Japanese finally come face to face with its past territorial aggression

By China Watcher

There was an article in a Korean daily which I would like to share with the readers. Mind you, this is not a propaganda article from China but from another Asian country. This is not the typical or stereo-type of reporting from the West like the US said this and Japan warned this and so forth. We’ll see now how the US, the Japan protector, can come to its assistance.

Japan refers to the four islands of the southern Kuril archipelago as the "Northern Territories." The Japanese government designated Feb. 7 as "Northern Territories Day" to mark its claimed ownership of the islands. This is different from "Takeshima Day," which was designated by only one Japanese province to mark Japan's claim to Korea's Dokdo islets.

But the four southernmost Kuril Islands are under Russian control, unlike the Senkaku Islands, which are under Japanese jurisdiction and which China calls Diaoyutai. Japan has taken a noisy approach in its dispute over the Kuril Islands and a silent approach in dealing with the Senkaku Islands.

Tokyo's strategy has been to present areas under foreign control as being disputed and areas under its control unquestionably so. In dealing with Dokdo, it has taken the clever approach of annoying Korea so that it protests loudly against Tokyo's claim. The approach did not stem from a belief that Dokdo and Kuril Islands are different. It merely places lower priority on Dokdo because of Korea's strong alliance with the U.S, which also plays a key role in Japan's national security.

Tokyo applies one principle to all of these territories -- that there are no historical problems that could undermine its territorial claims. In other words, it claims it never controlled those territories against the will of other countries during the colonial period. But China and Russia see the territorial disputes as historical issues. China says Japan occupied the Senkaku Islands in the late 19th century when China was in turmoil, while Russia believes it merely won back the four islands in its World War II victory.

Dokdo cannot be seen from the same perspective, but the common factor is Japan's persistent denials of history. It writes off anti-Japanese protests in China as internal disputes stemming from a widening income gap, high unemployment among the young and political chaos, almost as if it is chiding China for being politically underdeveloped. There is no soul-searching whatsoever among Japanese officials asking themselves why there is anti-Japanese sentiment among the Chinese.

The same goes for Korea. When anti-Japanese sentiment flared in Korea after Tokyo identified Dokdo as part of its own territory in school texts in 2008, Japanese officials and experts wrote it off as a ploy by the Korean government to unite a public divided over beef imports. And when the global financial crisis erupted, a Japanese newspaper even featured a column saying Korea will most likely end up begging Japan for money.

On Monday, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev visited the Kuril Islands, rubbing salt on a highly sensitive spot for Japan as its territorial dispute with China rages on over the Senkaku Islands. Now it is Japan that is accusing its regional neighbors of reigniting imperialism. It says China and Russia, which have grown economically powerful, are flexing their muscle. But if China and Russia are guilty of imperialism, Japan is equally guilty of denying its imperialist past. This is clearly demonstrated in the anti-Japanese sentiments flaring up among the Chinese and Russian public, which are fueling China and Russia's territorial challenges against Japan.

China and Russia are no longer former communist countries lagging behind in economic power. The more Japan denies its history, the greater the challenge it will face, and this will hurt stability in Northeast Asia. Japan has finally met its match.

China may need to plot a long term strategy to live without Japan

By China Watcher

The diplomatic skill of the Japanese in handling its relationship with China is deplorable. Perhaps, the hard line stance and the recent comments on the disputed isles were strengthened by the military and moral support given by its main protector, the US.

The US, a country which dwells on its technological superiority and military might played the game of a two-timer – on one hand to be a strong protector of Japan and on the other hand to try to come in as a mediator to the current flare between the second and third largest economies. So can you really trust the US? The answer is obvious.

Rare earth is a commodity which we know is depleting in its supplies throughout the world and it is China right to limit the volume of export to manage and to preserve the commodity for future generation. Furthermore, the extraction of the minerals is known to pose a major health risk due to the polluting effect of the industry. China is indirectly telling the users that it is the right time for these users to search for the minerals elsewhere and China is not interested to be a 97% world producer of such commodity at the lowest price indefinitely. The cheap price of its own commodities can best be used in its own industries where the consumption is already assured. But Japan and other Western nations continue to make a hue and cry over the issue, perhaps, to portray to the world that China is an unethical producer and neighbor.

Japan will not relent on the few islets which remain an important part of Japanese mission to stretch its sovereignty claim that would include even Taiwan and certain parts of Philippines under the 200 km exclusive economic zone from the nearest islets or atolls.

China must clearly re-look at a strategy to be less dependent on Japan and if possible, to plot the country mission to grow and develop further without Japan.

China, being a self sufficient country with a huge productive population, can survive without Japan but I am very doubtful Japan can survive without China, given that the US, a strong provider to the island nation 30 years of prosperity, is at the pinnacle of its economic and military level and is now on a declining slope. But the Western media and many experts from the West still do not accept this fact willingly but to try to hide the outright shame of losing the status to an Asian country that do not practice Western liberal democracies. That is the main reason why these Westerners and power makers from the West (with a clear hidden agenda) have been promoting India, not because of its potential as a future economic power but because it is a democracy. India has many fallacies and I don’t think it would even match up to China in the next 30 years. I have more faith in Brazil than India when it comes to making a prediction even though I am the same person who believes that Asia should be main impetus of growth in the next 50 years.

China is aware that the US still plays an important part as the main provider of economic activities but over the past few years, we have also seen China role in enlarging its trade with other emerging countries other than the US. As for Japan, I can only view Japan as an investor and possibly as a miser in providing technology.

Presently, China view India as a more important economic partner than Japan and as such the redeployment of a strategy to move out of the Japanese economic sphere would not be very difficult although I have to admit a large measure of sacrifice had to be made by all Chinese people throughout the world in the short to medium term.

What new pressure is the West talking about over the Nobel Prize

By China Watcher

It really amazes me how the Western media continue to twist the issue to its own advantage by claiming that there is new pressure over the Nobel laureate.

Taking comments from the Japanese Prime Minister, the US and possibly the voice from EU in Brussels and another comment from Norway over the cancellation of meetings with two small time diplomats, the media tried desperately to portray and exaggerate the situation as though the pressure on China is so great that China will need to change. A clear case of trying to mislead the reader to think that this is what is happening.

First and foremost, the criticisms are mainly from WESTERN NATIONS (make up of not more than 30 nations) and also, from a US “protectorate” JAPAN. They do not represent the WORLD. So where is the PRESSURE!

Secondly, a lot of Third World countries (160 independent nations) have not made any comments on the awards. Silent meant that they do not agree with the West. One possibly reason is that its own dissidents would someday be given the JUNK AWARD if they do not toe the Western way of livings or standards like what happened in Cuba and Venezuela.

I like to state here, that the JUNK AWARD has no impact on China. China should continue to ignore what the Norwegian government has commented or will said in the near future as it will have no bearing on its relationship with the rest of the world.

Let the Norwegian government think about the repercussions of its wrongful decision. The Sino- Norwegian ties is just not worth the trouble.

Who says Norway is not involved in the Nobel Peace Prize

By China Watcher

Norwegian Minister claimed that the Norway Government has no role in the prize winners' selection is not true. The Norwegian Parliament is the body which appointed the members on the Committee that decided on the Nobel Peace Prize just like the Corporate Board which appointed its members to a decision making Committee who then will vote for a particular venture or business proposals. The Norwegian Parliament consists of elected representatives of the present ruling Norwegian Administration and I am sure that the Cabinet will have an influence in the appointment of “friendly” members. But the government choose to “wash its hands” by making untruthful claims that they are not the people in the selection of the peace prize. Furthermore, the government has been pre-warned not to support such a move but continue to make press statement supporting the choice of the Nobel Peace Award for this year.

The Nobel Prize is a western tool and it does not represent the wishes of the people who crafted it. Last year winner, the selection of the current US President was really a bad choice as I am still wondering and continue to wonder how did Obama contributed to Peace when he could not even resolve the Middle East Crisis and the North Korean nuclear issue.

China shall continue to retaliate against the Norwegian government and to send a clear message to the world that they should not interfere in the governance of China and its people.

What Nobel Prize? A piece of Western Junk!

By China Watcher

If you witnessed every year on the award of Nobel Prizes for Sciences like Chemistry and Physics, the winners are mostly people of Caucasian background with perhaps, one or two Japanese who are known to be very gullible for things that are Western. Does this really mean that the people of other backgrounds other than the Caucasian people are not intelligent or creative enough to win such awards? Why? If you can do just a bit of research and find out who are behind these awards you will have the right answers. Yes, the Committees (decision makers) of these awards are made of persons appointed by the Swedish government and sponsored by the US and big Western companies. Don’t ask me the reason but somehow the world press (mostly Western media) has given so much authority to Sweden, a small European nation, who is very proud of themselves as intelligent beings and civilized people of this earth.

And the Nobel Prize is administered by the Norwegian parliament, another small Viking nation whose elected representatives consist of only 5 million inhabitants. The reason why this award is given so much recognition is also due to the flow of information controlled by the mostly Western media. As people of the Third World and the developing nations, representing 2/3 of the population of the world, the question I would like to pose is why should we be easily influenced by these awards which is to spread Western influence and its’ so called universal values into our civilized societies. (“WHY” here means Third World and Emerging Nations).

The award of the Peace Prize to Third World countries dissidents is not new and yesterday prize given to Liu Xiaobo is not a surprise. The West hope that by giving this award it will spur democratic changes in China and that the Western standard of human rights are adopted in the most populous nation. I have stated this many times – the change to the political structure in China is up to the Chinese people and that being an ancient country with a strong asian values and age-old tradition, it will take a while. It is not up to a few sparkling individuals promoted by the West to champion the downfall of the one party rule. The Chinese people in groups will have the final say and it is also up to the Chinese people to develop its own brand of democracy which may not be similar to the West.

The award of such prize will normally have no impact on the country concerned of which it is directed and if you run through the list of dissidents awarded, did you see any change to the ruling government. A big NO. The award perhaps will do its part to excite the human right activists and lovers.

Following the award, some of world WESTERN political leaders call for the release of the imprisoned dissident. Take note of the world – only WESTERN. And the interviews published by the Western media only focus on those few human right activists certified persona-non-grata by the Chinese government like Desmond Tutu, Dalai Lama and of course, the foolish Lech Walesa. Why only now? Shouldn’t this be a continuous call if they are serious about it? The hypocrisy demonstrated is really unbecoming.

Beijing have every right to make a very strong representation over the case. Liu Xiaobo is just a normal criminal based on Chinese laws and I call for China to downgrade its bilateral relations with Norway. This is one of the many acts of the West to demonize China and its people and people of Chinese origin throughout the world should take note of this.

If you are an Asian and you want to win the Nobel Prize, just become a famous dissident and you will be rewarded handsomely by the West. Winning the other Sciences prizes are difficult because you may need to turn yourselves into a Caucasian performing research in a Western university.

China is not fearful of a “US protectorate” known as Japan

By China Watcher

Western media, as usual, played up a similar tune that Japan has the upper-hand and continue to emphasize that the Diaoyu islands are Japan’s territory which is not up for discussion following the Chinese fishing boat collision with Japanese patrol vessels in September near the islands in the East China Sea that are claimed by both countries as well as Taiwan.

Chinese media pointed out that the disputed islands are Chinese owned based on Chinese historical annals. Actually, both sides have reiterated their own stand but most Western or US media, with a hidden agenda, left out the Chinese version of this and highlighted the Japanese version which is only one part of the story. Some Asian countries media particularly the online Singaporean owned Channel News Asia, published the one sided story taken wholesale from Reuters or AFP.

I noticed over the past weeks since the arrest of the fishing boat captain after the incident, the news coming from the West put the blame squarely on China and its’ so called “authoritarian” rulers.

First, what has this current Chinese government, which is not elected by the people generally, has to do with the crisis. Even if the Chinese government is run by democratically elected individuals, the response towards the infringement of Chinese territory or sovereignty will still be the same, if not worse. There were actual Chinese government efforts to restrain the huge anti-Japanese protest in China over the incident. Taiwan, a renegade province of China, is a good example of a democratic entity where the people are also up in arms against the Japanese claim that the no man area is its own territories.

Secondly, the reaction of the Chinese, I would say is normal and the response is acceptable to the large number of people of Chinese origin throughout the world. Japan put the good bilateral ties with China at risk by gambling on the notion that maintaining a tough stance with the arrest of the “trespassers” will strengthen its opinion that these disputed islands belonged to them. Beijing suspended ministerial-level talks with Tokyo and postponed talks on jointly developing undersea gas fields were good calculated decision which are deemed more “mature” responses as compared to the Tokyo release of the fishing boat captain (as stated by the Western media).

Beijing demanded that Tokyo offer an apology is also a measured and well thought request because the captain and his crew were detained in an area where the sovereignty is questionable and hence, it is not wrong of the Chinese government to seek for one. The argument from the Japanese that the Chinese trawler tried to ramp the Japanese coast guards is also questionable since the collision of a small trawler with a strongly build steel hull would tantamount to be more like a “suicidal” effort.

The imposition of a de facto export ban on rare earth materials needed in Japan for advanced manufacturing during the spat has opened up debates in the Nippon country of seeking substitutes or alternatives. The exports of valuable resources from China to the world are many and it is not easy for a small nation like Japan which is deprived of natural resources to locate cheaper and reliable substitutes elsewhere. Let see how Japan in the next few months come up with such a strategy.
The hue and cry by the Japanese cabinet and the many hawkish politicians can be depicted as “smaller little brothers throwing tantrums at their bigger brother who refused to give it to their unreasonable request”.

The impromptu meeting in a hallway at a conference in Europe was the highest-level contact between the countries since a bitter territorial dispute. This is needed very much by the Japanese and I believe it is initiated by the Japanese delegation.

Japan still has territorial claim or disputes with Russia over the northern territories off Hokkaido since the Second World War. The Russian has stand firm on the matter and Japan is left pondering what to do next. Perhaps, the bigger protector of Japan the US has some ideas but so far, we have not seen any.

As China is getting stronger and confident by the day, it is important not to be afraid of Japan for the following reasons:

1. Japan is deemed a small nation with no resources. India, Brazil and even Russia will one day overtake the industrialized nation due to the vast potential in terms of size and resources.

2. China is no longer the “sick man of Asia” as proclaimed by imperial Japan in the 1930s and 40s. At present, China has already proven over and over again that this stigma is wrong by becoming the second largest economy and has also made significant advances in science and technology.

3. The US which is Japan’s known protector is already on top of the world for the past one century and I believe that there is only direction when you are at the peak, that is, to move down and we are seeing some signs that this is happening. The question is how many years more can US protect them.

4. Japan has certainly lost its Asian identity and it is becoming more Western which indirectly means that its own society that promotes family bonding, industriousness and the display of strong problem solving spirit would no longer be present.

5. Japan cannot even do anything over the Kurile Islands occupied by Russia since World War Two.

6. China has diversified its investment and its market to the EU countries, ASEAN, Africa and certain Latin American countries to be less reliant on Japan and the US.

7. Japan and the South Korea economies are now very dependent on the strength of the Chinese economy, and the well being of these two countries would suffer if they antagonize China.

8. Even it there is no investment from Japan, China will still be able to survive albeit at a slower growth rate. In fact, the Japanese are not known to be generous in the transfer of technologies as compared to the French and the Germans.

9. China has team up with Russia and made a common stand in dealing with Japan over the territorial matters.

10. In terms of international diplomacy, the Chinese are far ahead of the Japanese whose foreign policy had become very much US-centric.

China winning ways shut up the French crowd

By China Watcher

At the recently concluded World Badminton Championship 2010 in Paris, France, China won all five titles a feat that they have achieved only once at the World Championships in 1987 in Beijing. The 5 titles are the Men and Women Singles, Men and Women Doubles and the Mixed Doubles.

China has already won 3 titles on that day given that the matches involved players among the Chinese. I watched the final 5 matches on Sunday and it is no surprise that the French crowd was cheering for the opponents. Why? If you remember, this is the city which has given the honorary citizenship to the hated dissident Tibetan independence leader, the Dalai Lama. By openly cheering against the Chinese players at every point within a game, it indicates that the French do not want a Chinese to win, a sign which is extended to the ordinary Chinese people.

A survey taken last year during the height of the Tibetan spiritual visit to France revealed that Parisians have a soft spot for the wily Tibetan leader. More than 50% of the Paris citizens do not like the Chinese. I think if a survey is conducted in China after the announcement of the results, it would also indicate a distinct dislike of the hypocritical French people.

Although the sport is not a top sport in the Western world as compared to other racquet games like Tennis, it is still one sport where the Asian people shall continue to assert its authority. Tennis popularity is where it is today because it is played by people in the West and at one time, completely dominated by the Caucasian.

China has proven to the other Asian communities that they can excel in sports which do not require strong physical attributes but with “skills and brains”.

It was certainly and eventful day. The winning of the 5 titles was good not only, to assert the Chinese near domination in the sports but also to silent and shut up the largely Parisians crowd.

China should not give much priority to its relations with Britain

By China Watcher

The recent trip by the British Foreign Secretary, William Hague, to China has damaged the already worsening relations with China. Instead of building political trusts and enhancing economic ties, he has completely shown discourteous acts by passing negative remarks on Tibet.

The issue of Tibet has been and always will be a prerogative of the Chinese and nothing to do with foreigners or let me put it specifically, Western government. Westerners in this context, I refer to comprising mainly the people and its government from the US, France, Germany and the UK at this particular juncture. Let me reiterate that these governments and its people are sympathizers of the Dalai Lama.

Britain has its own fair share of problem with the Northern Irish community who wants independence from UK but this was not given for the fact that it still wants to preserve a united Britain. There were still dissenting bombs exploding every year in Northern Ireland and there is nothing the UK government has done other than to delay the ultimate truth.

Mr. Hague raised his concerns on Tibetans while meeting with his Chinese counterpart Yang Jiechi. It is also likely that he picked up the same topic when holding strategic talks with Chinese State Councillor Dai Bingguo. Both Chinese officials sternly refuted the British stance on the Tibet issue. But the Western media mentioned that the Chinese officials took these criticisms in stride. Is that so? I personally do not think so, as the Chinese Foreign Ministry made it very clear and warned that the Tibet issue bears on China's sovereignty and territorial integrity and that it is China’s internal affairs.

As a government seeking stronger relations with Beijing, Britain should show real sincerity in respecting China's core interests. The situation of human rights in present-day Tibet is the best in history if compared to the situation when it is still a feudal country ruled by the monks. Britain, as a former colonizer in India, would clearly understand this particular predicament when it ruled India which is just next door to Tibet in the early 90s. With due respect, Britain should not give any stage to Tibetan separatists led by the Dalai Lama.

Judging from the unfriendly remarks passed by one of the highest British officials, I doubt whether there would be an improvement in ties between China and UK since the execution of a British subject by the Chinese authorities last year and the trading of words at the Copenhagen summit on global warming between the two nations.

China and its people can accept criticisms but it must be constructive and do not borders on Chinese sovereignty. The Western media also said that the Chinese government is the hated ruler and did not have the support of its own people. Let me say it one more time. Most Chinese nationals including overseas Chinese supported the inclusion of Tibet within China and that most Asian nations would agree that it is essentially a Chinese affair except perhaps, Japan who has a long history of rivalry with China.

The fallout of political issues will leave indelible marks on co-operation in other fields sooner or later and it will impact the current so-called partnership with Beijing on economic growth.

I would suggest that the Chinese enterprises and its hordes of companies to do less business with the British government.

The cultural values and customs between the East and the West are really wide. In Eastern society, we do not go to someone home to embarrass the host but to the Westerner this is acceptable. If I am the host, I would tell my guest to pack his bags and leave my home immediately.