Japan hosts military symposium that U.S. hopes will help contain China

@Desert Tortoise. Thank you for your insight. I have heard similar family horror experience. God bless.

@AndyPanda, from the vantage point of someone with family who lived through the 1949 revolution and Cultural Revolution, let me add some insight. The very first Chinese republic was founded by Dr. Sun Yat-sen after the defeat of the Qing. He led that Republic even until an untimely early death. By that time Mao was already plotting a communist revolution. Jiang Kai-shek succeeded Dr. Sun as the leader of the Republic of China and of the KMT political party. He led the fight against Mao and by 1937 was ready to defeat him when he was pressured to abandon the fight against Mao and concentrate on fighting Japan. Jiang was almost removed from power by peers within the KMT because of his focus on defeating Mao.

Mao fled to the north in the Long March which I call the Long Retreat. He bid his time seldom if ever engaging Japanese forces, preferring to inform the Japanese on the positions of KMT forces so the Japanese would attack them and not his forces. Mao knew that the Soviets would enter the war and push Japanese forces out. He used the time to rest his forces and re-arm with the best Soviet equipment, biding his time for a post war China where he could continue his fight against the KMT.

ROC forces bore the brunt of combat in China during WWII and when the war was over they were worn out. That is when Mao made his move with fresh troops and new equipment. My family in Shanghai is an example of what happened afterwards. Nobody really knew what to expect. They were tired of war and tired of fighting. They had absolutely no idea that Mao would confiscate their homes and businesses or suppress them to the degree he did. My own family lost everything during the Cultural Revolution, their home taken by the Red Guards and Momma run out of the classroom and banned forever from teaching. The family was forced to live in abject poverty in the country side and was not permitted back in Shanghai until the 1980s.

The ROC government on Taiwan is what is left of Sun Yat-sen's first Republic of China, and America's WWII ally. By the 1970s the ROC government under an elderly Jiang was perhaps as oppressive as that of mainland China and the US was on the verge of abandoning them. But Taiwan reformed and is now a model democracy. Meanwhile my family in China still lives under the oppressive rule of the CCP wishing their grandparents had fled to Taiwan in time to avoid the suffering they have endured.

A good argument could be made that the CCP is not really the legitimate government of China. They aided the Japanese and used them to gain power in the immediate aftermath of WWII while the Republic of China did all the heavy fighting to protect China from Japanese dominance. The communists did not come to power through a popular election but rather took advantage of a war weary population to impose themselves upon the nation. Given time I suspect the ROC government on Taiwan will outlast the CCP.

Below are examples I was able to quickly find regarding coup attempts, factional politics and the hatred Xi Jinping among senior PLA officers. It is not comprehensive by any means. Some of the best articles I could not find quickly so I posted these before the page could refresh.

https://www.wionews.com/world/prominent-chinese-hawks-warn-xi-jinping-to-avoid-serious-mistakes-31708

https://tfiglobalnews.com/2021/10/10/as-pla-stands-at-the-cusp-of-a-mutiny-jinping-mellows-down-on-the-taiwan-front/

http://www.indiandefencereview.com/spotlights/xi-jinpings-fight-against-coups-and-assassination-bids/

https://www.orfonline.org/research/the-rise-of-the-xi-gang

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/policies-politics/article/2116176/coup-plotters-foiled-xi-jinping-fended-threat-save

https://sinoinsider.com/2017/09/did-xi-jinping-foil-a-coup/

@Strangeland. I am just stating the obvious facts. I am not communist. Do you think Bruce Lee could fight 100 gangsters? Maybe. There is a second batch of 100. Now what? Hong Kong is getting bullied by China. What did any western country do to help Hong Kong?

Meanwhile, the entire planet knows that Taiwan is a free nation, and if the CCP tries to attack their military will be shown to be just as ineffective as the Kremlin's.

Everyone knows Taiwan is a province of China.

I'm not saying you're CCP, but the only people that make that claim are the CCP, and those under the authoritarian pressure of the CCP.

Although I'm sure that there are just some supporters of authoritarianism in general that have nothing to do with the CCP who would parrot the line for them.

I wonder if you are one of the above types of people...

Everyone knows Taiwan is a province of China. It is a civil war that has not ended yet. China says it is an internal affair and it is testing the water to see what the US would do. Taiwan needs the US to help it. The US is getting all the neighboring countries to gang up on China. It is a proxy war against China without fighting China directly. In the meantime, the US will sell a lot of weapons to these countries and it will probably keep Okinawa for a few more decades. China may not have any impressive weapons. But it can overwhelm Taiwan in a matter of days by sheer numbers. What if China fires 100 missiles towards the US 7th fleet? I am talking about overwhelming the 7th Fleet with basic missiles by a huge number. A US colonel wrote a paper on this basic strategy.

"Chinese President Xi Jinping has called on troops to "put all (their) minds and energy on preparing for war" in a visit to a military base in the southern province of Guangdong on Tuesday, according to state news agency Xinhua."

The PLA hates Xi Jinping. They tried to get rid of him in a failed 2017 coup attempt. They may try again at the upcoming party congress this October. The PLA is not prepared to invade Taiwan, they know it but fear Xi Jinping doesn't. They also resent the isolation that Xi's policies have brought China as nations once friendly to China now keep them at arms length and view China with suspicion rather than trust or admiration. And the PLA really despises when Baby Ping Ping dresses up in a military uniform and struts around in front of them demanding to be called Chairman. Xi never served a day in the military. He has zero credibility with the PLA.

The proxy war instigated by USA against china will take place in Taiwan and Japan

Yes, yes, yes, according to our Chinese propagandist the US and Taiwan wishing to maintain the present status quo of a self governing Taiwan and the US defending Japan's territorial sovereignty in the face of Chinese claims on Japanese territory is somehow conflated into a "proxy war instigated by the USA against China". Btw, China is spelled with a capital C, lol.

Containing a country, Ie, prevent it from rising/advancing/becoming better, what is the purpose?

Would it not be better? if you use/spend all your time/effort/money in making your own country rise/advance/become better? Less waste/conflicts/confrontations, everyone can trade/earn more money, better life for all

The world, including and maybe especially the US, tried that tactic. There was a strong belief that mutual trade and increasing social contact with the democratic world would eventually lead to democratization. Where it worked to moderate harsh dictatorships in places like Taiwan, South Korea and Greece and lead to democratic reform, that policy has not so far produced the same results wrt China. Over a decade ago Hu Jintao appeared to be headed in that direction. There were experiments electing officials at a low level in some small towns and one could freely discuss the horrors of the Cultural Revolution. It was even taught at Fudan University in Shanghai. But since Xi Jinping came to power all of that has gone out the window. He is a Maoist true believer. He is intent on making China a communist , socialist state, has booted some of China's wealthiest entrepreneurs from the companies they built, tells private industry to look to the state owned industries for guidance and has a huge dislike of the west. The party also made a decision not long before the pandemic that the US was an implacable foe that would never be their friend and thus had to be confronted at every opportunity. They still see some possibilities for good relations with the EU but increasingly EU nations are becoming disgusted with the Chinese. Brazenly stealing IP from companies doesn't get a nation respect. The CCP are nothing more than thieves. I am afraid that as long as Xi Jinping remains in power and the policy of their government is to steal the IP it is too lazy or ill equipped to develop in house, there is no chance for any kind of accommodation between the Chinese and the west.

In a perfect world, smaller countries would not have to worry about invasion from Chinese or Russian dictatorships.

Some of us are paying attention !

The proxy war instigated by USA against china will take place in Taiwan and Japan. Mark my words. I’m searching for rental accommodation in Fiji, NZ or Aussie. Unfortunately we can’t take our dog, so I guess we will…

China is an economy based on trade, this makes them extremely vulnerable to sanctions, unlike Russia, which can hold the world hostage by its vast natural resources.

They won't attack Taiwan, everything from them is bluffing.

By the way, I'm increasingly convinced Russia will come out as the winner and redefine the future world for the aforementioned reason

'Contain China' really? Meanwhile, who's going to contain the rogue state of the USA.

indigoToday  10:23 am JST

Japan is clearly preparing WAR , China is just defending its territory.

Wrong.

"Chinese President Xi Jinping has called on troops to "put all (their) minds and energy on preparing for war" in a visit to a military base in the southern province of Guangdong on Tuesday, according to state news agency Xinhua."

https://edition.cnn.com/2020/10/14/asia/xi-jinping-taiwan-us-esper-intl-hnk/index.html

Containing a country, Ie, prevent it from rising/advancing/becoming better, what is the purpose?

Would it not be better? if you use/spend all your time/effort/money in making your own country rise/advance/become better? Less waste/conflicts/confrontations, everyone can trade/earn more money, better life for all. If, there is any problem, obviously there will be among countries, deal with that individual problem/issue, instead of "containing a country" which means what?

The answer is, keeping/maintain hegemony/ability to influence.

Japan hosts military symposium that US hopes will help contain China:

Yet another one.

US started The Pacific Amphibious Leaders Symposium in 2015 as a military pivot to push for deeper ties with like-minded nations in Asia.

Is that due to China phobia or other undisclosable covert agenda..?

*Around 70 PALS participants visited a naval base and army camp near Tokyo on Thursday to observe drills and inspect military equipment, including hovercraft and Osprey aircraft carrying troops. U.S. Forces in Japan also displayed a High Mobility Rocket System (HIMARS) similar to ones the Pentagon is supplying Ukraine to help it fight off Russian invasion forces that Moscow says are there on a "special operation."*

In the recent past the japan well-healed media used to propagate at how sinister the Ospreys were. Now, they don't propagate. Why? Because they realize that they need America more than ever so they've wisely decided to shut their collective mouths.

Taiwan's sovereignty does not exist

Imagine if the latest UAPs ( UFOs) sightings and verifications are actual time travelers , or time traveling drones from our own distant future. We are being studied as the generation that had it all, could’ve solved everything if we wanted, but still allowed ourselves to regress back to this ‘mine is bigger than yours’ mentality and went about destroying each other on as many fronts as we could imagine. ( All for some ridiculous bad blood, greed and one upmanship )

The daily updates and back and forth between the commentators here just give me this feeling that none of this is going to end well.

Where are all the discussions about how to deescalate the fight? China and your team of internet defenders, what is it you think you want and need to relieve you of your revenge bloodlust? Can you state it in plain and simple terms ? Your hatred for the west and America in particular is palpable. Can you start to see , even for a second what you may look like from our eyes ( not an American , but love the crazy buggers! ) and from where we stand on the sidelines? We will promise to do the same and return the favor if you can.

And the west, the PALS, how do we engage with a collectivist and diplomatically awkward entity, one that is more focused on signaling to itself from within than dealing with the reality of the world in any real objective sense? The inner narrative more important than the outer one. How do we NOT push the buttons that turn up the hatred volumes to 11? Any suggestions y’all? Soft power from both sides is the only way forward, yet never see anyone throwing either side a rope.

In the meantime, and I’m not saying it’s a bad thing, there’s a lot of weapon makers getting very, very rich all while precious resources are being funneled towards what could be our very own self made destruction. ( hence the mysterious observers floating about and stupefying speeds! ) Global recessions and food shortages toka…. All seems very motainai, so how do we get to the big WE?

As for us here in Japan we probably eat at all the same restaurants anyways! Seems a bit daft ne, like watching a B rated movie sometimes! Sorry for the long winded appeal. Have a great day EVERYONE!

Russia and China are belligerent countries who have no qualms about using violence against peaceful countries.

Just like the US is and Nippon Kaigi boys would like Japan to be. Afaik, China hasn't invaded anyone for five decades. US are currently at war directly or indirectly in several countries. The invasion of Ukraine is unjustifiable, but seriously, claiming China is a larger threat to world peace than the US is not based on facts.

The Pacific Amphibious Leaders Symposium (PALS)

Pals? That’s pretty lame. Doesn’t “project power” in the least. Do they have a mascot character too?

DT, impeached for what

The PRC military is completely untested in war.

China is not going to fight a 1940's war like Russia's against Ukraine. It'll be through hypersonic missiles. They can pepper an area of 20 square miles with missiles per Pentagon reports.

hopes will help contain China

Why should the U.S. be the only one risking its homeland on behalf of its allies?

China is a threat to Taiwan's sovereignty and Japan's corporate interests. Otherwise, any talk of "containment" is just nationalist fearmongering and justification for higher military budgets and more arms deals.

Russia and China are belligerent countries who have no qualms about using violence against peaceful countries. If you’re Japan, South Korea, Australia, etc., you have basically two choices. Bury your heads in the sand in fear or develop a concerted strategy to defend yourselves. If Ukraine and Taiwan are invaded today and tomorrow, who will it be after that?

American will not support a war,

Mmmmm, I would say that depends upon the circumstances. There is no love for China in America. If China conducted an attack on Taiwan or Japan the US would go to war and throw everything it had into the fight. No holding back. If they attacked an unsavory neighbor that would be different but attacking a democracy would provoke an immediate military response. It would take the US Congress maybe two days to impeach any President who refused to defend Taiwan so visceral is the hatred of the CCP among both parties and the public.

American will not support a war,while lots of Japanese delude themselves,we will fight for American Japanese and American Russian

@Fighto

Size matters !

Japan has only won ruthless sneak attacks so it would be extremely difficult to view that as battle expertise.

China never surrendered it's entire country and military and suffered atomic bombings and then had it's constitution written by foreigners forced on them , or their whole educational and medical system changed.

Again its too difficult to view Japan as historically being a winner !

The American will support a war,that threatened their safety,the American public is the ultimate decider,not Biden

Nice to have PALS innit. Just sit back and watch the tantrums with them. As above, no need to even engage.

Japan is clearly preparing WAR , China is just defending its territory.

Hopes will help contain China

That is a lofty hope and to be honest a little wimpy and pathetic .

China has battle experience and is more clever than some realize.

China also has the worlds largest quantum computer and in this digital age thats something to be more concerned about than measuring conventional weaponry .

And no the Ukraine crisis has absolutely nothing to do with the Taiwan issue.

China should think long and hard about this, any aggression will be a mistake and will make it a pariah on the world's stage forever.

These reporters sure love the war-mongering and spreading of fear. Is there an election looming?

BTW - please point to any victories the "mighty" Chinese military has had over Japan. I think you'll find it's almost always been in Japans favour. And that will remain.

Tang and Ming Dynasties in Korea when China went to help the Koreans. China has never tried to invade Japan (Mongols don't count).

Mark : You forgot pre-empt attacks which over the centuries Japan have shown are specialist at. Japan Navy destroy the Russian Navy which took decades to rebuild. Took on the Americans with a pre-empt on Pearl Harbour. So China would be very alarmed with Japans military built up over the last decade.

Japan doesn’t stand a chance against the Chinese military.

I have seen the JMSDF and PLAAN both up close and personal. Our ship was part of a Japanese task force for an exercise along with other regional and some European navies. Ship for ship and sailor for sailor, the Japanese are better trained and better equipped than the Chinese. The only advantage China has is sheer numbers. With F-35Bs on carriers, even small ones, Japan will have a better air wing than the Chinese but Japan needs four such carriers eventually and big replenishment ships so they can stay in the fight and not return to port so often. In most ways the Chinese ships I have seen are inferior to Japan's, much inferior in fact.

@Fighto, you might want to acquaint yourself better with the equipment, training and capabilities of the PLA, PLAAF and PLAN. No the PLA hasn't fought a major ground war since the 1979 invasion of Vietnam, but Desert Storm really surprised them and they took the lessons of that war extremely seriously. The Iraqi Army was equipped much like the PLA back then and had similar combat doctrine. Seeing the US, Brits and French forces roll over them in 100 hours, and the effects of precision guided ordnance was beyond anything they imagined possible. It was sobering to them and they took the lesson to heart. You see it in their equipment and training today. They are better trained and in most areas better equipped than the old USSR or modern Russia ever was. And oh btw they are involved in the war in Tigray and in Libya.

Japan doesn’t stand a chance against the Chinese military.

Laughable.

The PRC military is completely untested in war. The Japanese military may be smaller on paper - but that is not where wars are fought. Well organised, high-tech and working with many regional allies. Japan has friends - as this symposium clearly shows. China?

BTW - please point to any victories the "mighty" Chinese military has had over Japan. I think you'll find it's almost always been in Japans favour. And that will remain.

Peace and security can only be maintained with Strength and unity. North Korea, China, Russia or any other nation will take every opportunity to extend it's influence across it's borders.

Japan along with it's allies must be ready to protect and defend their nations more than ever based on recent events in Europe.

Misleading headline again. The USA and other countries hope to contain China. Not only the USA.

"There is no nation that can do it all by themselves, everyone has a piece to offer."

The opening paragraph and title doesn't match the remaining content. Should have been titles 'Nations unite in Japan to coordinate against rogue nuclear powers'.

Where's the containment? China, NK, Russia are all seemingly using their nuclear status to create chaos everywhere, it's not about containment, it's about peace and stability.

18 freedom-loving nations who are working side-by-side to protect democracy and sovereignty from a totalitarian, Communust bully.

This symposium is vital - because the Ukraine of today will become the Taiwan of tomorrow if good people and nations sit on their hands.

Some Japanese are asking for it from China

Just curious: if China invades Taiwan, will they have any PALs? Or is their plan to just go it alone?