And Strained Relations Remain Strained

Unkotare

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Aug 16, 2011
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Hillary tryin' to enlist Russia's help...
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Nationalism stokes island disputes around Asia
September 6, 2012 — They are mere specks on the map. Many are uninhabited, and others sparsely so by fishermen and seasonal residents. Yet the disputed ownership of these tiny constellations of islands is inflaming nationalist fervor from the cold North Pacific to the tropical South China Sea.
In recent weeks, these long-simmering tensions have returned to a boil, with violent protests in Chinese cities, a provocative island junket by South Korea's lame-duck president, and Japan's government reportedly planning to buy disputed islands from their private owners. The popular analysis is that the rising tensions are fueled by a regional power shift that has seen China become increasingly assertive with its neighbors in securing claims over potentially resource-rich waters to its south and east. But the growing acrimony may have at least as much to do with domestic political posturing. "Wrapping yourself up in the national flag gives a very convenient exit for people with other agendas to justify their positions," says political scientist Koichi Nakano of Tokyo's Sophia University.

Nationalism has often been used by China's communist leaders to cover up domestic problems — such as the economic slowdown the country is now facing, not to mention problems with a growing rich-poor divide and official corruption. The same could be said, to an extent, in Japan and South Korea, where some politicians seem to be using the island disputes to further their agenda ahead of elections or to divert attention from thornier topics. Few believe the diverse Asian actors in this rapidly developing drama will actually come to blows, but manipulation of popular opinion in island disputants like China, South Korea and the Philippines is raising the chances of violence by either accident or miscalculation. Such an outcome would seriously threaten the fragile tranquility that has helped catapult tens of millions of Asians from poverty to prosperity.

The disputed islands were on the agenda this week as U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton traveled across the region. Meeting Monday with Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, she urged members of the 10-nation Association of Southeast Asian Nations to present a united front to China in dealing with territorial disputes in the South China Sea. She also discussed the issue with Chinese leaders during meetings in Beijing this week.

Preferred access to potentially lucrative oil and gas reserves and rich fishing grounds is helping to drive the disputes, along with an increasingly prosperous and militarily strong China that is beginning to challenge America's historic supremacy as a Pacific power. "There is a big power shift in this region and that is encouraging the parties involved to make their case in order not to lose their ground," said security specialist Narushige Michishita of Japan's National Graduate Institute for Policy Studies. But the nationalist card is also front and center as governments jockey for position. "Nationalism is playing a very large role in all of these disputes," said international relations specialist George Tsai of Taipei's Chinese Culture University. "Whether it's China, Japan, Taiwan, the Philippines or Korea, all these countries are appealing to nationalist sentiments."

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Wary US looks to calm rising tensions in Asia
8 Sept.`12 — Alarmed by a rise in nationalist sentiment around the Asia-Pacific, the Obama administration is looking for Russia to play a greater role in the region as it seeks to quell growing maritime tensions.
U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton was to meet on Saturday with Russian President Vladimir Putin at meeting of Pacific Rim leaders to gauge Moscow's intentions as it looks increasingly eastward after decades of European orientation. U.S. officials say they would welcome a more active Russian role in the Asia-Pacific where territorial disputes, including between U.S. allies Japan and South Korea, sparked by nationalist rhetoric have fueled fears of conflict. A senior U.S. official traveling with Clinton said Russia's engagement in the region has until now been "episodic," not very active and primarily focused on the six-nation effort to get North Korea to give up nuclear weapons.

Now, with Putin actively promoting Russian greater economic and strategic ties with Asia and hosting the annual Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation forum summit in much spruced up Vladivostok, Clinton is eager to hear what his "goals and ambitions" are and how they might complement U.S. efforts, particularly in easing strains that could interfere with oceangoing commerce in the Pacific, the official said. The official said the United States wanted to see more "sustained" Russian interest in the Asia-Pacific. Clinton began Saturday by signing an agreement with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov that will enhance U.S.-Russia scientific cooperation in the Antarctic, as well as link national parks on either side of the Bering Strait.

With Lavrov, she also stressed the importance of dealing with the ongoing crisis in Syria, where Russia, along with China, has blocked U.N. action that would penalize the Syrian regime for refusing to allow a political transition, a second U.S. official said. The pair also discussed efforts to get Iran to comply with international demands to prove its nuclear program is peaceful, North Korea and boosting trade between the U.S. and Russia, the official said. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to publicly discuss the talks. Clinton, who is filling in for President Barack Obama at the summit, has spent the last week in the Asia-Pacific urging peaceful resolutions to competing territorial claims between China and its smaller neighbors in the South China Sea. The U.S. wants to see the Association of Southeast Asian Nations and China establish quickly a code of conduct for the area to be followed by a mechanism to resolve the conflicts peacefully without intimidation, coercion or clashes.

At the same time, tensions have flared between Japan and South Korea over claims to Dokdu Island and Clinton will see the leaders of both in Vladivostok to express U.S. concerns about their dispute over Dokdu Island and "remind both countries of the importance we place on their determination to work well together," the official said. "We have been concerned by tensions of late between Tokyo and Seoul." "We've underscored that a positive relationship between Japan and South Korea is in the strategic best interests of the United States, and we'll continue to do so," the official said. The importance of creating a code of conduct for the South China Sea and ultimately settling sovereignty issues there were topics of discussion between Clinton and Singapore's Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, officials said.

Wary US looks to calm rising tensions in Asia - Yahoo! News
 
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