Reuters: Clinton warns against coercion in South China Sea dispute

[visionary]

http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/...8820CI20120903

Clinton warns against coercion in South China Sea dispute

China and its neighbors in Southeast Asia must move to draw up a code of conduct in coming months to help resolve disputes in the South China Sea, and should refrain from threats and coercion that have sent tension skyrocketing, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said on Monday.

Clinton, visiting Indonesia ahead of a trip to China this week, said she would tell Beijing and other claimants that it was essential to get faltering diplomacy back on track and move toward a deal.

"The United States does not take a position on competing territorial claims over land features, but we believe the nations of the region should work collaboratively together to resolve disputes without coercion, without intimidation, without threats and certainly without the use of force," she said.

Beijing's assertion of sovereignty over a vast stretch of the South China Sea has set it directly against Vietnam and the Philippines, while Brunei, Taiwan and Malaysia also lay claim to other parts of the region, making it Asia's biggest potential military troublespot.

China has resisted proposals for a multilateral code of conduct, preferring to try to negotiate disputes with each of the far less powerful individual claimants.

It has also stepped up its activity in the region, including establishing a military garrison on a disputed island, and accused Washington of seeking to stir up trouble far from home.

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/09/04/wo...utes.html?_r=1

In Beijing, Clinton to Discuss Island Disputes

As tensions mount between China and its neighbors over islands in nearby strategic waterways, China has scored some subtle victories, making the United States and its friends increasingly uneasy about the potential for violent confrontations.

China’s dispute with Japan over potentially energy-rich islands in the East China Sea, and with the Philippines over an island that China has effectively blocked to Filipino vessels, will be central in talks between Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton and Chinese leaders in Beijing on Tuesday evening and on Wednesday, American and Chinese officials said.

I don't hear much about this issue, but it seems China is having a lot of territorial disputes lately.


http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2....html?ref=asia

[ixcuincle]

China and Japan have been also been disputing over uninhabited islands too which are supposedly resource-rich

Should be interesting to see what happens

[FanboyOf91]

[JMS]

Wow I had no idea the disputed area was so far away from China.. It's on the other side of vietnam from China.

[Larry]

I blame Brunei.

(Had to.)

[visionary]

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/09/07/wo...?smid=tw-share

Singapore’s Prime Minister Warns China on View of U.S.

In an unusual public airing of strategic problems surrounding China’s rise, the prime minister of Singapore, Lee Hsien Loong, warned China on Thursday that it should view the United States not as a declining power, but as a nation with the ability to innovate and bounce back.

Speaking at the Central Party School, the prestigious training ground for new members of the Communist Party, Mr. Lee also suggested that China try to solve its maritime disputes in the South China Sea regionally, through the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, rather than country by country.

Mr. Lee’s appearance at the Communist Party school came after China effectively shattered Southeast Asian unity on how to deal with disputes in the South China Sea, a tactic that shocked Washington and Singapore alike.

At a meeting in Cambodia in July that was attended by Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, China managed to quash an agreement on the South China Sea among members of Asean. Some Southeast Asian officials said they believed that China was emboldened by a belief that the United States was a waning power that lacked the clout to keep Asean unified.

In his speech, Mr. Lee said Asean “has to take and state a position which is neutral, forward-looking and encourages the peaceful resolution of issues.”

“For Asean not to address it would severely damage its credibility,” he continued. Moreover, Asean and China should start talks on a code of conduct designed to help resolve conflicts, soon, he said.

This was a position put forward by Mrs. Clinton during her visit to Beijing this week, which so far the Chinese have resisted.

[visionary]

Hmmm, interesting move and timing.
Hope it doesn't escalate....
http://www.aljazeera.com/news/asia-p...=MasterAccount

China sends ships in islands row with Japan

China has sent two patrol ships to a group of islands at the centre of a territorial row with Japan, state news agency Xinhua reported on Tuesday after Tokyo said it would nationalise them.

Xinhua said the two marine surveillance ships had reached the waters around the Diaoyu islands - known in Japan as the Senkaku islands - to "assert the country's sovereignty".

The move came hours after the Japanese ambassador to Beijing was summoned to the foreign ministry to protest Japan's decision to buy three of the islands. The islands will be formally owned by Japan's Coast Guard, that country's government said.

Wen Jiabao, the Chinese prime minister, said the islands were "an inherent part of China's territory" and vowed his country would "never ever yield an inch" on its sovereignty.

[visionary]

http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/...88C1LG20120913

China patrol ships enter Japan waters: Japan Coast Guard

Two Chinese patrol ships entered Japanese territorial waters near disputed islets claimed by both Beijing and Tokyo on Friday, Japan's Coast Guard said, marking the latest incident in a long-running dispute between China and Japan.

The Chinese ships have not followed the coast guard's order to go out of the territorial waters, a Japan coast guard official said.

Tension flared last month when Japan detained a group of Chinese activists who had landed on the islands, known as Senkaku in Japanese and Diaoyu in Chinese.

[visionary]

http://www.aljazeera.com/news/asia-p...921803663.html

China sends six ships to disputed islands

Six Chinese ships have sailed into waters around a disputed archipelago, with Beijing saying they were there for "law enforcement" around islands Japan nationalised earlier this week.

The move, dubbed "unprecedented" by Tokyo, came on Friday as it was reported Japanese nationals had been physically attacked in China, marking the latest stage in a deteriorating row between Asia's two biggest economies.

Japanese living or visiting China were warned to take extra precautions after assaults and harassment were reported to the consulate in Shanghai, a base for Japanese businesses and a popular tourist destination.

Tokyo summoned the Chinese ambassador to protest what it insists is an incursion into territorial waters around islands it controls, called Senkaku, but claimed by Beijing as Diaoyu.

Al Jazeera's Marga Ortigas, reporting from Hong Kong, said protesters in Beijing have called for a boycott of Japanese products to defend their country’s interests.

Ok, I'm getting nervous now.

[visionary]

http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/...88E01I20120915

Anti-Japan protests erupt in China over islands row

Thousands of protesters besieged the Japanese embassy in Beijing on Saturday, hurling rocks and bottles at the building as police struggled to keep control, amid growing tensions between Asia's two biggest economies over a group of disputed islands.

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

"Return our islands! Japanese devils get out!" some of the protesters shouted. One of them held up a sign reading: "For the respect of the motherland, we must go to war with Japan."

As tensions escalated, and reports emerged of other protests around China, Japan said its foreign minister had cut short a visit to Australia, arriving back in Tokyo on Saturday morning to deal with the situation.

Crazy extremists. Someone should put a wall around them.

....oh wait.




http://tealeafnation.com/2012/09/jap...ts-in-the-way/

Japanese Adult Film Actress Tries Online Diplomacy, But Word Order Gets In the Way

As netizen comments flooded in, a wide range of emotion was visible, from those proclaiming their love for Ms. Aoi to those calling her a “Japanese dog.” A majority, however, were negative. Many referred to Japanese war crimes in Nanjing, China, during World War II. Many others took aim at Aoi’s broken Chinese, while a great many noted that her first tweet should not have called for “Japanese-Chinese” friendship–rather, China should have been listed first. Ms. Aoi took the latter commentary to heart, reversing the order in her subsequent tweet after only seven minutes.

But Aoi’s linguistic turnabout did not appear to placate netizens. Indeed, by the time she issued her second tweet, more extreme (and obscene) tweets had seemingly drowned out many of the encouraging voices that initially responded to Aoi’s first overture. One netizen kept it clean, writing only, “One mountain does not have room for two tigers.” [2]

https://twitter.com/limlouisa

Here are the pictures from Weibo of anti-Japanese protests in 20 Chinese cities pic.twitter.com/Ol03juZY
3:25 AM

https://twitter.com/freemoren

@limlouisa our estimate is around 40 cities. Many 2nd & 3rd tier cities have protests as well
3:27 AM

[visionary]

http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/...88F00H20120917

China tensions force Japanese companies to retreat

Some Japanese firms have temporarily shut factories and shops in China after angry protests over a territorial dispute, with Chinese state media warning on Monday that Japan could suffer another "lost decade" if trade ties sour.

The volley of warnings from Chinese officials and papers came after a weekend of protests across dozens of cities, some violent. Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda urged Beijing to ensure Japan's people and property were protected.

The Japanese government is warning its citizens about large-scale protests in China on Tuesday, when China marks its official memorial day for Japan's war-time occupation of parts of China.

"I'm not going out today and I've asked my Chinese boyfriend to be with me all day tomorrow," said Sayo Morimoto, a 29-year-old Japanese graduate student at a university in Shenzhen.

The ruling Chinese Communist Party, which rarely allows street protests, opened the door to the display of public anger after Japan's decision last week to buy disputed East China Sea islands, which Tokyo calls the Senkaku and Beijing calls the Diaoyu, from a private Japanese owner.

Beijing called that a severe violation of its sovereignty and the dispute has triggered a wave of nationalist ire that the Chinese government has sought to both channel and contain.

The overseas edition of the People's Daily, the main newspaper of the Chinese Communist Party, warned that Beijing could resort to economic retaliation if the dispute festers, threatening enduring repercussions for Japan.

[mad4comp]

Wonder if the Chinese will claim portions of the Indian Ocean as their own.. I'm assuming that won't sit well with the Indians.

Speaking of which, I wonder if the Indians will enter this game seeing as they have Oil Research Projects going on off the coast of Vietnam. China is playing a dangerous game.

[ixcuincle]

http://twitter.com/neemaamini/status...51124305645568

These pictures of the anti-Japanese protests occurring throughout China are shocking imgur.com/a/Y7oIp

NSFW, profanity. They're really, really mad.

[visionary]

https://twitter.com/BreakingNews

Nissan Motor Co suspends China production for 2 days starting Sept 17 in wake of anti-Japan protests, sources say - @Reuters
8:34 AM

[RVAbrendan]

A buddy of mine is in China for a few years and is getting a little nervous...lots of tension. Signs in shops that say things like "No dogs or Japanese allowed".