And Obama has called the US-Japan alliance "a cornerstone of world peace and security." Perhaps it means a bit more than Blinky's pout in the Senkaku dispute---the non-existent dispute which just may exist after all.

The gloves come off

China has gone too far. It may take a month of research and a specialist's knowledge* of The Law of the Sea to determine who is correct in the-territorial-dispute-which-does-not-exist-except-that-it-does** concerning the Senkaku Islands and to figure out why China has decided to escalate the incident to the (increasingly risky) level that it has, but men-of-more-words-than-action like our hero Shintaro "Blinky" Ishihara have no time for such wimpy school-marmish nonsense.

Earlier this week, Ishihara, upon learning of China's cancellation of a visit of 1,000 young Japanese to the Shanghai Expo, issued this bone-chilling response: "Even if they ask me to come, I will not go." (Japan Times)

OH. MY. GOD. We have gone beyond the point of war now. We have gone Blinky. Imagine the fear and regret that such a comment from a novelist-turned-politician must have struck in the hearts of the Chinese leadership!

Just suppose you were holding a party in your home, and Blinky, who has spent decades insulting you and your family, refused to come if for some reason you suddenly decided to invite the crusty old bigot. How would you feel?

I call for calm.

*Another Futenma?

**Newly appointed Foreign Minister Seiji Maehara has stated: "There is no territorial dispute in the East China Sea....The Senkaku Islands are an integral part of Japan's sovereign territory." Japan Times

DPJ's Maehara shows himself to be an intellectual dupe; surges in polls

Japan Bashing, the term created by an American lackey and lobbyist for the Japanese government, Robert C. Angel in the 80s has made a comeback in the DPJ with Transport Minister Seiji Maeha:

"Should there be any Japan-bashing, that would not be positive for the American economy either," he said, referring to a possible extreme backlash against Japanese manufacturers, which he said had been avoided so far. Japan Times

--------------------------------------------

I [Robert C. Angel]hoped to be able to discredit those most effective critics by lumping them together with the people who weren't informed and who as critics were an embarrassment to everybody else."...

...Angel, who says he is now embarrassed by his triumph, commented, "I view that modest public relations success with some shame and disappointment." And added, "Those people who use (the term) have the distinction of being my intellectual dupes." Wikipedia

In other unrelated news, PM Hatoyama's support has dropped to 20.7%, according to the JT.

Edited to add, knowing fully well this has nothing to do with the intellectual dupe's "Japan Bashing" theory:

Seiji Maehara, minister of land, infrastructure, transport and tourism, surged into second with 10.6 percent. Maehara, who is in an anti-Ozawa group within the DPJ, had just 4.9 percent support in the previous poll. Same JT article as directly above.

I sincerely apologize for being unfair to the dupe.

Why must I edit html to get blogger to format, to use the correct font, and to do about anything else? And even when I do, it ignores what I enter?