Senkaku Islands

Japan Press: ‘China-Japan War To Break Out In January’

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– Japan Press: “China-Japan War To Break Out In January” (ZeroHedge, Dec 8, 2013):

Following China’s unveiling of its air defense identification zone (ADIZ) in the East China Sea, overlapping a large expanse of territory also claimed by Japan, the Japanese media has, as The Japan Times reports, had a dramatically visceral reaction on the various scenarios of a shooting war. From Sunday Mainichi’s “Sino-Japanese war to break out in January,” to Flash’s “Simulated breakout of war over the Senkakus,” the nationalism (that Kyle Bass so notably commented on) is rising. Which side, wonders Shukan Gendai ominously, will respond to a provocation by pulling the trigger? The game of chicken between two great superpowers is about to begin has begun.

Via The Japan Times,

Five out of nine weekly magazines that went on sale last Monday and Tuesday contained scenarios that raised the possibility of a shooting war.

Read moreJapan Press: ‘China-Japan War To Break Out In January’

CHINA IS ON FIRE: China Orders Troops And Tanks To North Korean Border, Deploys Anti Aircraft Carrier Missiles Off Cost Of Taiwan, Sends More Than 40 Fighter Jets To Senkaku Islands, And Warns Philippines To Immediately Withdraw From Disputed Islands

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– CHINA IS ON FIRE: China Orders Troops And Tanks To North Korean Border, Deploys Anti Aircraft Carrier Missiles Off Cost Of Taiwan, Sends More Than 40 Fighter Jet To Senkaku Islands, And Warns Philippines To Immediately Withdraw From Disputed Islands (InvestmentWatch, April 28, 2013)

Japan Uses Water Cannons Against Taiwanese Flotilla (VIDEO)

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An aerial view shows Japan Coast Guard patrol ship spraying water at fishing boats from Taiwan as Taiwan’s Coast Guard vessel sails near the disputed islands in the East China Sea (Reuters / Kyodo)

– Japan uses water cannons against Taiwanese flotilla (VIDEO, PHOTOS) (RT, Sep 25, 2012):

Japan’s coastguard vessels have used water cannons in an effort to push the Taiwanese flotilla out of what Tokyo claims to be its territorial waters near the disputed islands in the East China Sea.

Taiwanese boats escorted by patrol ships have now reportedly left the disputed waters.

At least 40 Taiwanese ships breached Japan’s naval border early on Tuesday, the country’s coastguard said. The flotilla was met by Japanese patrol ships that used water cannons in order to stop the vessels from reaching the largest island in the area, Uotsuri-jima.

Local television broadcast the fierce sea battle between the Japanese ships and Taiwanese patrol vessels that also used water cannons.

Read moreJapan Uses Water Cannons Against Taiwanese Flotilla (VIDEO)

Now Taiwan Is Also Claiming The Senkaku Islands: 70 Fishing Boats Set Sail To Stake Claim

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– Now Taiwan Is Also Claiming The Senkaku Islands: 70 Fishing Boats Set Sail To Stake Claim (ZeroHedge, Sep 24, 2012):

If you thought it was complicated when “only” China and Japan were disputing the recent escalation in property rights over who owns those three particular rock in the East China Sea, to be henceforth called the Senkaku Islands for simplicity’s sake because things are about to get far more confusing, here comes Taiwan, aka the Republic of China, not to be confused with the People’s Republic of China for the simple reason that the latter officially asserts itself to be the sole legal representation of China and actively claims Taiwan to be under its sovereignty, denying the status and existence of ROC as a sovereign state (yet one which benefits from US backing), to also stake its claim over the disputed Senkaku Islands. It has done so in a very confusing manner: by replicating what it thinks China did some days ago when an “armada” of 1000 fishing boats set sail in an unknown direction and which the trigger happy media immediately assumed was in direction Senkaku. It subsequently turned out that this was not the case and as we reported, “China’s fishing season stops every year in June-September in the East China Sea, where the islands are located. This year, the ban was lifted on Sunday.” In short the (PR)China fishing boat amrada was not headed toward the Senkakus. Taiwan however did not get the memo, and as NKH reports, “several dozen Taiwanese fishing boats have set sail for the disputed Senkaku islands in the East China Sea, to claim access to their fishing grounds.“So to summarize: a country which (PR)China claims does not exist and is under its own sovereign control, has replicated what it thought was (PR)China’s strategic move to reclaim the Senkaku Islands (which was nothing of the sort), and is sending its own fishing boat armada to reclaim islands whose ownership has sent Japan and (PR)China on the verge of more than mere diplomatic warfare. The only thing that could make this any more confusing is if someone discovered title deeds ceding ownership of the Senkakus to Japan, the People’s Republic of China and the Republic of China at the same time, and signed by Linda Green.

From NHK:

More than 70 boats from a fishing cooperative in northeastern Taiwan set out Monday afternoon, hoisting banners claiming that the islands belong to Taiwan, and that Taiwan’s sovereignty and fishing rights must be protected.

The cooperative is protesting Japan’s purchase of 3 of the islands in the Senkaku chain from a private owner earlier this month. The cooperative says the waters surrounding the islands have long been a major Taiwanese fishing ground.

The cooperative says the boats will be joined by vessels from other cooperatives along the way to the islands.

The fleet plans to arrive at a point about 40 kilometers southwest of the islands by early Tuesday morning.

Read moreNow Taiwan Is Also Claiming The Senkaku Islands: 70 Fishing Boats Set Sail To Stake Claim

Meanwhile In Beijing: ‘For The Respect Of The Motherland, We Must Go To War With Japan’

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– Meanwhile In Beijing: “For The Respect Of The Motherland, We Must Go To War With Japan” (ZeroHedge, Sep 16, 2012):

Anti-US protests sweeping across the entire Muslim world (which are continuing today), besieging, attacking and burning down US embassies, are not the only thing that the central banker policy vehicle known as “the markets” have to ignore in the coming days and weeks. Cause here comes China: “Thousands besiege Japan’s embassy in Beijing over Tokyo’s assertion of control over disputed islands in East China Sea.” And China is not happy: “For The Respect Of The Motherland, We Must Go To War With Japan.” Sure enough, where would the US be if the focal point of this escalation in militant anger – the Senkaku Islands – was not merely the latest expression of Pax Americana, and America’s national interests abroad.

We already discussed the inevitable implications of the meaningless populist agitation over the contested Senkaku Islands. Here it is playing out in real time:

Protests in China are growing over Japan’s assertion of control of disputed islands.

Thousands of Chinese besieged the Japanese embassy in Beijing on Saturday, hurling rocks, eggs and bottles with protests reported in other major cities over the territorial dispute in the East China Sea.

Paramilitary police with shields and batons barricaded the embassy, holding back and occasionally fighting with slogan-chanting, flag-waving protesters who at times appeared to be trying to storm the building.

“Return our islands! Japanese devils get out!” some shouted.

One of them held up a sign reading: “For the respect of the motherland, we must go to war with Japan.”

The protests were not confined in Beijing. In Shanghai, streets around the Japanese consulate, in the were cordoned off on Saturday even as hundreds of police allowed a small groups of people in at a time to protest.

“The Chinese government has not done much to quell the inflamed passions of its citizens,” Al Jazeera’s Marga Ortigas reported from Hong Kong on Saturday.

Protesters are also calling for a widespread boycott against Japanese businesses and products.

Read moreMeanwhile In Beijing: ‘For The Respect Of The Motherland, We Must Go To War With Japan’

Japan’s Ambassador To China Dies As Chinese Police Use Tear Gas, Water Cannon On Anti-Japan Protesters

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– Japan’s Ambassador To China Dies As Chinese Police Use Tear Gas, Water Cannon On Anti-Japan Protesters (ZeroHedge, Sep 16, 2012):

Yesterday we described that anti-Japan sentiment across China was spreading like wildfire with some even suggesting it is time to declare war on Japan (see picture) in retaliation for the unprecedented shift in Japan’s status quo vis-a-vis the Senkaku Islands. Today it has gotten even worse. From Reuters: “Chinese police used pepper spray, tear gas and water cannon to break up an anti-Japan protest in southern China on Sunday as demonstrators took to the streets in scores of cities across the country in a long-running row over a group of disputed islands. The protests erupted in Beijing and many other cities on Saturday, when demonstrators besieged the Japanese embassy, hurling rocks, eggs and bottles and testing police cordons, prompting the Japanese prime minister to call on Beijing to ensure protection of his country’s people and property. In the biggest flare-up on Sunday, police fired about 20 rounds of tear gas and used water cannon and pepper spray to repel thousands occupying a street in the southern city of Shenzhen, near Hong Kong. Protesters attacked a Japanese department store, grabbed police shields and knocked off their helmets. One protester was seen with blood on his face. At least one policeman was hit with a flowerpot.” And while the populist reaction was widely expected, the most surprising development came from Japan, where the designated ambassador to Beijing mysteriously died several hours ago after collapsing in the street without any obvious cause.

From Reuters:

Japan’s ambassador-designate to China, Shinichi Nishimiya, died on Sunday in a Tokyo hospital, the Foreign Ministry said, three days after he was found unconscious on a Tokyo street.

Doctors were looking into the cause of death, ministry official Takashi Ariyoshi said in a statement, but no other details were available. Nishimiya, 60, was found unconscious on a street near his home on his way to work.

Nishimiya was to have left in mid-October to take over from Uichiro Niwa as Japan’s top envoy in Beijing.

While coincidental, Nishimiya’s death came as tensions flared up between Japan and China over a disputed group of islands in the East China Sea claimed by both countries.

It remains to be seen how coincidental his death is: perhaps no less coincidental than the suicide of the Japan’s Finance Minister who hung himself last week for “reasons unknown” and who happened to be deputy minister for disaster reconstruction when the Fukushima disaster struck. The same Japan which for over a year has been calming the world that all is well regarding the deadliest nuclear disater since Chernobyl. The media will have you know none of these events are in any way tied to each other.

Read moreJapan’s Ambassador To China Dies As Chinese Police Use Tear Gas, Water Cannon On Anti-Japan Protesters