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| China-Japan-Koreas | ||
| East China Sea tension: China conducts naval exercises | ||
| 2012-10-20 | ||
| China is conducting naval exercises in the East China Sea, state media report, amid heightened tensions with Japan over islands both claim. The exercises are aimed at "sharpening response to emergencies in missions to safeguard territorial sovereignty", state-run Xinhua news agency said. They involve 11 ships and eight aircraft, including vessels from marine surveillance and fisheries agencies. The agencies' ships had been "harassed" while in disputed waters, it said. China said the exercises would take place on Friday, but gave no details of the location in the East China Sea. China, Japan and Taiwan all claim the islands, called Senkaku in Japan and Diaoyu in China. Japan controls the islands, which lie south of Okinawa and north of Taiwan. Japan's recent acquisition of three of the islands from their private Japanese owner sparked both diplomatic and public protests in China. It is unlikely the 11 Chinese ships will try to enter Japanese-controlled waters, but if they did it would be a major escalation of the dispute - from one involving civilian vessels to ones explicitly involving military ships and aircraft, says the BBC's Rupert Wingfield-Hayes in Tokyo. The US has called for cooler heads to prevail in the dispute,
But Japanese media reports say Japan and the US are planning a joint military exercise in coming weeks that will include retaking a remote island.
"The owner of the islands had already made it clear that he has decided to sell the islands to someone," he said. "Under such circumstance, the Tokyo metropolitan government could have bought them. The situation could have been much worse, if the government didn't buy the islands, I believe that Mr Ishihara would have landed on the islands by now." While Mr Gemba emphasised Japan's sovereignty over the islands, he said it was crucial for both countries to prevent further escalation of the situation. "For Japan, China is the largest trading partner. Japan also has the largest number of businesses investing in China. On the issue of sovereignty, Japan cannot concede where it cannot concede. But our economies are interdependent and we want to cherish the mutually beneficial relationship," he said. "To achieve the goal, Japan and China should maintain and reinforce communications. We also have to respond to the situation in a controlled, restrained and calm manner." | ||
| Posted by:Steve White |
| #3 CHINESE MILITARY FORUM > JAPAN AND US TO CANCEL ISLAND-TAKING DRILL. THEY'RE BRINK [blinking?] AND BACKING DOWN, LOL | [Google News] REPORT: JAPAN, US TO CANCEL ISLAND DRILL. Ostensibly to defer from anatogonizing China. |
| Posted by: JosephMendiola 2012-10-20 23:42 |
| #2 FREEREPUBLIC > US AIRCRAFT CARRIER CRUISES DISPUTED ASIAN SEAS. USS "George Washington" CVN, going again like its namesake into the breach, dear friends. |
| Posted by: JosephMendiola 2012-10-20 23:15 |
| #1 TOPIX, WORLD NEWS > JAPAN'S RIGHT [Wing]- GOING NUKE? "Post-US", "Mahanist" Rising China wants protection for its desired future PLA Milbases on TAIWAN, + unfettered, unchallenged access into WESTPAC, ETC. PACOAS = MAJOR TRADE ROUTES vee the OKINAWA-TAIWAN-PHIL straits. It behooves China, then to reunify ASAP wid Taiwan, or in the alternate to "control" Taiwan in place of the US, before installation of US-led GMD-TMD is complete + before Japan regains the right to Nuclear Weapons. Again, at this point in time China = East Asia [NEAsia + SCS] may be more dangerous that Risng Iran. FYI BEIJING > is denying alleged Reports from CHINESE MEDIAS of Party-Govt collapse or near-collapse in Xinjiang + other West China provinces. IFF TRUE, ADVANTAGE = RADICAL ISLAM = MILITANT-TERROR GROUPS. Beijing may become more nervous or twitchy than it already is vee islands dispute wid Japan + ASEAN. |
| Posted by: JosephMendiola 2012-10-20 22:56 |