1/01/2014

First time Kishore sounded so hollow



Kishore’s article in the media yesterday, ‘How to prevent a war between China and Japan’ gave one a little anticipation that he was offering some enlightening wisdom to a historical Gordian Knot. His recommendation was anything but a sign of lacking in depth in the understanding of China Japan relations and the history of the Diaoyu Island dispute.

The Noda govt before Abe put on a farcical act claiming that it was trying to defuse a nationalistic move to buy the Islands by Shintaro Ishihara, the Tokyo governor. The buying or selling of the Islands by any Japanese is offensive to the Chinese govt and the Chinese people. The excuse by the Noda govt to buy the Islands instead was taking the Chinese people and govt as fools. It was a national insult to think the Chinese did not know what the whole play was about.

This kind of offensive act at the expense of China was prevalent in the 19th and 20th century by Imperialist Japan. Such acts were committed over and over again to violate the national sovereignty of China and grabbing chunks of Chinese territories. The humiliating acts were possible at a time when China was the Sick Man of Asia, invaded and semi colonized by the European powers and Japan.
A renewed China that is good enough to keep the Americans from attempting wild designs on Chinese territories would not give an inch to a little Japan intent to keep the Diaoyu Islands it seized from Manchu China. And for Kishore to suggest that China would be pleased if Abe would to sell the Islands to any Japanese non govt entity would appease China must be, not being rude, patronizing and naïve.
The ignorance on China Japan historical disputes is showing. China would never give up taking back the Islands. No country with the military means would allow a weaker nation to occupy its territories. Japan can go on an arms race with
 
China, even with the backing of the Americans, it would still end up suffering a bloody nose this time. And attempt to start a war will see Chinese soldiers in Japan and returning the favour with Nankin vividly in the minds of all Chinese. Japan may want to commit to another suicidal defence of the main Japanese islands like in Okinawa and the Pacific Islands defending against the American forces. China now has absolute numerical superiority in all fields of military hardware and headcounts.

The game has changed. China is now not a helpless underdeveloped and ill equipped or ill prepared poor country. It has the full compliments of all the arms of a full fledged superpower and a massive war industry to go with. Japan can try to go on an arms race with China and see if it has the unlimited resources to do so. Even the Americans are bankrupting itself trying to maintain its huge armed forces and will be broke without having to fight a war.

If Japan is bent on keeping the Islands, it is a matter of when before China take the Islands back by force. There is no other option, no buying and selling of the Islands by the Japanese in anyway that would be acceptable to China. The only way for Japan to avoid a showdown with China is to return the Islands voluntarily and gain more goodwill and clean up its war debt with China.

China or any other country will never compromise on its core national interest. Diaoyu Islands are everything about China, about China as a respectable nation, as a superpower. There can be no compromise on territorial integrity.

16 comments:

Anonymous said...

Rb, u have been writing many articles about this China and Japan issue.

Readers may be more interested if accidental conflicts take place and its impact and ripple or tidal wave effect ......

What say you?

Btw, Happy 2014 to You, Patriot, Old Horse, Virgo, PSS and all the readers and commenters in MSN.

Huat Ah!

Anonymous said...

I wish KissAss would focus his working hours on what he is paid for ... to improve the lives of Singaporeans.

Anonymous said...

"First time Kishore sounded so hollow"
RB

So? Does it really matter? How was Kishore doing before and now, despite his sounding so hollow?

I am following LKY style of asking questions.

Because the style can never go wrong in Sinkieland, or with Sinkies.

Anonymous said...

"I am following LKY style of asking questions."
Anon 9:10 am

Tiok. When in Rome, do(follow) as the Romans do.

When in Sinkieland, do (follow) as LKY, Low Thia Khiang or Sinkies do.

Then you can never go wrong.

Chua Chin Leng aka redbean said...

Happy New Year to all of you here.

Though war between big powers are increasingly dangerous and destructive, some assholes are still thinking that it is great fun. For the Americans it is as they make others fight their wars and pay them for the weapons. Domestically they get the poor Americans to do the dying.

Japan and a few silly Asian countries are still clamouring for war and refuse to see the destructive nature of modern weapons. Big cities can go up in smokes with the millions of people in them. An island like ours, if it becomes a target, can be sunk with just one bomb.

War between big powers is no longer a viable option to settle interstate conflict.

The said...

First time??? Where have you been hiding? Under a coconut shell?

Chua Chin Leng aka redbean said...

: )

Anonymous said...

He even suggested in the article that abe could have gone farther , like taking CHINA to international courts, like what japan did to South Korea. Citing japs moral high grounds and reasonableness if it does so !

The article contradicted itself by saying that chances of China agreeing to this are miniscule.

Anonymous said...

His article on is too nice to Japan immediately after its premier went 拜鬼 at a shrine where war deads who butchered millions of civilians including tens of thousands in Singapore.

Anonymous said...

That head of a local school public policy study has totally ignored international response to shrine visit.

The Simon Wiesenthal Center, a leading Jewish human rights organization dedicated to learning the lessons from the Nazi Holocaust and WII criticized Japanese PM Abe's visit to the Yasukuni Shrine as "morally wrong".

"As Prime Minister, he has the right to mourn for his nation's war—dead but not its war criminals. All people have the right to mourn the loss of their loved ones, including those who died in battle. It is morally wrong however to co-mingle such reverence with those who were responsible for ordering and carrying out war crimes and crimes against humanity," said Rabbi Abraham Cooper, the associate dean of the Wiesenthal Center and a frequent visitor to Japan.

Anonymous said...

Germany also responded

it said Monday it tried to deal "honestly" with its World War II past and urged Japan to do the same after Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's visit to a controversial war shrine.

"I do not wish to comment on questions related to Japanese domestic politics," Chancellor Angela Merkel's spokesman Steffen Seibert told reporters when asked about the surprise Yasukuni shrine visit which enraged China and South Korea.
=======================

Anonymous said...

EU & US response

Catherine Ashton said that the visit was ‘not conducive to lowering tensions in the region or to improving relations with Japan's neighbours, especially China and Republic of Korea. Her statement continued: ‘All countries in the region have reaffirmed their commitment to peace and stability in recent months. The EU has consistently emphasised the need to build on this by handling disputes with careful diplomacy and by refraining from actions which can raise tensions. The EU urges the countries involved to build positive and constructive ties with their neighbours that will bolster confidence, defuse tensions and assure the long term stability of the region’.

The US Embassy in Tokyo also expressed ‘disappointment that Japan's leadership has taken an action that will exacerbate tensions with Japan's neighbors’.

Chua Chin Leng aka redbean said...

Only evil people will worship evil people.

As for going for arbitration by ICJ, China would not be so stupid to do so. It is like a neighbour seizing the property of his neighbour and when the victim's children grew up and asking for its return, he said let's go to court.

And with the issue being so politicised, can China chance to lose its territory by some 'impartial' judges?

patriot said...

To Anon 9.03 am and All;

May we have good years ahead fill with good health and happiness.
And let us All pitch in to make Singapore a better place for our future generations by kpkb on all the lousy leaders till they are removed and rendered impotence to inflict further damages to our wellbeing. We know how greedy, vain and self derving they are and therefore they should be removed as soon as possible. We cannot afford to let them ruin the wellbeing of our offsprings.
May we work together to make it happens.

patriot

Anonymous said...

The system cannot afford to keep paying so many people several millions annually. It is just not sustainable.

If anyone thinks it is sustainable, don't kpkb when they keep coming out with schemes to hold back your CPF savings and you can kiss your CPF savings goodbye.

The Medishielf Life scheme is not so simple as you think, to pay for your medical bills.

Anonymous said...

-abe 放话 again this time serious liow!

He has said the country's pacifist post-World War II constitution which limits its military to self-defence could be amended by 2020.