SUN WUKONG China shelves island dispute, yet again
By Wu Zhong, China Editor
HONG KONG - The ongoing sovereignty dispute between Beijing and Tokyo over the
Diaoyu islands (known as Senkaku in Japan), a cluster of barren islets north of
Taiwan and south of the Ryukyu islands, appears to have cast a shadow on the
weekend summit of China, Japan and South Korea in Fukuoka, as leaders of the
three countries pledged to enhance cooperation to ride out the global financial
crisis.
At a bilateral meeting on the sidelines of the trilateral summit, Chinese
Premier Wen Jaibao and Japanese Prime Minister Taro
Aso clashed over the ownership of the disputed islands in the East China Sea.
However, they agreed bilateral relations had improved steadily this year with
"expanded consensus and increased mutual trust".
For now, both sides have refrained from taking any further moves to escalate
the dispute, which would inevitably jeopardize not only bilateral ties but
regional stability and security.
The sovereignty dispute over the Diaoyu islands has always been a sensitive
issue in Sino-Japanese relations. In early 1978, the dispute flared up and
threatened to derail the signing of a peace treaty between China and Japan to
pave the way for the two countries to normalize ties.
China's late paramount leader Deng Xiaoping, whose political wisdom prompted
him to shelve thorny issues that might impede progress, demanded the
territorial dispute be put on the back burner. In October of that year, Deng
visited Japan and attended a ceremony to exchange the instruments of
ratification for the Sino-Japanese Peace and Friendship Treaty. When he was
asked about the Diaoyu dispute, he said, "The issue of Diaoyu islands ... could
be set aside for the moment; probably later generations will be cleverer than
us and will find a practical solution."
The latest development shows that the current Chinese leadership still wants to
take Deng's wisdom in handling this thorny issue, resisting a more hardline
approach despite growing nationalistic pressure at home. Even today, Deng's
pragmatic approach seems valid and wise.
The fact is, while China claims sovereignty over the Diaoyu islands, they are
currently under Japan's control and Tokyo has given no signs it is willing to
give them up. This means China would have to use force if it wanted to exercise
its sovereignty, which would inevitably result in a new war between the two
countries.
Moreover, due to the US-Japan Security Treaty, the United State will be dragged
in. As Li Guoqiang, a researcher on China's sea borders with the Chinese
Academy of Social Sciences (CASS), puts it, "China could possibly take lightly
the US-Japan Security Treaty … but both the US and Japan would take it
seriously."
Though currently savaged by the financial crisis, the US remains the world's
sole superpower and largest economy. Japan is the world's second-largest
economy while China trails behind as the fourth-largest. Military conflicts
between them would have disastrous consequences for the region and the world.
This is not in China's interest either as it would interrupt its modernization
course.
It is therefore wise for the Chinese leaders to continue to adhere to Deng's
"shelving thorny issues" approach toward the Diaoyu islands. However, times
have changed. Deng was a "strongman" and his words were taken as somewhat
sacred. In the late 1970s, there was little freedom of information or speech in
China. So whatever Deng demanded could be implemented easily with little
dispute. But the current Chinese leaders more or less have to justify their
legitimacy to rule through their performance. There is a much greater freedom
of information flow and speech in the country. Thus Beijing's policy is now
subject to public scrutiny and criticism, in one way or another.
Moreover, with the country's growing strength, national pride is also
increasing fast among Chinese people. Chinese nationalism climaxed during the
Beijing Summer Olympic Games in August, but this growth could be a double-edged
sword, making it easier for the Communist Party and government to tackle
domestic problems. But, over-zealous nationalism may become an obstacle for the
government if it attempts to adopt a flexible and pragmatic approach to
diplomatic affairs.
Following Deng, the government has opted to put the sovereignty dispute on hold
and jointly cultivate natural resources in the disputed areas. But this policy
often arouses harsh criticisms by nationalists.
For example, many Chinese netizens protested in mid-June after China and Japan
announced they had struck a deal on joint development of gas resources near
islands in the East China Sea which remain the focus of the bitter dispute.
This centers on where the boundary between the two countries' exclusive
maritime economic zones falls. Japan claims the median line marks the divide.
China says the boundary is defined by its continental shelf, extending its zone
towards Japan.
This probably explains why Wen avoided a clear-cut response when urged by Aso
to launch bilateral negotiations at an early time on details for the joint
natural gas development in the East China Sea, based on the June agreement. Wen
only said that China wanted to continue working-level talks with Japan,
according to Jiji Press.
The latest war of words over Diaoyu occurred when Japan said two Chinese marine
survey ships intruded into its territorial waters near the disputed islands on
Monday of last week. At their weekend meeting, Aso voiced his concerns, urging
Wen to ensure that such an incident did not occur again. Wen said the islands
were China's inherent territory while noting that he hoped to solve the issue
through dialogue to prevent negative effects on Sino-Japanese relations,
according to Jiji Press. Both sides stopped short of threatening to escalate
the dispute.
Instead, the Japanese and Chinese leaders shared the view that the two
countries were steadily fostering mutually beneficial strategic relations,
partly through the promotion of personnel exchanges.
"China is willing to make joint efforts with Japan to continue to develop
strategic and mutually beneficial ties in a healthy and stable manner, to
benefit the peoples of the two countries and other nations in the region as
well," Wen was quoted by Xinhua News Agency as saying.
Aso, for his part, said that Japan was satisfied with the sound development of
bilateral ties. "Japan is willing to continue frequent high-level exchanges,
deepen mutual political trust, properly settle differences and promote dialogue
and cooperation with China in such fields as economy and trade," he added.
In terms of the summit between China, Japan and South Korea, which led to the
bilateral meeting, leaders of the three countries agreed on Saturday to enhance
effective cooperation in dealing with challenges amid the raging global
financial crisis. It is important to enhance regional cooperation to tackle the
ongoing financial turmoil, said a joint statement issued after the summit.
The three leaders pledged to refrain from setting new barriers to investment
and trade in goods and services, imposing new export restrictions, or
implementing inconsistent World Trade Organization measures to stimulate
exports within the next 12 months.
The leaders reiterated their commitment to working with the 10 members of the
Association of Southeast Asian Nations and to strengthening the regional
surveillance mechanism for effective monitoring of the regional economy and
financial markets, the statement said.
(Copyright 2008 Asia Times Online (Holdings) Ltd. All rights reserved. Please
contact us about
sales, syndication and
republishing.)
Head
Office: Unit B, 16/F, Li Dong Building, No. 9 Li Yuen Street East,
Central, Hong Kong Thailand Bureau:
11/13 Petchkasem Road, Hua Hin, Prachuab Kirikhan, Thailand 77110
