Ex-Envoy Accuses US of Agitating China-Japan Tensions
The US is doing whatever it can to crush China's rise and maintain global hegemony, even if it means stoking conflict
A veteran Chinese diplomat warned on Tuesday that the United States is using Japan as a strategic tool in its military surge in Asia-Pacific aimed at containing China it is heightening tensions between China and Japan.
“The retired diplomat, Chen Jian, who served as an under secretary general of the United Nations and as China’s ambassador to Japan,” reports The New York Times, criticized Washington for fomenting conflict in Asia over conflicting territorial claims over various islands and sea lanes instead of pressing for diplomacy.
Some in China and Japan see the issue of the islands “as a time bomb planted by the U.S. between China and Japan,” he said. “That time bomb is now exploding or about to explode.”
The Sino-Japanese conflict built up last month over the disputed islands in the East China Sea known as the Diaoyu by China and the Senkaku by Japan.
The US role in this and various other Asian territorial disputes is not one of a neutral player trying to avoid escalation. Rather, the US has pursued an aggressive posture of expanding military assets in the region and teaming up with all of China’s neighboring rivals to side with them on territorial issues in a nationalistic scheme to block China’s rise as a world power.
“There is a danger of China and Japan having a military conflict,” Yan Xuetong, one of China’s most influential foreign policy strategists told the Telegraph. “One country must make a concession. But I do not see Japan making concessions. I do not see either side making concessions.”
Mr. Chen accused the US of encouraging a hard-line, militaristic response by Japan. “The U.S. is urging Japan to play a greater role in the region in security terms, not just in economic terms,” he said.
Underlying the dispute are two key factors: (1) Washington has reiterated its commitment to its mutual defense treaty with Japan, insisting that it will become involved militarily in the event of an outbreak of conflict; (2) Washington sees China as a rising power and increasing regional influence and is willing to crush that ascent to maintain its own global dominance.
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John V. Walsh
October 31st, 2012 at 6:14 am
Good post, John.
There should be many comments here, because there is no greater danger to peace than US antagonism to China. It is frightening that the US cannot see things in terms of win-win. And the demonization of China, a preparation for war, is well underway.
I believe a partial antidote to that is to read the English edition of China Daily online. It at least lets one see China as a normal country with its own achievements and problems.
Also it is good to be aware that China is not "stealing" "our" jobs.
See: http://www.counterpunch.org/2012/10/15/the-myth-o…
(Scroll down a bit.)
Marangu6
October 31st, 2012 at 8:55 am
Meanwhile, Western reporters assigned to China continue to see themselves as the exclusive province of the dissident voice, such that 99% of the news disseminated by the mainstream outlets paints China in the bleakest light possible, even as US politicians have increased their use of China-bashing as a cheap and convenient tool to boost their street-cred; all of which fuels more anti-China fear and resentment (already predisposed by a legacy of ignorance and prejudice) among the US populace.
The MIC lives off of that sort of fear and resentment and can be counted upon to use its considerable influence to ensure that such sentiments never recede.
Marangu6
October 31st, 2012 at 8:56 am
Then you have the Tibetan separatists, Taiwan separatists, and every other geopolitical entity in the region that has a bone to pick with China doing their level best to "Americanize" their own historical or cultural grievances with China, with the enthusiastic support of their advocates and allies in the US that span the entire political spectrum, making sinophobia not only a non-partisan position to hold, but a politically correct one as well (the diametric opposite of the way Israel is treated in many ways). Even the entertainment industry has seen fit to jump on the bandwagon as of late (e.g., the remake of "Red Dawn", set to be released shortly, in which the Chinese – now digitally repainted to look like North Koreans during post production – militarily invade the US and get their asses handed to them by good-looking teenagers armed with Kalashnikovs), making the loathing and hatred of the Chinese not only a patriotic duty to fantasize over, but something to be enjoyed over popcorn and soda.
Marangu6
October 31st, 2012 at 9:03 am
The confluence of the factors above has produced a Sandy-esque perfect storm that is propelling us towards a disastrous confrontation with China, in which no one can possibly come out a winner, and where every contributing party is likely to claim afterwards that it was someone else's fault (namely China's) that we have been rushing into that trap at all.
nomange
October 31st, 2012 at 10:04 am
The Chinese should hold Henry Kissinger's feet to the fire on this one, especially since has banked his reputation and place in history, tainted as it otherwise has been, on his negotiations for rapprochement with China. It was under his watch, and right about the same time that he was meeting with officials of the PRC, that the Daiyou Islands were transferred to Japan- with the transfer allegedly only of administrative control, yet with the U.S.'s implicit support for Japan's claims of sovereignty.