Japan talked tough on Friday in an emotional row with South Korea, with lawmakers calling on Seoul to end its “illegal occupation” of a disputed island chain, but Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda also called for calm and a diplomatic solution to the feud.
Tension between the North Asian countries flared this month after South Korean President Lee Myung-bak became the first South Korean leader to set foot on the islands claimed by both countries that are known as Dokdo in South Korea and Takeshima in Japan.
Lee’s visit and his call for Japanese Emperor Akihito to go beyond expressing “deepest regrets” for Japan’s 1910 to 1945 colonial rule triggered a diplomatic tit-for-tat feud.
The dispute between Japan and South Korea has coincided with a standoff between Japan, China and Taiwan over another island chain, the Diaoyutai Islands (釣魚台) — known as Senkaku in Japan.
Noda, accused by the Japanese opposition of being too soft on territorial disputes, walked a fine line, fending off criticism while trying to keep the disputes from spinning out of control.
“In order to protect our national interests, I will say what we must say and do what should be done,” Noda told a news conference. “On the other hand, it would do no good to any country if we uselessly fan hardline opinions at home and escalate the situation.”
However, Noda also sharpened his rhetoric and referred to South Korea’s control of the islands as “illegal occupation,” echoing the language of lawmakers who earlier passed a resolution condemning Lee’s visit to the islands and demanding their return to Japan.
That spurred a swift rebuke from South Korea.
“We strongly protest the prime minister’s unjust territorial claim to Dokdo which is historically, geographically and by international law our [South Korea’s] sovereign land ... and urge he immediately withdraw it,” South Korean Foreign Ministry spokesman Cho Tai-young said in a statement.
Noda said he had no specific economic steps in mind to take in the dispute with South Korea, but Japanese Finance Minister Jun Azumi earlier suggested that Tokyo might not extend a currency swap arrangement with South Korea after it expires in October.
The Japanese Yomiuri newspaper reported that Japan was leaning toward aborting its plan to buy South Korean government bonds, saying the government believed it would not be understood by the public.
Bitter memories of Japanese militarism run deep in China and South Korea. The territorial disputes show how the region has failed to resolve differences nearly seven decades after the end of World War II.
Narushige Michishita, a security expert from Japan’s National Graduate Institute for Policy Studies, said the intensity of the flare-ups reflected domestic political pressures, but also changing dynamics in the region.
“With a rising China and a more self-confident South Korea, the region is entering an era of turbulence,” he said.
Both Japan and South Korea face elections and China is preparing for a leadership change later this year. The last thing politicians want is to appear weak in dealing with neighbors over territory.
NO-LIMITS PARTNERSHIP: ‘The bottom line’ is that if the US were to have a conflict with China or Russia it would likely open up a second front with the other, a US senator said Beijing and Moscow could cooperate in a conflict over Taiwan, the top US intelligence chief told the US Senate this week. “We see China and Russia, for the first time, exercising together in relation to Taiwan and recognizing that this is a place where China definitely wants Russia to be working with them, and we see no reason why they wouldn’t,” US Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines told a US Senate Committee on Armed Services hearing on Thursday. US Senator Mike Rounds asked Haines about such a potential scenario. He also asked US Defense Intelligence Agency Director Lieutenant General Jeffrey Kruse
China’s intrusive and territorial claims in the Indo-Pacific region are “illegal, coercive, aggressive and deceptive,” new US Indo-Pacific Commander Admiral Samuel Paparo said on Friday, adding that he would continue working with allies and partners to keep the area free and open. Paparo made the remarks at a change-of-command ceremony at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam in Hawaii, where he took over the command from Admiral John Aquilino. “Our world faces a complex problem set in the troubling actions of the People’s Republic of China [PRC] and its rapid buildup of forces. We must be ready to answer the PRC’s increasingly intrusive and
INSPIRING: Taiwan has been a model in the Asia-Pacific region with its democratic transition, free and fair elections and open society, the vice president-elect said Taiwan can play a leadership role in the Asia-Pacific region, vice president-elect Hsiao Bi-khim (蕭美琴) told a forum in Taipei yesterday, highlighting the nation’s resilience in the face of geopolitical challenges. “Not only can Taiwan help, but Taiwan can lead ... not only can Taiwan play a leadership role, but Taiwan’s leadership is important to the world,” Hsiao told the annual forum hosted by the Center for Asia-Pacific Resilience and Innovation think tank. Hsiao thanked Taiwan’s international friends for their long-term support, citing the example of US President Joe Biden last month signing into law a bill to provide aid to Taiwan,
UNWAVERING: Paraguay remains steadfast in its support of Taiwan, but is facing growing pressure at home and abroad to switch recognition to Beijing, Pena said Paraguayan President Santiago Pena has pledged to continue enhancing cooperation with Taiwan, as he and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida expressed opposition to any unilateral change to the “status quo” in the Taiwan Strait using force, Japanese media reported on Saturday. Kishida yesterday completed a trip to France, Brazil and Paraguay, his first visit to South America since taking office in 2021. After the Japanese leader and Pena spoke for more than an hour on Friday, exchanging views on the situation in East Asia in the face of China’s increasing military pressure on Taiwan, they affirmed that “unilateral attempts to change the