History, Oil, Saving Face, Oil, WWII, China, Japan, Oil, and WWIII. There are those within the countries of both Japan and China that hope to rile citizens to a conflict between China and Japan. This would, of course, be catastrophic. The following are diplomatic solutions that could assuage both sides of the East China Sea. Sometimes simple solutions are the right way to go.
Some fear war
Dear Japan:
Give the Diaoyudao Islands to China (Japan's claim to the Senkaku Islands began after the seizure in 1879 of the kingdom of Okinawa);
Honor the East China Sea Air Defense Identification Zone (ADIZ) (negotiate the distance it must be from your shores)
Acknowledge your invasions of China's terroritories;
Apologize for Nanking.
Dear China:
Graciously accept Japan's apology for Nanking and other invasions;
Accept the Diaoyudao islands gracefully;
Scale back your new East China Sea Air Defense Identification Zone (ADIZ) so that it is at least 200 miles away from the shores of your neighbors, including Japan;
Stop pushing for the Ryukus Islands.
Dear China and Japan:
Negotiate a deal regarding the Oil and Natural Gas deposits in the East China Sea like you have in the past. Remember 1982
I think the above are reasonable solutions that allow both China and Japan to save face.
There are many issues behind the manifestation of China's announcement of its ADIZ this weekend.
Let's explore the history, natural resources, and some maps to see if the above suggestions make any sense.
You will hear talk about the disputed islands in conjunction with the ADIZ announcement that, if you don't dig a little deeper, could lead you to believe that China just wants these islands and the air space above them.
No. The islands and the air space are two separate isssues.
The Disputed Islands, which are uninhabited rock formations, about 80 miles northeast of Taiwan each have two names. A Chinese name and a Japanese name. These islands are about 200 miles from China's coast, 250 miles from Okinawa, and over 400 miles from Japan's coast.
Here's what the two largest "disputed islands" look like on Google Earth
Another pic from the BBC
In truth neither country had much interest in these islands until the early 1970s when large oil deposits were discovered about 100 miles north of the disputed islands.
Japan took ownership of these islands when it captured Okinawa in the late 19th century. Someone in Japan gave these seemingly worthless islands to a Japanese man, who gave them to his son, who sold them recently to a Tokyo businessman who is being wooed by Tokyo and the country of Japan to sell them.
Is it worth risking peace in this area to side with Japan's claims on these islands that are closer to China than they are to Japan? I think not.
East China Sea Air Defense Identification Zone (ADIZ) isn't linked to the disputed islands; however, anyone with an understanding of the game of GO will understand China's move.
In this map we can put some perspective to these two issues. This is the map of the ADIZ
This pic shows the ADIZone in perspective. Look for the small red areas just NEast of Taiwan and the yellow marker on the Google earth map. These are the disputed islands which, you can see, are just not that big of a deal except in historical perspective by either the Chinese and the Japanese.
The ADIZone covers a huge area in comparison to the disputed islands. I will be very surprised to learn that China wouldn't scale back the ADIZ if Japan would concede the Disputed Islands.
As you can see, China has its ADIZ expanded to cover a large portion of the East China Sea. I suspect that there is room to negotiate the ADIZ area, but ONLY if China is given the Diaoyudao Islands.
The red triangle lines you see on the Google Earth portion of the above pic each represent between 400-500 miles. The red line from the Disputed Islands and Okinawa represents 250 miles.
Concession of these islands only makes sense.
The Chinese people suffered greatly during the invasions of Japan. What would it cost the Japanese people to apologize? To be fair, have all the European countries apologized to the countries they terrorized in their quests for Empire Building?
Is it time for a Worldwide Big Hug? That's what, so what, now what? Or must we remain mired in revenge mode?
Can China and Japan move on, forgive, and work together?
Or is this al Kabuki Theater? Are the Chinese and Japanese pretending to be in a battle in order to weaken the western powers?
I guess we would need to better understand the game of Go.
THE GAME OF GO, instructions:
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SOME READING MATERIAL
FROM CHINA: November 23, 2013: Announcement of the Aircraft Identification Rules for the East China Sea Air Defense Identification Zone of the P.R.C.
http://eng.mod.gov.cn/...
2013 China maps out its first air defense ID zone
http://eng.mod.gov.cn/...
2013 Statement by the Government of the People's Republic of China on Establishing the East China Sea Air Defense Identification Zone
http://eng.mod.gov.cn/...
1982 - HOPE OF OIL KEEPS CHINA AND JAPAN AT ODDS ON ISLETS
http://www.nytimes.com/...
NAHA, Okinawa— Until the late 19th century, when Japan took over, this city was the capital of an independent kingdom, owing distant allegiance to China.
''The island kingdom didn't know exactly what islands belonged to it,'' said Dr. Mikio Higa, Deputy Governor of Okinawa Prefecture and a local historian.
This is the background to a territorial dispute between China, Taiwan and Japan over a small group of uninhabited islets 300 miles southwest of here and 80 miles from Taiwan.
To the Japanese, they are the Senkakus; to the Chinese, the Diaoyu Islands. They are in an area that may well be ''one of the largest oil and gas reservoirs in the world,'' a United Nations survey said in 1968.
2013 - Telegraph
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/...
2013 - Japan Rejects China’s Claim to Air Rights Over Disputed Islands
http://www.nytimes.com/...
AGAIN, the Air Rights are not related to the Disputed Islands, these are two separate issues imo.
Taiwan Relations Act
http://en.wikipedia.org/...
Taiwan Status: Secrets of the San Francisco Peace Treaty, August 25, 2002
http://www.amazon.com/...
Senkaku Islands
http://en.wikipedia.org/...
TWO COUNTRIES, TWO VERSIONS
The Japanese version
The Chinese Version
Diaoyu Islands cannot be bought
Do the youth of China and Japan know history? Do they know that nationalism is often used by power to incite a population to war?
Have both studied Machiavelli?
At what point do the masses stop taking the bait the powerful use to foment unrest?