Abe visits island near disputed chain

During an election cycle like this one, Abe just has to be feeling pretty confident right about now to be spending so much time down in Okinawa and not just the main island of Okinawa but heading out to Ishigaki too.

If Abe continues this kind of provocation for election purposes, he is just asking for China to respond. China will definitely respond and I don't think it is good for either party.

I don't think it is good for either party.

Which two party's are you referring to here? Right now it's the LDP and everyone else.

Visit only? He should set up a home on one of those wonderful rocks and bother us no more.

Scott Johnson, he can call it Abe Jima? Got a nice ring to it I think, heck even the voters would probably endorse government funding to make it happen.

Who told him? "Chinese government ships frequently sail to and roam around waters surrounding Senkaku islands,” Abe said"

If Abe continues this kind of provocation for election purposes, he is just asking for China to respond. China will definitely respond and I don't think it is good for either party.

Thank you Mr Xi Jinping for precious informations about Chinese navy and army movements!

But seriously, what are you talking about? In China every part of Japan is near the disputed islands so what's the problem?

Abe is like a runaway train, the New Komeito better apply the brakes.

he doesn't look like abe. I think abe sent a body double.

175 KM to Senkaku as "near". OK.

The visit comes just a few days ahead of elections for half of the seats in the upper house of parliament, which observers expect to be a shoo-in for Abe’s Liberal Democratic Party.

Yep. Even Asahi is predicting this which can be also be interpreted that they are seeking for sympathetic votes and for some who intended to vote for LDP to enjoy the Sunday and not go to the polls.

Asian2013Jul. 18, 2013 - 06:56AM JST

If Abe continues this kind of provocation for election purposes, he is just asking for China to respond. China will definitely respond and I don't think it is good for either party.

You mean Abe shouldn't visit Ishigaki Island because China might not like it? Exactly how is that a provocation? Don't worry, the only way China will "respond" is with its usual barrage of anti-Japanese propaganda which it does on a daily basis anyway, or don't you read the Chinese media? China is upset because Abe appears headed for a majority; it would much rather see another DPJ government with Noda or some other space cadet as Prime Minister which it could push around at will.

Headline is misleading - he visited Ishigaki which is a pretty big island and one of the most popular ones in Okinawa. It is undisputedly a Japanese island but headline almost suggests that he visited Senkaku islands themselves, even though they are several hundred km away.... When he comes back to Tokyo they can also report that he visits an island close to the disputed Senkaku islands... Oh well...

Last I checked Ishigaki Jima is part of Okinawa Prefecture. Or has China claimed that too and I missed it? So who gives a flying wonton about what China may say or do? The entire world knows that China's belligerence has affected Japanese politics for the first time in some 70 years in fact.

Has anyone else thought that China might want Japan to go far-right? I've paid particular attention to China's political "direction" against Japan for over a good decade. Ever since Jiang's second term, China had been particularly motivated against Japan.

Sure there might be historical hatred among the people but it seems to me that China, or I should be more specific, the Chinese military PLA is actively seeking out an adversary similar to how US is in the middle east. There is an old saying in military confrontation, pick the fight you know you can win and take out the biggest dog among the weak. If you look around China, I think the PLA had a target fixation on Japan. You'll think that everything China had done is targeting Taiwan, at least militarily as they claimed. But from every aspects, it seemed like an extreme overkill against Taiwan.

So this anti-access/area denial strategy is geared toward US but more specifically US's involvement in the area. So its not directly against US but doing enough to push US back so it can focus on its real targets. Meaning they must have absolute confidence in dealing with these targets if US can be taken out of the equation.

If you add all that up, I think Japan had fallen into a trap setup by China. Japan has to expend some much resources and energy into dealing with its periphery and security that it will eventually strain its economy or military personnel. And every step that a Japanese politician or leader such as Abe take toward elevating the perception of this dispute, China is winning every step closer.

If I am Abe, I will ignore these dispute and turn the focus to something else, like the strictly on the economic front. All these disputed water intrusion or patrolling, just ignore it politically. Its forcing Japan into a direction that it can't possibly win anything out of it.