Surrender, Hu Jintao.
When I first heard this story, I fell
out of my chair with laughter. See, Communist China is trying to
claim that they own the Senkaku Islands. These are tiny,
insignificant rocks sticking out of the ocean. Why on earth should
anyone really care, other than as a bit of nationalistic PR to
benefit the incumbent governments on both sides?
It Is All About Oil
Both countries have substantial
economies that run on oil, and both import huge amounts. See, just
off the coast of these rocks are substantial oil reserves just
waiting for the first country to set up drilling rigs. Hence, both
countries are willing to spend significant treasury to control these
resources.
They Legally Belong to Japan
A bit of history. The Senkakus are part
of the Okinawa archipelagos. During WWII, the United States conquered
all of Okinawa, and gave them back to Japan as part of the armistice.
I do not wish to hear ridiculous stories that a Han Chinese Emperor
planted a persimmon tree on one of the Senkakus 636 years ago, and
that therefore Communist China has a legitimate claim. The United
States, before arrival of the Puritans, was controlled by Hopi,
Cherokee, Abenaki, et al. This does not therefore give American
Indians legal rights to their previous lands. Sorry 'bout that,
folks.
Fight, Fight!
Japan and Red China, in recent weeks,
have been posturing over control of said islands. OK, making a big
show for the folks at home without any real intention of a serious
confrontation. I get that. So, I found it profoundly funny that Coast
Guard ships from both sides fired water cannons at each other. I am
reasonably sure that both sides have naval guns and ship-to-ship
missiles that can sink the other side. It would be interesting to
explore if Japan has the military capability to send Red China's
nascent blue water navy down to Davy Jones' Locker. Perhaps the
Politburo Standing Committee should give up now, before they get into
truly deep naval/military doo-doo. Somehow, I have doubts that they
truly understand the geopolitical consequences of what they are
doing.
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