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Chinese ship with largest-ever cannon enters Japan's waters near Senkakus

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My cannon is bigger than your cannon!

18 ( +19 / -1 )

In reality size really doesnt matter!

9 ( +13 / -4 )

China upped its stakes in the region.

76mm Naval Gun, 12,000 Tons Displacement, the Most Powerful Coast Guard Ship of the World

https://youtu.be/QYsSkioGBfo

7 ( +8 / -1 )

near the Senkaku Islands in the East China Sea.

There is a hint in the name....

A non story, China sailed some boats around some pointless island that BOTH China and Japan say are theirs.

Easy solution, draw a line down the middle Japan gets the east and China the west.

-18 ( +7 / -25 )

Japan's security would be much safer without unnecessary territorial disputes with South Korea and China. The Russian Northern Territories dispute is unavoidable.

-4 ( +2 / -6 )

Time for Japan to locate anti-shipping missiles on the islands.

China will just keep pushing and pushing, until you either surrender out of exhaustion or push back. They will only respect force as that is their own mindset.

8 ( +14 / -6 )

76mm? Yes sir, who said size don't matter!? LOL

-4 ( +0 / -4 )

It's not the size, it's what you do with it!

4 ( +7 / -3 )

Is showing off a big gun trying to make up for the unseen, smaller, gun of the leaders?

Some videos of Chinese aggression on the seas:

https://youtu.be/oul6SwRC50Q 12 yrs ago, Chinese boat rams Japanese Coast Guard. At the very end, there's a Chinese graphic explaining/lying about what happened. Compare the video to their graphic.

https://youtu.be/eoJWEznRKOs 2021 Japanese Coast Guard dispel Two Chinese fishing boats in Japanese waters; 3 different countries claim the islands. That needs to be resolved in an international court. BTW, why do Chinese Coast Guard ships look extremely like US Coast Guard ships - even using red-white-blue colors?

https://youtu.be/PB4BcgOp1sI Oct 2022 US, Philippines and Japanese Coast Guard ships expel illegally fishing Chinese ships. Bit of a fluff video. It is more about the 3 countries training together to convince China to accept the Hague ruling on Chinese waters. Their bogus claim was denied.

1 ( +3 / -2 )

Time to refurbish those WW2 relics - HMS Belfast, The Missouri , etc. ?

3 ( +6 / -3 )

why to worry with most powerful US navy here,,,/irony off/

-6 ( +1 / -7 )

last trip Fumio did was in China and he could solve this issue with chinese but he did not do at all?

but trip was nice and sushi were good.....

-3 ( +4 / -7 )

China won't do anything to Japan as long as the US is still there.

3 ( +6 / -3 )

Like a hungry group of Chinese tourists at the buffet table. Brace yourselves!

4 ( +5 / -1 )

My cannon is bigger than your cannon!

I've never seen so much fuss over a three-incher. Eighteen inches on the Yamato!

5 ( +5 / -0 )

Dear China, be nice..

6 ( +8 / -2 )

Repeated ratcheting, by degrees, boiling the frog alive. For domestic audience. China. Give it a break, please.

3 ( +4 / -1 )

China cant help itself, it must stir up trouble in the region on a daily basis. Continuing proof China is not interested in peace, only in total control.

6 ( +8 / -2 )

The Senkakus have long been a source of tension between the two East Asian countries. Japan maintains its stance that the islets, called Diaoyu in China, are an inherent part of its territory.

Japan claims that the Senkaku islands, called Diaoyu islands in China, are “an integral part of its territory." But China also claims to the same effect. Thus, there's a serious conflict in the two countries' claim. 

If there is a conflict as such, the issue must be discussed to the nail to see whose claim is more legitimate and convincing.  It must be solved diplomatically, not by saber rattling.

Resorting to force is the most deplorable, nonsense and shenanigans. Dialog is urgently needed here.

-2 ( +3 / -5 )

In the world of naval cannons, a 76 mm gun is a very common caliber used by navies throughout the world. The article should have said it is the largest caliber gun to be mounted to a Chinese Coast Guard ship. The Vietnamese Coast Guard has a couple of old US Coast Guard Hamilton class cutters with modern Oto-Breda 76mm guns. Same for the Hamilton class ships sold to the Philippine Navy. Moar navies have at least one class of ship with a gun of that caliber. Most JMSDF and USN DDGs mount 127 mm main guns. In any event the days of ships banging away at each other with cannon is long gone. Deck guns are good for intimidating smugglers and illegal fishing boats into complying with searches of their cargo or catch looking for violations. Most smugglers or fishermen are not going to challenge a ship with a deck gun. Most western coast guards are moving away from the Oto-Breda 76 mm gun in favor of the excellent Bofors 57 mm gun. Lighter turret, same range as the best 76mm gun and more than twice the rate of fire while being more reliable.

8 ( +8 / -0 )

Russian President Vladimir Putin was in the complete wrong when he tried to solve the Ukraine issue by force. By inflicting agony and disaster, antagonism and enmity must have engendered in the mind of ethnically Russian-tied Ukraine toward Russia.

-4 ( +2 / -6 )

Japan should develop tourism on the Senkakus, then invite Chinese tourists to come visit peacefully if they love it so much.

2 ( +2 / -0 )

Just like the PLN, sorry “Coast Guard” to bring a big gun to a middle fight.

Wave it around all you want, boys. It’s heavy. It doesn’t float and push comes to shove, neither will your boat.

1 ( +2 / -1 )

voiceofokinawaToday  11:46 am JST

The Senkakus have long been a source of tension between the two East Asian countries. Japan maintains its stance that the islets, called Diaoyu in China, are an inherent part of its territory.

Japan claims that the Senkaku islands, called Diaoyu islands in China, are “an integral part of its territory." But China also claims to the same effect. Thus, there's a serious conflict in the two countries' claim. 

It's up to China to bring the dispute to the ICJ if they want to resolve it in a civilzed manner.

However, China has already declared that they will not recognize International jurisdiction in matters that concern it's sovereignty. So let's stop pretending that China is playing by the same rules as everyone else.

3 ( +3 / -0 )

“missile fight” Damn you, autocorrect!

0 ( +0 / -0 )

OssanAmerica, FYI:

I think ICJ won't take up a sovereignty issue unless two concerned parties file suit concurrently. Since Beijing has no intention to file the Senkaku/Diaoyudao issue to ICJ, the international court is not the venue in which to scrutinize the matter.

However, dialog may be open at private and civilian level. So, how about making this thread a forum to discuss the issue? Any voluntary discussant or poster who wants to say the Senkaku/Diaoyu Islands have belonged to China historically and under international law?

-1 ( +0 / -1 )

It seems China will eventually take over the island. In this world, "expressing concerns" doesn't get you anywhere. Japan should be commended for practicing restraint.

-2 ( +0 / -2 )

Sink it.

-1 ( +1 / -2 )

Japan Learn from NK just keep or make a few nukes or just bluff in media u have a nuke the China will behave very decently n respectably towards Japan as China just want to hoard everything by bullying only n if other side just twitch a finger they run away

0 ( +0 / -0 )

In a Nuclear War situation, which would you rather be - a Submariner or Mariner ?

As @Desert Tortoise points out, the days of whose gun is bigger are long over.

The tactics of the Somali Pirates and Iranians, have shown you don't even need a big boat to be a bigger threat. Drones & Missiles are the current thing in Modern day Naval warfare.... as boring as that may seem to modern day Gamers...

0 ( +0 / -0 )

BertieWoosterNov. 26  09:00 am JST

It's not the size, it's what you do with it!

It is not the size of the ship in the water that matters, but rather, the motion in the ocean.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

In a Nuclear War situation, which would you rather be - a Submariner or Mariner ?

As @Desert Tortoise points out, the days of whose gun is bigger are long over.

A funny thing but I was a Navy pilot. It's in my blood. Alpha Strike! Warheads on foreheads. But talking to some fighter/attack pilots about modern anti ship tactics and the efficacy of certain weapons their reply was that there won't be much left for them to shoot at after the submarines are done.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Why are these barren islands called "Senkakus" in Japan and "Diaoyudaos" in China?

Common nouns in a language are very ad hoc in naming objects. There's no reason why things are called as they are in languages. However, proper nouns are different from common nouns in that there's always reasons behind -- why they are called by such and such names.

Kubajima (久場島)or Huangwei Yu (黄尾鱮)in Chinese in the Senkaku/Diaoyudao Islands was an important landmark for ancient Ryukyu (Okinawa) seamen and traders navigating on the Naha, Okinawa-Fuchuan sea lane. These seafarers, who were thoroughly familiar with the Senkaku waters more than anyone else, called this landmark "Kubajima" because, according to one theory, the island was covered full with “kuba” (or Areca) palms. But I think it was called by that name because the island's shape is quite similar to that of another island called Kubajima, that is located about 40 km west of Naha, Okinawa Island, on the same sea lane. When necessary, the former was called "Iigun Kubajima" to distinguish it from the latter. 

Wasn't the Chinese "Huangmao (Yu)" (黄毛)as recorded by Chen Kwan (陳侃, 1534)and "Huangwei (Yu)"(黄尾)as recorded later, meaning "yellow hair or tail", a homophonic translation of Kuba(jima)? Note that the k-sound of Japanese (and Ryukyuan) ordinarily corresponds to the h-sound in Chinese. For example, 上海, 海宝, 海南島, (中国)海警, 漢, 河南, 黄河, 中華, 華為, etc., in all of which the characters with the k-sound in Japanese are pronounced with the h-sound in Chinese. So it's very likely that Ryukyuan "kuba" was a homophonic translation haphazardly written in Chinese characters as Huanmao (黄毛). Or did the ancient Chinese think the island was inhabited by mythic animals with yellow tails or hair and so they called it as such? 

The easternmost island in the chain is officially called Taishojima in Japan, but historically it used to be called Kumi-Akajima by Ryukyu seamen. Here, too, we see the same mechanism of nomenclature as in the case of Kubajima. There's an island called Akajima in the Kerama Islands whereby Kumi-Akajima in the Senkakus must have been named after this with Kumi added to differentiate it from the original.

The Chinese call this island Chiwei Yu (赤尾鱮), meaning "red-tailed island." Does it mean the Chinese believed the island was inhabited by animals with red tails? Isn't it a semantic conversion of what Ryukyu seamen called Kumi Akajima (久米阿嘉島), which could mean "Kume Red Island" in folk etymology? 

The name "Senkaku" comes from English "Pinnacle Islands." The British ship, HMS Samarang, made a port at Ishigaki Island three times and on its second port calling in May, 1845, it launched out upon an exploration of the hitherto unheard-of island group which the islanders called Iigunjima. Approaching the islands northward from Ishigaki Island on May 8, they must have been struck with the similarity of the first approaching island to Bartolome Island in the Galapagos, which is famous for its Pinnacle Rock, thus calling the island group Pinnacle Islands. The Japanese name "Senkaku" was coined after this by a natural history teacher named Hisashi Kuroiwa, in 1900, who hailed from Kochi Prefecture in Shikoku and taught at Okinawa Normal School. 

The Meiji government called the largest island in the chain "Uotsuri-jma", which is an apparent translation from the Chinese "Diaoyudao". It also called the adjacent islands lying southeast of it "Kita Kojima" (North Islet) and "Minami Kojima" (South Islet) respectively. The Chinese names "Bei Xiaodao" and "Nan Xiaodao" definitely come from these Japanese names.

Why did the Chinese call the island (group) Diaoyudao meaning "fishing island"? Did unworldly men, as often depicted in Chinese drawings, live there and spent days angling for fish? Or have Chinese fishermen come here to engage in blue-water fishing since ancient times? Note, however, that blue-water fishing started only recently with the development of modern refrigeration technology.

Isn't "Diaoyudao" a semantic conversion of what a Chinese royal mission to Ryukyu were explained to by Ryukyu seamen and traders traveling and navigating together aboard the same tributary ship? Chen Kwan, the Chinese royal mission head, must have thought of Diaoyuchen (釣魚城) at Chongqin when he translated the vernacular IIigunjima into Chinese around 1534.

Note that Chinese royal envoys came to Ryukyu Kingdom 25 times during the period from 1373 to 1866. During the same period, Ryukyu seamen, traders and the Ryukyu King's appreciatory envoys sailed to China more than 200 times.

 All these linguistic and historical facts must be taken into consideration before anyone says anything definite about sovereignty over the Senkaku/Diaoyu Islands.

 

Conclusion: Can Beijing confidently claim the Senkaku/Diaoyu Islands are China's sovereign territory per se whereby it can send ships with deck cannons to Senkaku/Diaoyu waters to defend its sovereignty?

0 ( +0 / -0 )

(Correction of the fourth paragraph:

Wasn't the Chinese "Huangmao (Yu)" (黄毛)as recorded by Chen Kwan (陳侃, 1534)and "Huangwei (Yu)"(黄尾)as recorded later, meaning "yellow hair or tail", a homophonic translation of Kuba(jima)? Note that the k-sound of Japanese (and Ryukyuan) ordinarily corresponds to the h-sound in Chinese. For example, 上海, 海宝, 海南島, (中国)海警, 漢, 河南, 黄河, 中華, 華為, etc., in all of which the characters with the k-sound in Japanese are pronounced with the h-sound in Chinese. So, it's very likely that Chinese "Huanmao"(黄毛)was a homophonic translation of Ryukyuan "kuba". Or did the ancient Chinese think the island was inhabited by mythic animals with yellow tails or hair and so they called it as such?

0 ( +0 / -0 )

The following is an excerpt of a reader's letter published on Taipei Times: Feb 5, 2013, entitled "Okinawan view on Diaoyutais (Taiwan's call of Senkakushoto/Diaoyudao)":

Some say that the Diaoyutais Islands (釣魚台) were ceded to Japan — which calls them the Senkakus — by China’s Qing dynasty in the Treaty of Shimonoski as a result of the First Sino-Japanese War. They then argue that since Japan accepted the terms of unconditional surrender stipulated in the Cairo Declaration after World War II, it should observe these terms and fulfil its obligation –– including losing all islands in the Pacific region.

Manchuria, Taiwan, the Pescadores and other affiliated islands were restored to China automatically when Japan surrendered. The Ryukyu Islands, including the Diaoyutais, were stripped from Japan and put under a US trusteeship.

Why weren't the Diayoutais returned to China when Taiwan was restored? Apparently, they were not considered spoils of war taken by Japan.

The international community took the post-World War II regime for granted. Even the People’s Republic of China that had assumed power in Beijing in 1949, kept acknowledging the “status quo” until 1971.

In the Jan. 8, 1953, edition of the People’s Daily, an article describes the island chain stretching between Kyushu and Taiwan — the Ryukyus — and calls an island group in the chain “the Senkaku Islands.”

The article was discovered among Chinese government archives in December last year and is reported to describe the Senkakus as part of the Ryukyu Islands, which were a geo-political entity at the time.

The Treaty of Taipei signed on April 28, 1952, stipulates that Japan renounced all rights to Taiwan, Penghu, the Spratly Islands (Nansha Islands, 南沙群島) and the Paracel Islands (Xisha Islands, 西沙群島), over which Japan no longer had any jurisdiction, but it left out the Diaoyutais.

These documents and historical evidence reflect that China — regardless of who was in power in Beijing — had thought until at least 1971, that the Diaoyutai Islands were Japan’s sovereign territory, not just something that Tokyo won after the First Sino-Japanese War.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

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