauding the country’s nuclear submarine force. The fleet is China’s trump card and terrifies its rivals, the People’s Daily said.

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-...nd-spat-as-japan-dispatches-fighter-jets.html

 

[cnleio]

 

[Tanja]

However, in the newest step, Japan rejected NSA request to exploit fibre-optic data cables.


http://www.fnotw.org/Article/Full/5929

 

[Yeti]

Japan really needs to change it's post war defence stance which is hard considering the constitution but Abe is the man for the job!

 

[armchairPrivate]

At the mean time.....

Chinese military jets are flying near Okinawa Prefecture, Japan on Oct. 27 2013. [Photo from Japanese Defense Ministry]

Chinese military jets fly near Okinawa​

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Chinese military jets are flying near Okinawa Prefecture, Japan on Oct. 27 2013. [Photo from Japanese Defense Ministry]​

Chinese military jets fly near Okinawa​

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China.org.cn, October 29, 2013

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Chinese military jets are flying near Okinawa Prefecture, Japan on Oct. 27 2013. [Photo from Japanese Defense Ministry]​

 

[tranquilium]

Japan really needs to change it's post war defence stance which is hard considering the constitution but Abe is the man for the job!

As long as US wants a presence in East Asia, Japan is not going to be able to do that. Japan is currently an semi-colony of US and you simply don't let your colony arm itself to a sufficient level if you want to maintain control of it.

 

[Oldman1]

At the mean time.....

Chinese military jets are flying near Okinawa Prefecture, Japan on Oct. 27 2013. [Photo from Japanese Defense Ministry]

Chinese military jets fly near Okinawa​

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China.org.cn, October 29, 2013

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Chinese military jets are flying near Okinawa Prefecture, Japan on Oct. 27 2013. [Photo from Japanese Defense Ministry]​

Chinese military jets fly near Okinawa​

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China.org.cn, October 29, 2013

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Chinese military jets are flying near Okinawa Prefecture, Japan on Oct. 27 2013. [Photo from Japanese Defense Ministry]​

 

[Yeti]

As long as US wants a presence in East Asia, Japan is not going to be able to do that. Japan is currently an semi-colony of US and you simply don't let your colony arm itself to a sufficient level if you want to maintain control of it.

I believe it is more to do with Japan's constitution which is hard to amend considering the public feeling and general mood. However things are changing such as Japan's ties with India and we may see the first defence deal between our countries which will set the tone for the future.