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Chinese ships sailed through disputed waters off Tokyo-controlled islands on Monday, days after Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe caused an international stir by comparing Sino-Japanese relations with the run-up to World War One.
Three Chinese coast guard vessels spent around two hours in the 12-nautical-mile territorial waters off one of the Senkakus, which China claims and calls the Diaoyus, Japan's coast guard said.
It came as Abe was in New Delhi, where he and Indian counterpart Manmohan Singh affirmed plans to strengthen defense cooperation, including conducting joint maritime exercises on a "regular basis with increased frequency".
His three-day visit to India is being keenly watched by China, analysts say. Beijing is sometimes uneasy about what it sees as an attempt by the US-backed Japan to encircle it.
Beijing also has an often-fractious relationship with Delhi, partly because of a border dispute that erupted into a brief war in 1962. India is keen to burnish friendships in the region to offset its neighbor's growing might.
Abe was in Delhi days after he drew a comparison between Japan and China's relations and those of Britain and Germany as they stumbled toward World War One.
For its part, Beijing has sought to conjure the specter of Nazism by comparing Abe with Hitler and urging him to emulate Germany's post-war contrition.
Chinese state-owned ships and aircraft have approached the Senkakus on and off to demonstrate Beijing's territorial claims, especially after Japan nationalised some of the islands in September 2012.
© (c) 2014 AFP
17 Comments
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nath
Actually 1914. With regard to all this increased activity, Japan could simply resolve the situation by admitting there is a dispute and referring the matter to the ICJ. Many posters here think China should agree to do so, but while Japan insists there is no dispute it doesn`t make sense to do so
stalingrad2014
This is their routine job and there is nothing worth to be headline news
Ryokai
Abe is correct in thinking the current state of affairs is like pre-WW1 but he is fairly tactless in coming out and saying it. Regarding WW1, when the Archduke was killed in Sarajevo in 1913 all nations were aligned with some other country and therefore had to choose sides. There was also a lot of 'jingoism' and military buildup in Europe at that time. Today, If there was a shooting war with PRC, USA would support Japan and then Australia, New Zealand would support the USA because of the Anzus treaty. Then all ASEAN nations and probably NATO as well would throw in their support for the USA. The PRC would be essentially isolated. Russia would be a question mark, but as Russia doesn't like the PRC and don't want to risk a confrontation with pro-USA forces they would likely remain neutral and opportunistic.
nath
Japan doesn't want to admit there's dispute on the islands, so China keeps on doing this stuff, to remind them (and the world.) Simple as that. Just reminders to keep the dispute alive. It will be routine. Since the last status quo was broken, this will be the new status quo. Both sides can save money by sending fewer ships. May be put the rounds on the calendar, to avoid misunderstandings.
flowers
Here is the devious intention of Abe’s visit to India. Calcutta-based The Telegraph reported, “Japanese officials, at preparatory meetings with their counterparts in the ministry of external affairs, had indicated that in exchange for Tokyo's strategic and economic investment in India, it wanted Delhi to criticize China in the joint statement.” "But anything directly referring to China would have upset our friends in Beijing - and that is something we simply cannot afford," a senior Indian official told the paper. Abe is really a trouble-maker.
gelendestrasse
It's clear that the Chinese are trying to extend their claim(s). But with Abe's muddled foreign policy I'm not sure what Japan can do about it at the moment.
China won't take this to the ICJ because they would expect to loose. But as long as they can behave like Japan did prior to WWII and get away with it they will.
OssanAmerica
No, China was sending fishing boats to the Senkakus to further their territorial expansion well before Ishihara came into the picture. The 2010 Chinese fishing boat JCG ramming was engineered by the Chinese government to create an international incident. Abe was not PM then. If China thinks there is a dispute they are the only ones who can bring an action to the ICJ. Japan will have no alternative but to respond in that forum.
nath
Get out of Japan Chinese!
nath
By the status quo, I mean the unofficial agreements between Japan and China in 1972, and 1978, which agreed to "shelve the dispute", and leave it for future generations to solve. By nationalising the islets, the Japanese government basically slammed the door to dialogue shut in China`s face. If they bought the islets to forestall Ishihara as they claim, then why are they not sitting down and discussing re-opening the door to dialogue which was so abruptly shut in 2012?
WilliB
aussie-musahshi:
....and why did Ishihara come in and try to force the issue by buying the islands for Tokyo? If you think he just came up with that idea out of nowhere and there were no claims from China before, I suggest you read up on recent history.
nath
Yes, as a result of Japan playing into Ishihara`a hands by changing the status quo over the Diaoyu / Senkaku islands. Then refusing to recognise the existence of a dispute. So yes, you reap what you sow
WilliB
It is high time for China to scale down the aggression and rethoric, but the CP is trapped in its own propaganda. After decades of indoctrinating their citizenship with nationalism and then starting this stupid row about the Senkakus, they would now loose face if they backed down. It is a really bad situation. The best I can hope for is they just keep the aggression on this level and dont escalate further.
TeacherX
It's an interesting style of diplomacy that countries in this region are trying, we are yet to see the conclusion of this process. I am sorry to say it does not look good for the tax paying citizen of any of these countries as it is leading to an arms build up funded by them. The continuing policy to make the public angry is helping to support nationalism in Japan. China states that it does not want Japanese nationalism to increase yet it is fuelling it. The same can be said for Japan.
nath
You reap what you sow, Abe
nath
I worry about the Senkakus every day.
Nippon_Banzai
Am I reading another recycled news again.
SecularBeast
Yeah, the CCP and PLA - they're just a bunch of peace loving guys being provoked by Japan.