Journal of International Studies

By   Zhang   Yunbi   and   Li   Xiaokun   in   Beijing   and   Cai   Hong   in   Tokyo  (  China   Daily  ) Experts from China and Japan are calling for "constructive" grass-roots dialogues to inspire thetwo governments to repair strained relations. They made the remarks before a cluster of public diplomatic activities following a yearlongpolitical stagnation that developed after the Japanese government announced in Septemberlast year it would "nationalize" China's  Diaoyu Islands . The diplomatic impasse, focusing on territorial disputes and historical issues concerningJapan's wartime brutality,...

BEIJING, Nov. 11 (Yonhap) -- China on Monday warned Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe against regarding Beijing as its rival to bolster its security role in the region, saying the move would be a "wrong choice and wrong calculation." China's foreign ministry spokesman Qin Gang made the remark in response to reported comments by Abe, who cited China's rise and North Korea's nuclear threats as key reasons to create a U.S.-style national security council in Japan. "Japan provokes China over and over again. What on earth does Japan really want to do?" Qin told reporters in unusually frank words. "If Japan insists on taking China as a rival, it would make a wrong choice and make a wrong calculation," Qin said. China and Japan have been locked in a bitter dispute over a set of islands in the East China Sea, which are known as Diaoyu in China and Senkaku in Japan. Tension sparked in September last year when the Tokyo government purcha...

In recent weeks, the standoff over the Senkaku/Diaoyu islands  has taken to the air . On Sept. 9, manned Chinese bombers flew near Okinawa, but did not cross into Japanese airspace. The next day, a UAV, believed to be a Chinese BZK-005, was spotted near the Senkaku/Diaoyus, prompting Tokyo to deploy fighters to shadow the aircraft. A few weeks later, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe  granted approval  to the Japanese Ministry of Defense to shoot down any drones that ignore warnings to leave Japanese airspace. Then, on October 27, Chinese bombers and surveillance aircraft passed through the Miyako Strait en route to the Pacific, which  Japan’s Minister of Defense called  “an example of China’s aggressive expansion of its active range that includes the ocean.” And in the most recent development, a former PLA commander announced that Japan shooting down a drone would be considered an act of war.  Tensions have, of course, been running high between Beiji...

Every region in the world today is locked in a heated war of words and strewn diplomacy. Barry Buzan's Regional Security Complex theory (of a region with security convergence and divergences) is analogous to a pressure cooker of all sorts, with overlapping and undermining tensions.  East Asia is not excused from this predicament. Sovereignty over the Senkaku/Diayou islands is increasing source of tension between China and Japan in their official 40th year of friendship. It reminds of the the Confucian saying "one mountain cannot harbor two tigers". A policy struggle of accommodation versus aggression by the Japanese in the light of China's "peaceful rise" is troubling Japanese investors and policy makers.  The region currently faces a string of asymmetric challenges that needs to be dealt with diplomatically. The islands dispute has been the elephant in the room for most talks between China and Japan in several multilateral frameworks.  W...

In recent media statements, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe reiterated that Japan has to increase its defense preparedness to secure Japan from threats, and to allow it to play a greater role in international security. Abe explicitly warned that Japan would not allow China to make any changes by force to the territorial status quo of the region. In doing so, he raised the prospect of Chinese drones being shot down over Japanese territory, to which China angrily responded that any such action would be an act of war. This escalation of rhetoric over the disputed Senkaku Islands, claimed as the Diaoyus by China (and Taiwan), continues the near-constant confrontation between maritime security forces of China and Japan in the waters and skies surrounding the islands in the East China Sea. The tension has only increased since the former Democratic Party of Japan government nationalized the islands, purchasing them from private owners in September last year. China and Japan have w...

Japan’s Defense Ministry has received approval from Prime Minister Shinzo Abe for its plans to intercept and shoot down any foreign drones that ignore initial warnings to leave Japanese airspace. Abe’s approval of the plan asserts Japan’s readiness to respond unilaterally to protect its sovereignty and territorial integrity. The move is the latest  in a series of pronouncements and provocations  by both China and Japan over the Senkaku/Diaoyu territorial dispute. Japan controversially purchased some of the islands in 2012, which thrust the long-unsettled dispute to the forefront of China-Japan relations, which have been strained ever since. On Sept. 9, a day after manned Chinese bombers flew near Okinawa, a Chinese military drone  was observed  nearby. The Japanese Defense Ministry  dispatched fighters to shadow  the manned bomber aircraft, which refrained from entering Japanese airspace. It used a similar procedure for the drone, which is be...

One of the more curious aspects of China’s greater assertiveness in recent years has been its comprehensiveness. Historically Chinese leaders have pursued a divide and conquer policy towards their neighbors, and with great success. Over the last year or two, however, China has seemingly tangled with just about anyone and everyone (arguably excluding Russia and Pakistan). In certain cases, like the incident last year where it issued new  visas that sported an expansive map  of China on it, Beijing has simultaneously angered most of its neighbors with a single, pointless action. The results have been all too predictable: China’s neighbors  have increasingly banded together  in an attempt to offset Beijing’s superior power. Thus, we’ve witnessed developments like India’s Look East policy finally gaining some traction, while Japan has greatly expanded its influence in ASEAN. At the same time, China's neighbors have increasingly  courted external powers...

Some Monday defense and security links: According to the  Global Times , a Chinese Defense Ministry spokesperson defended Beijing’s drone flights as consistent with international law, and said that any attempt by Japan to shoot down a drone would be a “severe provocation” and an act of war. South Korea hopes to deploy two light aircraft carriers by 2036  Defense News reported , citing comments made by parliamentarian Rep. Chung Hee-soo during the confirmation hearing for the new chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. According to report, the ROK Navy hopes to deploy the 30,000-ton light aircraft carriers between 2028 and 2036. The aircraft carriers will be similar to Italy’s Cavour, which can support about 30 aircraft. In any interview with  The Washington Post , Taiwanese President Ma Ying-jeou said he hopes to expand ties with China while reiterating Taipei’s desire to purchase submarines from the U.S., which he called “vital for maintaining effective deterre...

The past few weeks have seen reports that a  top Chinese official  visited Japan to discuss how to alleviate tensions in the Senkaku/Diaoyu dispute. Beijing’s secret envoy is said to have met with a  high-level official from the Japanese Foreign Ministry. Rumors suggest that the two governments may have exchanged envoys on the islands dispute several times over the last few months. Beijing and Tokyo had, apparently, hoped to work towards a bilateral summit on the Senkaku/Diaoyu, although they failed to find sufficient common ground to make that possible in their last exchange. But the fact that the two states are not proceeding quickly to a more public forum should not distress us too mightily: there are at least three good reasons why we should hope that secret diplomacy between China and Japan continues, and why it may be particularly crucial in a conflict like the Senkaku/Diaoyu dispute.  First, as has been obvious since 2010, the dispute over the Senk...

China’s state-run media touted the growing power of the PLA Navy’s nuclear submarine force in a series of articles that ran over the weekend. The article,  which ran  in a  number of state-run publications, noted that China’s elite submarine units have taken a low profile to date, but suggested that they now would be more prominently featured in public relations media campaigns. “After more than 40 years of development, now is the time for us to show the world our determination and ability to safeguard peace and tell our people about this ‘mysterious' force,” Rear Admiral Li Yanming, the political commissar at a nuclear submarine base was quoted as saying. Other PLAN sailors quoted in the article suggested that China’s submarine force was capable of dealing with rival forces in the region. Rear Admiral Gao Feng, the commander of one of the PLAN’s submarine bases was quoted as saying: “I think the claims of some on the Internet that we are backward and can't ...

In one of the best pieces on the subject in recent years, the  New York Times  magazine  released  what can best be described as an interactive feast regarding the delicate subject of the South China Sea. Beneath all the interactive maps, previously unreleased photos and eye-catching video were some interesting aspects of China’s strategy regarding this disputed area that is sure to be of interest to Asia hands. The article itself is certainly worth your time just for the sheer artistic quality in which this important issue is covered. Sticking to the business at hand, there was one specific section that caught my eye. The piece notes comments from PLA General Zhang Zhaozhong regarding what is being called China’s “cabbage strategy.” The  Times  describes it as “surrounding a contested area with so many boats — fishermen, fishing administration ships, marine surveillance ships, navy warships” that the disputed island is essentially wrapped like lay...