Striking a conciliatory tone on an issue that has divided and the United States, Defense Secretary said on Thursday that the Obama administration would follow Tokyo’s lead in working to relocate an American air base on Okinawa. NYT
So what the hell was all the fuss about last year?
Thank you, China and North Korea.
Oh, wait a second--- "follow Tokyo's lead" could conceivably be different than Okinawa's would be.
Showing posts with label Senkaku Islands. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Senkaku Islands. Show all posts
Thursday, January 13, 2011
Wednesday, November 10, 2010
Coast Guard crew member caught leaking
After being hunted for the better part of a week, the culprit who leaked the videos of the Chinese fishing vessel/Japanese Coast Guard collision to YouTube has confessed. The government is now able to breathe a sigh of relief that the person who made it look like the country was being run by the Three Stooges will possibly suffer the consequences of violating relevant laws and regulations.
There is still the worrying feeling that the apparent public support for this scoundrel may in some way resemble that of the 5/15 Incident* and that this is an attempt by the bureaucracy/military (Coast Guard) to undermine the elected government by, well, making people wonder why the tapes were being kept secret to begin with. (Not definitive enough? Didn't want problems with China?) The government will now have to explain itself in a way that does not cause people to laugh and throw rocks at the spokesperson. That may take awhile. Or forever.
"The fact that the video was leaked is a big mistake for the government," Hiroshi Kawauchi, a legislator of the ruling Democratic Party of Japan, said last week. "It is totally different from presenting it to the public in an official manner, and it leads the people's further erosion of faith in Japan's government." CNN World
Edited 1010pm and again at 1155pm.
There is still the worrying feeling that the apparent public support for this scoundrel may in some way resemble that of the 5/15 Incident* and that this is an attempt by the bureaucracy/military (Coast Guard) to undermine the elected government by, well, making people wonder why the tapes were being kept secret to begin with. (Not definitive enough? Didn't want problems with China?) The government will now have to explain itself in a way that does not cause people to laugh and throw rocks at the spokesperson. That may take awhile. Or forever.
"The fact that the video was leaked is a big mistake for the government," Hiroshi Kawauchi, a legislator of the ruling Democratic Party of Japan, said last week. "It is totally different from presenting it to the public in an official manner, and it leads the people's further erosion of faith in Japan's government." CNN World
You just know that someone, somewhere in the government, at some point has had the following conversation since the beginning of the Senkaku mess:
CIA Boss: So what did we learn, Palmer?*OK, I only read of one person who admitted to sensing such a resemblance.CIA Agent Palmer: I don't know, sir.CIA Boss: I don't fucking know either. I guess we learned not to do it again.
CIA Agent Palmer: Yes, sir.
CIA Boss: I'm fucked if I know what we did.
CIA Agent Palmer: Yes sir, it's, uh, hard to say.
CIA Boss: Jesus fucking Christ.
Edited 1010pm and again at 1155pm.
Friday, November 05, 2010
Senkaku collision video
From Japanese patrol point of view. Collision at about 1:20:
More distant view from second ship:
Hmmm...who is fibbing? Not hard to tell from those videos.
More at Japan Probe
A word of warning: It has been reported that the government did not want these videos released as they might cast doubt on China's version of the incident, thereby making China look bad and causing a pissy fit. Thus it is possible that these videos could be removed from Youtube in order to prevent them to falling into civilian hands. Foreign policy is for bureaucrats, politicians, and experts, not for armchair amateurs. What would happen if a bunch of non-professionals had been handling the Senkaku dispute in the beginning? You might have had some local yokel (supposedly) deciding on his own to release the arrested ship captain or something.
Therefore, under no circumstances should anyone download these videos using readily available free software such as Download Helper for Firefox or similar and save it to their computer. It would be undemocratic.
More distant view from second ship:
Hmmm...who is fibbing? Not hard to tell from those videos.
More at Japan Probe
A word of warning: It has been reported that the government did not want these videos released as they might cast doubt on China's version of the incident, thereby making China look bad and causing a pissy fit. Thus it is possible that these videos could be removed from Youtube in order to prevent them to falling into civilian hands. Foreign policy is for bureaucrats, politicians, and experts, not for armchair amateurs. What would happen if a bunch of non-professionals had been handling the Senkaku dispute in the beginning? You might have had some local yokel (supposedly) deciding on his own to release the arrested ship captain or something.
Therefore, under no circumstances should anyone download these videos using readily available free software such as Download Helper for Firefox or similar and save it to their computer. It would be undemocratic.
Saturday, September 25, 2010
Whaling bites back
Apparently having no life, and having run clean out of Torikai shochu, I have spent too much of a cool, clear, harvest-moon evening reading comments on English language news reports concerning the Senkaku dispute. One theme which I have noticed is the number of folks who doubt Japan's version of the collision of Coast Guard and the Chinese fishing vessel because they claim Japan cannot be believed since one of its ships rammed a Green Peace vessel and then falsely reported that Green Peace had rammed it.
No matter the truth behind the claim, Japan's reputation as a bad guy in whaling is working against it. I don't know how serious or widespread the view is at present, but one has to wonder if whaling is really worth the damage it is doing to Japan's image, especially the whaling in the Antarctic.
Of course, Japan could just ignore any damage and continue in order to show its "strong will" to other countries.
*I have read that the Japanese Coast Guard has video to support it's claim of being rammed by the Chinese vessel, but I have not been able to find any videos online. I have not watched TV much in the last few weeks and have no idea if it was shown on the news.
No matter the truth behind the claim, Japan's reputation as a bad guy in whaling is working against it. I don't know how serious or widespread the view is at present, but one has to wonder if whaling is really worth the damage it is doing to Japan's image, especially the whaling in the Antarctic.
Of course, Japan could just ignore any damage and continue in order to show its "strong will" to other countries.
*I have read that the Japanese Coast Guard has video to support it's claim of being rammed by the Chinese vessel, but I have not been able to find any videos online. I have not watched TV much in the last few weeks and have no idea if it was shown on the news.
Rambling about Senkaku
While we wait to see just how the release of the Chinese captain in the Senkaku dispute plays out in domestic politics, it interesting to read the readers' comments* on US news reports on the subject. I have noticed this pattern since the problem began---lots of folks with your typical American name like "Johnson" from Nebraska who show an unusual grasp of the history---generally backing China's views or more extreme---supporting China in this argument. Those comments which support China seem to get "recommended" much more than others no matter how extreme or absurd they are.
I am impressed. I never dreamed that your average American was so interested in East Asia, not even the Asian-Americans who live there.
Somewhere over the past week I read about the power of nationalist bloggers and their ability to pressure the Chinese government. Wonder if some of those folk speak and write English well enough to post all over the Internet. (Answer: Yes)
We can hope that China overplayed it this time, by showing how far they are willing to push, and how much they are willing to go outside of what much of the world would consider a reasonable reaction.
In June, PBS News Hour produced a report on the growing dependency of the US on Chinese production of rare earths and how a few companies were trying to get government assistance in reopening some of the mines which had been closed earlier due to environmental concerns** and low-priced Chinese competition. Maybe China's cute little ploy of threatening to cut off? (or to have actually cut off?) rare earth shipments to Japan will give those efforts a much needed boost. If the US continues being distracted by such things as whether or not masturbation is a sin, then it will have to worry about a China that now produce 95% of the world's supply and obviously has little hesitation about using that for leverage.
Methinks (along with many, many others) that China is at least a temporary loser, exactly because it did play the unreasonable bully so well. Obama spoke of the importance of the US-Japan alliance in a way which was obviously a warning---or at least a strong hint to China---and Sec of State Clinton assured Foreign Minister Maehara that the Senkaku Islands were included in the US treaty obligations. And then we even had Obama bring up the continuing problems with the renminbi with the Chinese prime minister. Any plans by China to exploit a DPJ/Futenma rift in US-Japan relations certainly fell flat.
Unfortunately, China does not yet view things that way as it continues to force the issue by demanding an apology and compensation from Japan.
Of course I am biased, and I have no idea how things will play out. I do have an idea, however, that although there may have been a number of very good reasons for Japan to have let the captain go, that the DPJ is going to (already is) be seen as giving in to China. Maybe I just hang out with a strange group of people, but I can almost guarantee to a person that they will view it as caving in to China. The Oz Lady will gain more evidence for her theories about the naturalized citizens Kan & Ozawa as handing the country over to China. A few other fellows will view it as a failure to show the world Japan's "will" without regard to potential consequences.
*Not all of these NYT comments are, of course. But a read through them should reveal plenty.
**Rare earth mining is reported to be a huge environmental problem in China too.
Edited: 6:20PM
blogger spell check does not recognize the words: bloggers, renminbi.
I am impressed. I never dreamed that your average American was so interested in East Asia, not even the Asian-Americans who live there.
Somewhere over the past week I read about the power of nationalist bloggers and their ability to pressure the Chinese government. Wonder if some of those folk speak and write English well enough to post all over the Internet. (Answer: Yes)
We can hope that China overplayed it this time, by showing how far they are willing to push, and how much they are willing to go outside of what much of the world would consider a reasonable reaction.
In June, PBS News Hour produced a report on the growing dependency of the US on Chinese production of rare earths and how a few companies were trying to get government assistance in reopening some of the mines which had been closed earlier due to environmental concerns** and low-priced Chinese competition. Maybe China's cute little ploy of threatening to cut off? (or to have actually cut off?) rare earth shipments to Japan will give those efforts a much needed boost. If the US continues being distracted by such things as whether or not masturbation is a sin, then it will have to worry about a China that now produce 95% of the world's supply and obviously has little hesitation about using that for leverage.
Methinks (along with many, many others) that China is at least a temporary loser, exactly because it did play the unreasonable bully so well. Obama spoke of the importance of the US-Japan alliance in a way which was obviously a warning---or at least a strong hint to China---and Sec of State Clinton assured Foreign Minister Maehara that the Senkaku Islands were included in the US treaty obligations. And then we even had Obama bring up the continuing problems with the renminbi with the Chinese prime minister. Any plans by China to exploit a DPJ/Futenma rift in US-Japan relations certainly fell flat.
Unfortunately, China does not yet view things that way as it continues to force the issue by demanding an apology and compensation from Japan.
Of course I am biased, and I have no idea how things will play out. I do have an idea, however, that although there may have been a number of very good reasons for Japan to have let the captain go, that the DPJ is going to (already is) be seen as giving in to China. Maybe I just hang out with a strange group of people, but I can almost guarantee to a person that they will view it as caving in to China. The Oz Lady will gain more evidence for her theories about the naturalized citizens Kan & Ozawa as handing the country over to China. A few other fellows will view it as a failure to show the world Japan's "will" without regard to potential consequences.
*Not all of these NYT comments are, of course. But a read through them should reveal plenty.
**Rare earth mining is reported to be a huge environmental problem in China too.
Edited: 6:20PM
blogger spell check does not recognize the words: bloggers, renminbi.
Friday, September 24, 2010
Never say no to Panda
Via Twitter Hiroko Tabuchi of NYT. Never say no to Panda. This (release of the ship captain involved in the Senkaku dispute) does not look good domestically for the government....Or for anyone else, I would guess without knowing any better.
Replaced after the original went private. Censorship always fails, you know....
Replaced after the original went private. Censorship always fails, you know....
Twitter reports
that Japan has released the captain of the Chinese boat involved in the Senkaku dispute. Ohh, this does not look good for domestic politics, I fear.
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
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