Signs of hope in the difficult path of reconciliation between Tokyo and Beijing
Tokyo (AsiaNews) - There are signs of hope for a resolution of the conflict between Tokyo and Beijing caused by a dispute over the sovereignty of several small islands, a dispute that threatens peace in the Pacific region, if not promptly resolved. The detention of a Chinese fishing vessel and the arrest of its captain by the Japanese coast guard sparked tensions.
Senkaku islands seed of discord.
The Chinese vessel was captured on Sept. 7 because it was sailing off the Senkaku islands over which Japan claims sovereignty. The uninhabited islands are in the South China Sea (Beijing refers to them as the Diaoyu island), but were occupied by Japan in 1895 because it considered them terra nullius, a no-man’s land. And, in fact, that year, China did not protest.
But in the '70s, after a scientific committee of the UN reported that there was considerable deposits of natural gas and oil under the Sentaku islands, China and Taiwan began to claim sovereignty, accusing Japan of having stolen from China.
The current Japanese foreign minister, Seiji Maehara, pretty tough on China, will not even take into consideration any dispute over sovereignty, because he believes the problem does not exist. International law is on his side, from a legal standpoint there is no other document than the Declaration of the Japanese occupation as terra nullius. Historical appeals are too vague.
Chinese retaliation and the diplomatic ambiguity of the Japanese Prime Minister
On hearing of the arrest of the ship’s captain, the Government of China demanded his immediate release, on several occasions calling in the Japanese ambassador to Beijing, accusing Japan of resorting to violence, and cancelling the trip of 10 thousand Chinese tourists to Japan. On 21 September, Prime Minister Wen Jiabao, addressing a Chinese community in New York, promised further retaliatory action if the arrested captain was not released.
Threats immediately implemented after the Japanese court in Naha (Okinawa) accepted the request of the prosecutor to extend the detention of the captain until 29 September. The Beijing government suspended all government-level meetings between the two nations, blocked tourist visas to Japan and cancelled an invitation to the Governor of Osaka to speak at the close of the Osaka World Expo. And, economically, it blocked the exports of rare earth metals, essential components for Japan’s advanced industry. It was a heavy economic sanction: Japan imports 90% of this material from China.
As a result of these actions taken by Beijing, on September 24 the Japanese court decided to release the captain without a formal indictment. Officially, the release was the initiative of the court. So prime minister Kan claimed in an interview. But there are doubts surrounding a possible government intervention. In fact, the court said that the reason for the release was the best interests of the Japanese people and to prevent a worsening of relations between the two nations. Reasons which, of course, relate to diplomacy, not the code of criminal law. Japanese media have not failed to denounce the weakness and ambiguity of diplomacy of the government in Tokyo.
The diplomacy of the "big stick"
Normally, such incidents are resolved without fuss at the ambassadorial level. The Chinese government, however, used the incident to directly reaffirm its territorial right over the Diaoyu / Senkaku islands and, indirectly, to take another step forward in its domain over the Pacific. To achieve this goal, writes a columnist for the Japanese magazine Sentaku, "it seems that Beijing is using the diplomacy of the 'big stick', initiated by U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt at the beginning of last century. The Chinese leadership seems fully aware that the diplomacy of the 'big stick' can be used very effectively against weaker nations. "
On 19 September, the Chinese newspaper Global Times claimed territorial rights on the Chinese Diaoyu Islands and vigorously asserted that the Japanese government has robbed them, along with Okinawa, from the Qing dynasty". It seems that Chinese leaders are beginning to think themselves close to restoring the power and prosperity achieved by the Qing dynasty. It would be a return to the Chinese centralism in Asia.
The path to reconciliation In October, China sent three large vessels to the Senkaku islands (two of 500 tons one of 1000) belonging to the Ministry for Agriculture with the order to do everything to patrol the waters around the disputed islands. The reports which appeared in the Youth Daily newspaper paved the way for anti-Japanese protests by crowds of students in several cities across China, with the permission of local authorities. Given the disturbing force of the protests, the central government banned the demonstrations, ordering university students to not leave campus and instructing others to attend classes during the weekends. But the new power of the Internet and mobile phones has kept the protest alive. The same phenomenon has occurred in Japan.
As a result a journey of reconciliation has begun, on the initiative of Japan, which is still in progress. Two dates and two cities indicate the starting point and final destination, hopefully with positive results: Oct. 5 in Brussels (Belgium) and 29 October in Hanoi (Vietnam). The protagonists on this journey are Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan and Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao. Meetings between the two leaders is the result of behind the scenes efforts by two other politicians: Yoshito Sengoku (64), chief secretary of the Japanese Cabinet, and Ma Zhaoxu, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman.
Kan and Wen, who met in Brussels on October 5 at the annual meeting of ASEM (Asia-Europe Meeting), agreed to begin the process of reconciliation in order to revive the development of "a strategic mutually beneficial relationship" , promising to meet again as soon as possible. The date of the second meeting is scheduled for 29 or 30 October in Hanoi when the two leaders will be in the Vietnamese capital to attend the ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) plus Three (China, Japan and South Korea) meeting.
Meanwhile, a milestone was reached on 11 October, when the Japanese defence minister Toshimi Kitazawa met in Hanoi with his Chinese counterpart Liang Guangli at the meeting of defence ministers of ASEAN plus three. According to Japanese sources, Kitazawa said: "Although a number of problems have arisen between Japan and China, it is important to make efforts to create a way to prevent the fraying of ties."
Signs of hope
Sengoku sees in the talks between the two ministers an indication of the availability of Beijing to accept a second meeting between Wen and Kan in Hanoi, which officials of the two governments are trying to prepare. This is why the Japanese government sent Akita Saiki, director of the Asia department at the Foreign Ministry to Beijing for talks with Chinese officials. On returning from China, Saiki said: "We talked about specific steps to be taken to advance bilateral relations based on the fundamental recognition accepted by both parties about the development of mutually beneficial relationship based on strategic fields of common concern ".
On October 21, Satsuki Eda (69), former chairman of the Senate, returning from a trip to China said that the Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) "must work more to create stronger ties with China so as to avoid future diplomatic squabbles with the neighbouring giant". Eda's exhortation carries a lot of weight among the public, not only for his long political experience, but also because he went to China at the head of a delegation of 800 Japanese, including 500 students, and was well received. This is also a sign of hope.
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04/07/2023 17:43
