| Submit your comments on this article |
| China-Japan-Koreas |
| Japan extends military reach in disputed East China Sea |
| 2016-03-30 |
| Japan has switched on a radar station in the East China Sea, giving it a permanent intelligence-gathering post close to Taiwan and a group of disputed islands, in a move that will antagonise Beijing. The new base on the island of Yonaguni is at the western extreme of a string of Japanese islands in the East China Sea, 150km (90 miles) south of the disputed islands known as the Senkaku islands in Japan and the Diaoyu in China. China has long claimed most of the South China Sea, though some areas are also claimed by Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia, Taiwan and Brunei. Japan has been mired for many years in a territorial dispute with China over the East China Sea islands. “Until yesterday, there was no coastal observation unit west of the main Okinawa island. It was a vacuum we needed to fill,” said Daigo Shiomitsu, a lieutenant colonel who commands the new base on Yonaguni. “It means we can keep watch on territory surrounding Japan and respond to all situations.” Shiomitsu on Monday attended a ceremony at the base with 160 military personnel and about 50 dignitaries. Construction of some buildings, which feature white walls and traditional Okinawan red-tiled roofs, is still unfinished. The 30 sq km (11 sq mile) island is home to 1,500 people, who mostly raise cattle and grow sugar cane. The base contingent and family members will increase the population by a fifth. “This radar station is going to irritate China,” said Nozomu Yoshitomi, a professor at Nihon University and a retired major general in the Japanese military. In addition to being a listening post, the facility could be used a base for military operations in the region, he added. |
| Posted by:Steve White |
| #6 More this sunny Guam Thursday AM ... * WORLD NEWS > [Inquisitr] CHINA, VIETNAM, + PHILIPPINES TURN TO UNMANNED FLIGHTS IN SOUTH CHINA SEA "MEXICAN STANDOFF". "Mexican standoffs" USUALLY DON'T END WELL = PEACEFULLY. * BHARAT RAKSHAK > CHINA'S ACTIVITIES IN SOUTH CHINA SEA MAY POSE THREAT TO MAJOR TRADE ROUTE: US - PTI. * REUTERS > US SAYS IT WILL NOT RECOGNIZE SOUTH CHINA SEA EXCLSUION ZONE. * RELATED BUSINESS INSIDER > US: NO, CHINA, WE WON'T RECOGNIZE ALL THE RED LINES YOU'VE DRAWN ALL OVER THE SOUTH CHINA SEA [or in East China Sea = ADIZ as well]. US Deputy SecDef Robert Work. * DEFENSE NEWS > PHILIPPINES MULLS SUBMARINES [new Sub Force] AS CHINA ROW SIMMERS: AQUINO. * BIGNEWSNETWORK > [UPI = Yonhap] THAAD DEPLOYMENT ON KOREAN PENINSULA NECESSARY, US OFFICIAL SAYS. US Deputy SecStae Antony Blinken. * KUAM NEWS BLOG > GUAM COULD HAVE STRATEGIC IMPORTANCE FOR AMPHIBIOUS FROCES [Multi-National, Training]. Have to wonder how that is gonna work out iff the US = USDOD transfers AAFB's Bombers + Drones, etc. to AUSTRALIA in order to prevent their destruction from China's + NOKOR'S LRBMS??? Iff moved to Australia, instead of being divided WestPac-vs-EastPac it will be ROUGH = IMPERFECT NORTHPAC-VS-SOUTHPAC wid the new US defense arc/line running from Australia to Hawaii-Alaska-West Coast??? CHINA TO STILL GET ITS DESIRED 1/2 OF THE PACIFIC [East Asia-WESTPAC] BY DEFAULT, SAVE MORE RUNNING NORTH-VS-SOUTH??? Lastly, will a POTUS Trump pull out US Milfors from SOKOR + JAPAN as threatened iff the latter refuse to pay for US Protection??? |
| Posted by: JosephMendiola 2016-03-30 23:19 |
| #5 While the South China Sea claim is rather historically fictitious, the claim on a vassal state that now constitutes a lot of Norkland is far more valid. |
| Posted by: Procopius2k 2016-03-30 15:59 |
| #4 Tristant Shandy |
| Posted by: Shipman 2016-03-30 15:35 |
| #3 Joe's second to last stanza is interesting. Methinks he's onto something. (Joe's posts are like reading The Iliad or The Epic of Gilgamesh) |
| Posted by: JHH 2016-03-30 14:59 |
| #2 Yeah, what he said! |
| Posted by: Muggsy Hiliter3778 2016-03-30 12:00 |
| #1 CHINA still feeling the squeeze ... * RELATED JAPAN TIMES > GSDF BRING YONAGUNI RADAR STATION ONLINE TO KEEP CLOSE EYE ON CHINA. * BUSINESS INSIDER > TENSIONS ARE MOUNTING BETWEEN RUSSIA, CHINA, AND JAPAN IN THE PACIFIC. * DEFENCE.PK/FORUMS, TOPIX [Japan Times] > CHINA COAST GUARD VESSELS ESCORT FISHING BOAT FLOTILLA [100 Chinese FBS] INTO MALAYSIAN WATERS. 'Tis "unprecedented". versus * GLOBAL TIMES > YONAGUNI MILITARIZATION EXPOSES TOKYO'S AGGRESSION AGZ CHINA. * WORLD NEWS > [Guardian.UK] CHINA ACCUSES JAPAN OF ENDANGERING PEACE IN THE PACIFIC WID NEW LAW [allowing JSDF on overseas combat missions]. Again, IMO no way in hehell that OWG Co-Superpower China will accept or tolerate any challenge to its leadership of East Asia-WESTPAC + any pertinent OWG Global Fed Union(s) arising in same. JAPAN MUST ACCEPT VASSALAGE TO CHINA - YOU KNOW, "BILATERAL PARTNERSHIP-N-COOP"- OR JAPAN WILL BE ATTACKED [Nuked]. * FOCUS TAIWAN > TAIWAN, CHINA LACK CONDITIONS FOR UNIFICATION: PRESIDENT MA. "Peaceful" unification/reunification may be MOOT the ways things are deteriorating from the SCS to the ECS. * CHINA DAILY > JAPAN MOVES THREATENS REGIONAL PEACE + STABILITY. * NDTV > CHINA WARNS TAIWAN OVER NEW LAW GOVERNING CROSS-STARITS RELATIONS. * SAME > [AFP] NEW HONG KONG INDEPENDENCE PARTY SLAMMED BY CHINESE MEDIAS. Risk to Beijing's desired TRI-CITY FTA-FTZ SUPER-PLEX??? * JAPAN TIMES > CHINA SHOULD ACT, OR PYONGYANG [Nuclear? War?] THREATS WILL FORCE SECURITY ACTIONS BEIJING WON'T LIKE: DIPLOMAT. * BIGNEWSNETWORK > [Express.UK] NUCLEAR WAR WARNING: OBAMA VOWS TO TACKLE NORTH KOREA THREAT AMID [NOKOR-triggered] WORLD WAR FEARS. Again, iff Pudgy = Kim Regime-Govt/NOKOR believe that Chinese takeover or annexation of NOKOR is un-avoidable or un-preventable, IMO HE WILL FIND A WAY TO UNILATERALY START A MAJOR US-CHINA WAR IN A DESPERATE MOVE TO SAVE NOKOR FROM BEIJING'S CONTROL. * WORLD MILITARY FORUM > JAPAN "SANKEI SHIMBUN" MEDIA QUOTES NORTH KOREA WORKER'S PARTY PAPER AS CALLING TO RESIST CHINA'S SUPPORT OF ANTI-NOKOR UN SANCTIONS WITH A "NUCLEAR STORM". |
| Posted by: JosephMendiola 2016-03-30 03:28 |
