After Senkak Japanese take up the Kuril Islands?
No official reaction on the reorganization of military cooperation between the United States and Japan has yet been received from the American capital, but as a confirmation of the idea that the Americans are ready to accept the proposals of the Japanese authorities, joint exercises in the East China Sea can serve. Note the largest in all recent years.
It is possible that if the US-Japan naval exercises were held in this region 5-6 years ago, then this information could hardly have caused a stir. But the exercises are held at the very moment when bilateral relations between China and Japan were strained to the limit because of the disputed Senkaku Islands (Diaoyu), which are located precisely in the East China Sea. Accident? Well, unless in the modern world such kind of accidents can occur ...
In general, the American and Japanese warships decided to demonstrate to the obstinate Chinese that the friendship between Tokyo and Washington is growing day by day ... A truly impressive number of troops from both sides are involved in the exercises: 10 thousands of Americans and over 35 thousands of Japanese. Initially, it was reported that the combined landing force could even land on the disputed uninhabited islands, but then they refused this idea because they didn’t even want to experience the immediate fire of Chinese dragon’s breath in such comrades as Tokyo and Washington. That is why during the exercise is not called the main goal of these maneuvers. The published materials state that the exercises are directed against a certain hypothetical adversary. And after all, how difficult it is to guess who this enemy is, if the exercises are in close proximity to the disputed islands ...
It is noteworthy that in the current Japanese government, which the Japanese themselves often call too nationalistic, during the joint exercises in the East China Sea they state that it would be time to start addressing the Northern Territories issue. How is the official Tokyo going to solve the issue of the "Northern Territories"? Some political scientists decided that Japan could go the same way as today - the way of joint exercises near the South Kuriles, together with the US military to demonstrate their ambiguous intentions. However, one of the Japanese publications, Nihon Keijai Shimbun, reveals a different possibility of pressure on Russia from official Tokyo.
The journalists of Nihon Keizai Shimbun decided to follow the conspiracy path and told their readers that, in principle, it would be possible to agree with Russia for a long time if it were not for China ... The publication refers to some kind of security agreement between Russia and Japan, which journalists are sure that it is direct evidence that Japan could well now rely on the Southern Kurils - the Northern Territories. They say that Moscow doesn’t give a “goodwill gesture” only to Beijing, which is advantageous to have in the region a state leading a territorial dispute with Japan. Well, the original version, you will not say anything ...
That is, it turns out that in Japan, some mass media are trying to sow on public soil the idea that the Kuril issue will be resolved when it is decided by Senkak (Diaoyu). According to this state of affairs, Japan supposedly, with the help of its main ally (the United States of America), deal with China, finally returning the islands to its bosom, and the Russians after that will smoke the Kuriles themselves on a blue platter ...
Against this background, most of the fresh Japanese newspapers, one way or another, loyal to the current cabinet of ministers, came up with articles in which the authors describe China’s “aggression” against Senkaku. The published materials show the determination of the Japanese authorities, who are trying to put the Chinese “aggression” on the most serious barrier. As such a barrier, it is precisely the strengthening of military cooperation with the United States, which themselves are interested in putting pressure on China, is seen.
However, the pro-government Japanese press is not all of Japan. Many representatives of the Japanese public do not see anything good in the fact that the acting Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda flirts too much with the Americans. People on the streets of Japanese cities increasingly began to go on demonstrations, which are far from being devoted to the struggle for the "Southern" or "Northern Territories", but for the normalization of relations with their closest neighbors. The slogans that the US military bases on the Ryukyu Islands (Japan) would not increase the economic efficiency of the Land of the Rising Sun began to appear after the announcement of serious problems in the financial system of this country since the beginning of the confrontation with China. In addition, ordinary Japanese people point out to the authorities atrocities of American servicemen in Okinawa: rape and beating of local residents. Expansion of US military bases in southern Japan must be stopped, as residents of large Japanese cities say on protest actions. Moreover, the Japanese also do not forget to mention the negative economic component of the opposition with the People's Republic of China.
Naturally, the American and Japanese economies would be able to “seduce” the Chinese, but today it is obviously not beneficial for any of the parties. The Chinese economy, let's say, is tied up with the lion's share of imports both in the United States and in Japan.
In this regard, it can be said that all these mass exercises only look like a big "formidable" empty shell, which is not capable of turning into a real military confrontation. After all, as soon as for Senkaku (Djaoydao) the first shots will sound (if it comes to this), the hydra of the economic crisis may well absorb one of the most rapidly developing regions of the world. And there and close to the new global recession.
If Prime Noda will turn a blind eye to this, then he may very well soon say goodbye to his chair. After all, often in the world stories there have been episodes when an overly active politician, trying to get new territories, was forced to either refuse to continue his political career, or to lose what the country already had territorially by that time.
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