JAPAN’S ISLAND DISPUTES WITH NEIGHBOURING COUNTRIES & THE ROLE OF USA
I have not written on political issues for some time but decided to comment on the above based on what happened in the last 12months & in particular, the last 2 weeks. According to newspaper reports that every 10 years, the Japanese Education Department will update the contents of school books to elementary school students; however, this time, the update/revision has been advanced to about 2 weeks ago In the latest update/revision, the Japanese Government has included the disputed islands with China & Korea into the map of Japan. I interpret this to mean that the Japanese Government was FULLY AWARE that the disputed islands were not Japan’s territory. The move was designed to fool future Japanese citizens into believing false claims. Japan has island disputes with 3 neighbouring countries:
RUSSIA. As we all know, after the US dropped the first A-bomb on Japan, Japan knew that defeat was unavoidable & was trying to negotiate a conditional surrender thru Russia when General Douglas McArthur demanded an unconditional surrender. Russia withheld this info re Japan’s maneuver to maximum political & territorial gains & did not convey Japan’s desire to US authorities. After the 2nd A-bomb was dropped, instead of passing on info to USA, Russia declared war on Japan. So, Russian became an ally in the war against Japan. As soon as Japan accepted the unconditional surrender, Russia: n Sent troops into Manchuria, China to dismantle all factories set up by Japan during its occupation, & shipped all these dismantled factories to Russia. n (Subsequently, Russia forced the Nationalist Government in China to recognize Mongolia’s independence in exchange for withdrawal from Manchuria.) n Occupied 4 northern-most islands to the north of Hokkaido (北海道). Japanese called these 4 islands “北方四島“. Russia has never relinquished the occupation of these islands although there were on-going negotiations between the 2countries. The last I heard/read about it, was a few years back when the former USSR collapsed & that the Russian Government was strapped for money, & was willing to SELL the islands back to Japan (this is like a robber selling what was yours before the robbery). The Japanese, like all buyers of any merchandise, tried to negotiate a better price, & when world oil price went up, Russia as an oil exporter, benefited, its economy turned around & the deal fell through. Today, the islands are still in Russian hands & Japan demanded its return from time to time. What did the US Government do over the years with regard to the Northern Islands? NOTHING! The US Government has no appetite to poke a nuclear power which has already been relegated to a 2nd Class World Power after the USSR disintegrated. My personal view is that Japan gave up a golden opportunity to buy back the islands & I don’t see Russia making the same mistake again of selling the islands. The islands have no particular value to the Russians but they are like a bayonet pointing at Japan!
SOUTH KOREA As Japan surrendered towards the end of WW-II, South Korea re-possessed some islands which lie mid-way between Korea & Japan. The Japanese Government had occupied these islands for some time - close to 100 years. These islands’ inhabitants are now all Koreans. Of course, there were some Japanese on the islands during the occupation. What did the US Government do? Again nothing, because both South Korea & Japan are allies against the radical North Korean regime, & they are important links to contain (圍堵)Communist China.
CHINA Let us start with history & geography regarding Diaoyu Islands (釣魚台). During the Ching Dynasty, Taiwan was a “hsien" ( 縣)within Fujian Province (福建省). There are many islands adjacent to Taiwan & are part of Taiwan, e.g. Diaoyu, Penghu (澎湖), & Green Island (綠島). As a result of the first Sino-Japanese War (甲午戰爭) in which Ching Dynsaty lost. Taiwan, including all the adjacent islands were annexed to Japan in addition to paying Japan for its military expenses (賠償軍費). During Japan’s occupation of Taiwan, even official maps published by Japan indicated that Diaoyu Islands were part of Taiwan, & not part of Okinawa. After Japan surrendered, Taiwan was returned to China, including all the adjacent islands. The Diaoyu Islands have never been inhabited because they are too small & have NO water supply which is the basic ingredient for survival. There was never any Diaoyu island dispute as there was no economy value at that time. Not even in 1978, when USA decided to return Okinawa’s administration Power. Ryuku Islands (琉球群島) , the Japanese called them Okinawa (沖繩島), were also Chinese territory but for unknown reasons, USA did not return them to China after the war. US troops were stationed on the islands & exercised “Administrative Power”. In 1978, USA decided to return Okinawa & its “administrative power” to Japan - an aggressor during the War & not its rightful owner - China which was a victim of the War & the rightful owner of the islands for centuries Who gave USA the right to decide who gets what WITHOUT consulting China, its wartime ally?? NOBODY!! The move (giving Okinawa to Japan) played right into the hands of Japan as Taiwan was kicked out or about to be kicked out of UN, & was politically isolated. Communist China was starting to open its doors & required foreign investment, particularly from Japan. So, Japan kept quiet, & I presume the two Chinese Governments never had the chance to read the documents (the Diaoyu Island portion) as USA decided this unilaterally. In recent years, when geological studies revealed that Diaoyu Islands & surrounding seas were rich in fishery & energy resources, then disputes started to surface. The Japanese Government stumples several times to “prove” the legitimacy: 1. Diaoyu Islands were uninhabited, Japan was therefore claiming them. Since USA decided unilaterally to give Diaoyu Islands to Japan as part of Okinawa, is there a need to claim them unless USA never spelt out specifically about Diaoyu Islands. There must be thousands & thousands of uninhabited islands in this world due to no water supply, how come the Japanese never claim them?? Putting it in another way, there must be many uninhabited islands off the coast of Japan, can China or any country for that matter, claim them?? 2. Japan bought the Daioyu Island from a local resident for $30 million. If the islands have no fresh water supply, they cannot support residents; if there were Japanese residing on these islands, why was there a need to claim as per “1” above? If the island dwellers were Japanese on Chinese soil, the transaction was illegal in the first place & therefore null & void! The most disheartening thing of the whole ordeal was that Taiwan, which is closest to Diaoyu Islands (By the way, Diaoyu Islands are only 10’ by air fromTaiwan & about ½ hour from Ryuku Islands/Okinawa) took a very low key approach, kept quiet & said nothing. May be there was an understanding between the two Chinas to allow Communist China to take the initiative. Two US Secretary of States, namely Hiliary Clinton & John Kerry, tried to talk China into giving up Diaoyu Islands so that US can complete its containment chain on China, similar to the 圍堵政策 used on the former USSR. From the eyes of US policy makers, Russia is no longer a threat to USA’s world power & supremacy, a strong China in the future, is. Let us look at USA’s maneuvers in the last 12 months: -- Conducted joint amphibious military exercise with Japan. -- Turned a blind eye to Japan’s military buildup which is against the conditions of its surrender. -- Signed some kind of military/defensive pact with the Philippines. -- Stationed SS Ronald Reagon, a modern aircraft carrier to the 7th fleet which patrol the waters from Taiwan to Japan. What about Japanese prime minister Abe’s visit to Yasukuni Shrine (靖國神社)? It did not help matters at all! This Shrine housed 14 of WW-II’s Class A War Criminals, including the master mind of the Rape of Nanking. That is why both Chinese Governments protested bitterly about it. In recent years, Japanese prime ministers had shy away from the annual visit to the Shrine as not to irk its two closest neighbours, namely Korea & China (who suffered the most), but Abe reversed the trend. In my opinion, Japan has NEVER considered itself defeated in WW-II, let alone by China & has tried hard to reclaim its “past glory”, i.e. as the centre of Asia & all Asian countries are Japanese subordinates . I feel that China & Japan will have another war to settle the scores. I may not live long enough to see it but there will & should be one. I will stop for now (this is too long) & will continue………………….. |