War between China and Japan over the Senkakus would make the war Argentina and Britain fought over the Falklands seem like a barroom brawl between mindless drunks. Not least because the United States would be compelled to honor its treaty obligations to defend Japan…
[But] notwithstanding the mob-like passions of their respective nationalists, I’m sure Chinese and Japanese leaders alike are mindful of the folly of fighting a war over desolate islands that could only end in a pyrrhic victory at best.
(“China and Japan in Falklands-like Dispute,” The iPINIONS Journal, August 23, 2012)
Japan’s parliament formally elected Shinzo Abe as prime minister yesterday. He led his Liberal Democratic Party to victory in national elections on December 16 based mostly on bellicose rhetoric about standing up to China.
But nothing betrayed just how much hot air this rhetoric contained quite like Abe going out his way in his first address to assure the Japanese people, and warn the Chinese, that reinforcing military ties with the United States will be his top priority.
‘Japan’s national security faces a clear and present danger,’ Abe said, referring to intensifying territorial disputes around the Japanese seas, and renewed his campaign promise to protect the safety of the people of Japan and its territory.
‘Japan must strengthen the Japan-U.S. alliance, the cornerstone of Japan’s diplomacy,’ Abe said. That will be key to re-stabilizing Japan’s regional diplomatic relations, he added.
(Associated Press, December 26, 2012)
Rather reminds one of the little school kid with the big mouth who knew he could get away with it because his brother was the big man on campus, doesn’t it?
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