Features Politics
Faith Aquino on Jun 19 2013
On top of maritime disputes between Japan and
China, the latter’s continuous military buildup worries world leaders and diplomats. During a Bloomberg Government breakfast on Tuesday in Washington, Kenichiro Sasae, Japan’s Ambassador to the US, referred to China’s “provocative” presence in the East and South China seas as “harassing.” Japan, with
the US’ support, had even urged China to “restrain” from its relentless disposal.
In order to bolster political ties between Japan and
Russia, Prime Ministers Shinzo Abe and Vladimir Putin agreed to have Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov visit Japan. Discussions concerning territorial issues, among others, will surely be on the table. These are expected to be handled through subcabinet-level talks.
A resolution proposed by the
United States strongly criticizes China's actions regarding the ongoing territorial dispute with Japan over the Senkakus, or Diaoyu Islands. A similar resolution is also being proposed in the House of Representatives, following a summit between US President Barack Obama and
Chinese President Xi Jinping last weekend.
The government of
South Korea is of the opinion that the facts about the disputed islands in the Sea of Japan, called Takeshima by the Japanese, and Dokdo by the Koreans, presented in Japanese history textbooks are distorted and their education ministry revealed on Friday that it plans to call on Japan to “correct” these problems.
Japan, the United States and South Korea are scheduled to hold senior-level meetings in Washington next week to put into perspective
North Korea’s continued efforts to further its nuclear weapons development program. The three nations, having taken the responsibility of guarding the security and stability of the region, will look to convene again after six months of not having talks at this level, this revealed by a Japanese government source on Thursday.
Japan's
Ministry of Defense is keen to create a special assault team fully equipped to fortify remote islands and recapture them should an invasion occur. The ministry finds the current forces not enough to respond to amphibious attacks, which are most likely to come from its neighbor
China. The plan was revealed during a meeting of the Liberal Democratic Party.
In a phone call on Wednesday, US President
Barack Obama and Japan's Prime Minister
Shinzo Abe discussed several issues, including the stability of East Asia despite the territorial disputes between the countries in the region. This comes after Obama's meeting
over the weekend with Chinese President Xi Jinping.
It’s not unknown that
China is causing maritime disputes with its Asian neighbours. What bothers though is China’s dubious military buildup. A deputy commander of the US Marine Forces Pacific expressed his concern at the Pentagon on what China’s shady activity can do in the Asia-Pacific region.
Japan’s Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga said on Monday that Japan and the
United States do not differ in their stance toward the Senkaku Islands in the East China Sea. The Japanese government's top spokesman made his comments after United States President Barack Obama asked Chinese President Xi Jinping in their meetings to
strive for de-escalation in its territorial dispute with Japan, a dispute whose existence Tokyo indignantly refuses to acknowledge.
Japanese tourists used to flock to
South Korea since the Tokyo and Seoul are just one hour away from each other by plane. But it seems that economic and political factors have drastically changed that scenario and now the Korean tourism industry is hurting because of the drop in visitors from its neighbor.
