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Panetta Warns of War Between China and Japan Over Disputed Islands
This is not getting much attentionExchanging warnings but avoiding confrontations thus far, Chinese and Japanese ships have come within less than half a nautical mile of each other in an ongoing dispute over the sovereignty of contested islands. Amid deepening tensions in a long-running saga over the uninhabited islands, known as Senkaku in Japan and Diaoyu in China, Defense Secretary Leon Panetta warned Sunday about the possibility of war between the two Asian countries. What we don't want is to have any kind of provocative behavior on the part of China or anybody else result in conflict, he told reporters accompanying him on a trip that includes stops in Japan, China and New Zealand. My purpose will be to urge that they engage in the effort by the Asian nations to try to work out a format for resolving these issues, he added, referring to a code of conduct developed by the Association of Southeast Asian Nations in a bid to manage unconnected territorial disputes between China and ASEAN members in the South China Sea. Asked again about the concerns, Panetta said he was worried that when these countries engage in provocations of one kind or another over these various islands, that it raises the possibility that a misjudgment on one side or the other could result in violence and could result in conflict, and that conflict would then, you know, have the potential of expanding. Were going to face more of this, countries are searching for resources, he added. Theres going to be questions raised as to who has jurisdiction over these areas. There has got to be a peaceful way to resolve these issues. Any conflict between Japan and China could risk drawing in the United States. Although the U.S. position is that is does not take sides in the territorial dispute the Obama administration, like the Bush administration before it, has confirmed that the islands fall within the scope of article five of the 1960 U.S.-Japan Treaty of Mutual Cooperation and Security an appraisal rejected by Beijing. The treatys article five states: Each Party recognizes that an armed attack against either Party in the territories under the administration of Japan would be dangerous to its own peace and safety and declares that it would act to meet the common danger in accordance with its constitutional provisions and processes. The Senkaku/Diaoyu islands, located about halfway between the Chinese mainland and Japans southernmost island of Okinawa, have been under disputed Japanese control since the late 19th century. Posted by: Sherry 2012-09-17 |
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