Here is an analysis from RT on what Japan should do.
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Japan needs to re-calibrate its foreign policy in double quick time. It should reduce its over eagerness to depend on the United States for tackling the gorilla in the room: China.
Japan can do this by cozying up to Russia and South Korea while redoubling its efforts and pace in further deepening ties with India.
This is the important fine print one can read in the President Barack Obamas recently concluded visit to Japan, the first state visit by an American president to Japan in 18 years.
Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is a shrewd politician who has the will and the capability to restore his country to its pristine glory. He should separate the chaff from the wheat in what Obama said and did not say during his trip to Tokyo.
Nothing bothers the Japanese political leadership more than the question: how to deal with China? Japan can take a cue from India in this context. India has been handling China much better than any other country. The Indian mantra is this: engage with China on all issues, including the contentious ones, while giving fillip to bilateral trade and people-to-people contacts.
If political leaders and the people of Japan thought that Obama would say comforting words to Japan at the cost of China, and that the US alone is capable of safeguarding their interests vis-a-vis China, then they were mistaken. Nothing of the sort happened.
From the Japanese perspective, the core issue in Abe-Obama talks was the Senkaku/Diaoyu islands dispute between Japan and China. It must have been music to Japanese ears when Obama reaffirmed his support for Japan over the disputed islands, and remarked that the islands fell under a security treaty that commits the US to act if Japan is attacked.
But wait! Obama did not come up with anything new here. And he did not stop here. Sample his remarks that followed soon thereafter.
"I've said directly to (Abe) that it would be a profound mistake to continue to see escalation around this issue rather than dialogue and confidence-building measures between Japan and China."
In our discussions, I emphasized with Prime Minister Abe the importance of resolving this issue peacefully ... Not escalating the situation, keeping the rhetoric low, not taking provocative actions, and trying to determine how both Japan and China can work cooperatively together.
Obama also called upon Japan and China to take confidence-building measures and significantly added: We have strong relations with China.
...
http://rt.com/op-edge/155928-japan-obama-russia-sanctions/
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Japan needs to re-calibrate its foreign policy in double quick time. It should reduce its over eagerness to depend on the United States for tackling the gorilla in the room: China.
Japan can do this by cozying up to Russia and South Korea while redoubling its efforts and pace in further deepening ties with India.
This is the important fine print one can read in the President Barack Obamas recently concluded visit to Japan, the first state visit by an American president to Japan in 18 years.
Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is a shrewd politician who has the will and the capability to restore his country to its pristine glory. He should separate the chaff from the wheat in what Obama said and did not say during his trip to Tokyo.
Nothing bothers the Japanese political leadership more than the question: how to deal with China? Japan can take a cue from India in this context. India has been handling China much better than any other country. The Indian mantra is this: engage with China on all issues, including the contentious ones, while giving fillip to bilateral trade and people-to-people contacts.
If political leaders and the people of Japan thought that Obama would say comforting words to Japan at the cost of China, and that the US alone is capable of safeguarding their interests vis-a-vis China, then they were mistaken. Nothing of the sort happened.
From the Japanese perspective, the core issue in Abe-Obama talks was the Senkaku/Diaoyu islands dispute between Japan and China. It must have been music to Japanese ears when Obama reaffirmed his support for Japan over the disputed islands, and remarked that the islands fell under a security treaty that commits the US to act if Japan is attacked.
But wait! Obama did not come up with anything new here. And he did not stop here. Sample his remarks that followed soon thereafter.
"I've said directly to (Abe) that it would be a profound mistake to continue to see escalation around this issue rather than dialogue and confidence-building measures between Japan and China."
In our discussions, I emphasized with Prime Minister Abe the importance of resolving this issue peacefully ... Not escalating the situation, keeping the rhetoric low, not taking provocative actions, and trying to determine how both Japan and China can work cooperatively together.
Obama also called upon Japan and China to take confidence-building measures and significantly added: We have strong relations with China.
...
http://rt.com/op-edge/155928-japan-obama-russia-sanctions/
getting my seedlings ready. I live in zone 2 and try to grow more than lichens.
