'China's a threat' comes out clear as a bell


Hajime Furukawa and Satoshi Ogawa / Yomiuri Shimbun Staff Writers

WASHINGTON--Although it was not mentioned directly as such, the main threat playing on the minds of Japan and the United States in this week's bilateral security talks was crystal-clear: China.

"Although China wasn't specifically named, Japan and the U.S. have all but said, 'China is a threat,'" a Japanese government source said of the "main objective" of a joint statement issued after ministerial-level defense and security talks in Washington.

The preamble of the statement said both countries agreed on the need to "address challenges posed by the increasingly uncertain security environment" in East Asia in "common strategic objectives."

For the first time, the statement also mentioned "nontraditional security concerns," and other evolving threats, such as "to outer space, to the high seas, and to cyberspace."

It is not difficult to figure out what nation this was referring to.

"Everybody knows that the nation causing the most concern to others in these fields is China," the government source said.

With China acting increasingly hegemonistic in its nearby waters, the statement reaffirmed the importance of maintaining the "security of the maritime domain by defending the principle of freedom of navigation." Japan and the United States also agreed to maintain cooperation for the protection of and access to space and cyberspace as new elements in the objectives.

The common strategic objectives were first formulated in the February 2005 "two-plus-two" talks as basic guidelines that the Japan-U.S. alliance and the U.S. forces' realignment aim to achieve. They were revised in 2007.

The statement said both governments will "encourage China's responsible and constructive role in regional stability and prosperity" and "its cooperation on global issues." They also will urge China to "improve openness and transparency with respect to [its] military modernization."

The statement issued after the previous round of the two-plus-two talks, held in 2007, urged China "to conduct itself as a responsible international stakeholder, improve transparency in its military affairs, and maintain consistency between its stated policies and actions."

Tuesday's statement also said Tokyo and Washington will "discourage the pursuit and acquisition of military capabilities that could destabilize the regional security environment." That was a nudge at ballistic missile programs being developed by North Korea and Russia, as well as China's military buildup that is aimed at strengthening its "anti-access strategy."

China's decision to restrict exports to Japan of rare earths--minerals crucial to the manufacture of many high-tech products--as bilateral ties chilled after a Chinese trawler rammed two Japan Coast Guard vessels near the Senkaku Islands in Okinawa Prefecture in September also prompted an entry in the joint text. The statement said Japan and the United States will seek to promote talks "on the diversification of supplies of critical resources...including energy and rare earths."

The expressions of increased concern in the statement seem to be aimed at erasing fears in the region that there could be a shift in the military balance between the United States and China in the western Pacific, according to observers.

Years of sizzling growth have seen China leapfrog Japan to become the second-largest economy in the world. Beijing's defense budget has also risen sharply in recent years, and it has stepped up moves to establish dominance over maritime interests and in territorial disputes in the South China Sea and the East China Sea.

By contrast, the United States is under the gun to slash its national debt as its economy struggles to get back on track. U.S. President Barack Obama has indicated he wants a significant cut in the defense budget, and some members of Congress have called for a less-costly U.S. military presence overseas--including forces stationed in Okinawa Prefecture and Guam.

In a speech at an Asian regional security conference in Singapore earlier this month, U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates even admitted that "questions are being raised about the sustainability and credibility" of U.S. commitments around the world, and that "these questions are serious and legitimate."

China's hostile reaction to the collisions near the Senkaku Islands last autumn remains fresh in Japan's memory. Earlier this month, 11 Chinese naval vessels passed between Okinawa's main island and Miyakojima island.

"It was a brazen show of force," a Defense Ministry source said.

At a joint press conference after the two-plus-two talks Tuesday, Gates reaffirmed that the United States was, in partnership with Japan, dedicated to preserving peace and stability in East Asia--even as China emerges as a bigger player on the stage.

"As a Pacific power, the United States remains committed to maintaining a robust forward presence in East Asia," Gates said.

While plenty of late nights were spent preparing the statement--which also included dropping a 2014 deadline for the relocation of the U.S. Marine Corps' Futenma Air Station in Okinawa Prefecture and an addition calling for promoting "the highest level of safety" in civil nuclear programs--both sides know the real work lies ahead.

"We wrote a ton of stuff up in the statement, but the important thing will be whether the politicians can actually put it all into practice," a government source said.

Ogawa is a correspondent based in Washington.
http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/dy/national/T110622005028.htm

America should pull out all overseas military bases and use said military to guard the border with Mexico.

no kidding. mexican illegals and anchor babbies are usa's biggest threats

Both of those nations have much, much bigger problems to worry about.

Japan military is "castrated" by US. There is a valid fear of China, if I'm a neighbour of China too. More military exchanges and co-operation to clear mistrust is needed. Border issue must be resolve and perhaps Japan can join in partnership with China.

Myolineu has nothing better to do than to scrounge up anti-China biased articles.

If you want a threat, look at America, bombing, invading numerous countries, yet China hasn't even done a single thing except reinforce her territorial claims.

Talk about a double standard.

the double standard is the reality between established powers and rising powers, get used to it

to be fair,some this 'threat perception' is produced by the china govt inability to communicate properly with the international community.

Welcome to the modern world of dysgenics! It is where the poor masses are a bigger threat to a nation's sovereignty than any type of soldier, tank, artillery, fighter plane, battleship, or nuclear weapon.

Best way to be dominant in the modern world is to have lots of unprotected sex.

^ hispanics are quite aware this is the source of their growing political power. Whites would be too if they weren't mind-controlled by Jews. My greatest joy is watching white anchor woman cheerfully announce hispanics will be majority by 2050。 She looks like a lobotomized zombie, part of her brain realizes something is wrong with what she's saying, the other part of her brain that should have been worried about it, has been surgically removed by the Jews.

Actually Hispanics in the US have a birth rate 50% higher than Mexicans in Mexico. The fertility rate of real Mexicans is 2.0 while Mexican-Americans is 3.0. Interesting.

That's because the mexicans leaving mexico to come to America are the dark, Native ones. The Mexicans living in luxury with power are the "europeanized" mexicans who are basically White. There's a huge power struggle in Mexico and still a lot of colonial mentality. The rich and powerful are "White". While the poor and disenfranchised are the "brown" meztizos.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/post-p...eJYhH_blog.html



Posted at 12:57 PM ET, 06/23/2011
The Philippines and Japan want U.S. help in dealing with China’s aggression
By Fred Hiatt

Earlier in the week The Post’s Jason Ukman and I spoke with Japanese Defense Minister Toshimi Kitazawa, who was in town with the country’s foreign minister to meet with Clinton and Defense Secretary Robert Gates. Japan too has had run-ins with China in the South China Sea, and Kitazawa’s prescription was similar to del Rosario’s.

“If the United States strikes a firm position, by stating that the United States is going to maintain a strong position in the region, China will have to show restraint,” Kitazawa said.

In an unstable political situation in Tokyo, Kitazawa represents what passes for stability: He’s the only cabinet member to be holding the same position since what had been the longtime opposition party came to power in 2009. And he pointed out the significance of the government’s evolution over these two years, from questioning the U.S.-Japan alliance — as the opposition had done for half a century when it was out of power — to fully embracing it.

“That means essentially that political forces representing 80 percent of the Japanese people are now committed to this alliance,” Kitazawa said. “So the U.S.-Japan alliance is deepened further.”

They are running into the US now because they're not used to China's rising power. Once they're used to it, they'll realize that China doesn't want anything from them except a final resolution over a small island, an unfinished legacy of world war 2. Then they will realize hosting 50,000 US GI's under extraterritoriality and being chained to a subservient foreign policy is no longer befitting of Japan.

wth Japanese run-ins with China in the SCS? gtfo

White people can lose their careers and reputation for saying racist things.



Mexicans have a better chance in America so I am not surprised the ones in America have more children.