11. The Diaoyu Islands incident

The Japanese government was kidnapped by the right?

Judging from the overall course of the evolution of the entire Diaoyu Dao incident, Shintaro Ishihara and the Japanese Government's stance is actually the same, except that one is open and the other is hidden.

Some media reported that the Japanese government was kidnapped by the right-wing, and then Noda raised the issue of buying the Diaoyu Islands, nationalization. Judging from the whole substantive situation, the Japanese government does not care about the issue of kidnapping at all, and Ishihara is just a pioneer who explores the way, and the Japanese government has always cooperated and followed up on Ishihara's entire action.

Ishihara has a son who is an important figure in Japanese politics and a member of the cabinet, and he has played a big role in this. The Noda Yoshihiko government was still holding the pipa and half-covering its face, worrying about this and that, not only saying that it didn't want to do it, but also that it couldn't do it. And then I don't know how they came to the conclusion, but in general, they seem to think that the time is ripe, so the government has jumped out openly.

On June 11, 1971, the United States and Japan signed the Agreement on the Return of Okinawa, under which the United States transferred sovereignty over the Ryukyu Islands to Japan. On the same day, the Taiwan authorities solemnly declared that the Diaoyu Islands were part of their territory, and they were very dissatisfied with the United States' unauthorized handing over of the Ryukyus to Japan.

For more than 40 years from 1971 to the present, Japan has not relaxed, and has been advancing step by step in an orderly manner, first by individuals landing on islands, by building lighthouses, then by the government, then by individuals, and then by the state.

In fact, the government has followed step by step with the private sector as the guide, the individual as the guide, and the government has followed up step by step to complete the strategic planning of the Japanese state. So it's not that the Japanese government has been kidnapped by the right wing, but that the Japanese government has completed a long-term deployment of methodical behavior.

China and Japan have just made diplomatic contacts over control of the Diaoyu Islands, and Japan has also handed over a personal letter from the prime minister saying that it attaches importance to China's "strategic mutually beneficial relationship." However, on September 2, 2012, the Tokyo Metropolitan Government of Japan conducted an illegal investigation into the waters off the Diaoyu Islands.

Japan's so-called handwritten diplomacy is just a diplomatic strategy or a means, and we will not be fooled by these false statements that have no substance.

On the one hand, to appease us, through the prime minister's personal letter or the government's official letter, to show that it attaches importance to the strategic and mutually beneficial relationship between China and Japan; On the other hand, the process of "nationalization" of the Diaoyu Islands is also being promoted.

The entire situation in the Diaoyu Islands was an act led by the Japanese Government to forcibly occupy the Diaoyu Islands, China's territory, in an orderly manner. Through such a letter from the prime minister, on the one hand, it is a kind of smokescreen reassurance, as if the strategic and mutually beneficial relationship between China and Japan is important, which is false. What is it in practice? In fact, Japan is gradually and methodically advancing its forcible occupation of the Diaoyu Islands, on the one hand, in an attempt to stabilize China, and on the other hand, in order to seize the maximum benefits in this regard.

In particular, Japan's Noda Cabinet has no way to deal with the political dilemma it is facing, as well as the low tide of the polls, as well as the dispute with Russia over the four northern islands (known in Russia as the South Kuril Islands), and with South Korea over Takeshima (known as Dokdo in South Korea). As a result, Japan suffered setbacks in territorial disputes with its neighbors, both in the north and in the west. Therefore, Japan is now anxious to obtain a kind of achievement in the south, and in terms of Japan's position, the south mainly refers to the Diaoyu Islands, and wants to take a greater advantage in the Diaoyu Islands in the south, so as to obtain a so-called justification.

On the one hand, this will increase the support of the Noda Cabinet in the domestic public opinion, and in the medium to long term, it will also leave a mark in the so-called Japanese history: the Noda Cabinet played a key role in the process of "nationalizing" the Diaoyu Islands. This is not only its appeal to realpolitik, but also its appeal to the so-called historical status.

Since the dispute between China and Japan over the Diaoyu Islands has heated up, some domestic media have analyzed that it was Japanese right-wingers who hijacked Sino-Japanese relations, and also called on the Japanese government not to be led by the right-wingers.

We must not be deceived by the argument that "Japan's right-wing has kidnapped Sino-Japanese relations," which is just a smokescreen deliberately unleashed by the Japanese side. In fact, both the Noda government and the governor of Tokyo, Shintaro Ishihara, want to promote the evolution of the Diaoyu Islands, a Chinese territory, from de facto control to de facto occupation.

From the perspective of Japanese politics as a whole, after World War II, especially after the end of the Cold War, Japan's political right-wing trend is an unavoidable trend. It is also an undeniable reality that China and Japan are showing more and more confrontation and less and less cooperation in the field of security.

During the Cold War, joint efforts against the Soviet Union were a great interest between China and Japan, just as the foundation of Sino-American relations was the foundation. After the end of the Cold War, the significance of China and Japan jointly dealing with the Soviet Union is gone, the significance of China and the United States in dealing with the Soviet Union is gone, and there is no need for the United States to support China. Under these circumstances, the deterioration of Sino-Japanese relations is characterized by the loss of the common point of convergence of national interests between the two sides after the end of the Cold War.

The Japanese, including the Americans, have the illusion that the Cold War is over, the socialist camp has basically collapsed from a global perspective, that socialism in China is a standout, and that China is in a relatively lonely and difficult situation in the international community. Under these circumstances, the Japanese felt that this might be the best time for their territorial ambitions.

Of course, the United States and Japan did not expect such rapid economic development in China, and in this case, Japan also saw that it could realize its territorial ambitions while China's power was not too strong. When China becomes too strong, it will be very difficult for Japan to realize such territorial ambitions.

Japanese politicians may have the impression that now is a better time for Japan to achieve its territorial expansion, and it may also be the last opportunity. If we do not seize this opportunity, China's national power will rise day by day, and it will be difficult to reproduce this opportunity in the future.

Therefore, Japan's eagerness to complete the "nationalization" of the Diaoyu Islands does not care at all about the so-called strategic mutually beneficial relationship between China and Japan, and it must promote the "nationalization" of the Diaoyu Islands.

Can Japan's eagerness to encroach on the territory of other countries be said to be merely the actions of right-wingers? Is it just the Noda government in order to become the next prime minister? In fact, it is the pursuit of a common national philosophy in Japan from Shintaro Ishihara to the Noda government, that is, to seize the time to complete the expansion of Japan's interests while China's power has not yet grown to the point where Japan can hardly shake it.

The Ryukyus are not Japanese

After World War II, the United States and Britain jointly drafted the most important article of the peace treaty with Japan, which stated that Japan's national sovereignty was limited to the four main islands of Honshu, Kyushu, Shikoku, and Hokkaido, and that Japan's national sovereignty was limited to this scope. Why is this qualification? This was a tremendous achievement of the victorious countries during World War II, that is, it was to completely eliminate Japan's ambitions for aggression and expansion. From this point of view, the US side is actually very clear in this regard.

On the question of the ownership of the Ryukyus, we must first make it clear that from today's point of view, there is no international document that can prove that the Ryukyus should belong to Japan.

Ryukyu was forcibly occupied by Japan in 1879, and the Japanese forcibly moved the royal family of Ryukyu to Japan, so that the locals could forget the royal family of Ryukyu, Chinese characters, and forget the name of the Qing Dynasty and the Daoguang copper coins that were used at that time, so the name was changed to Okinawa.

It was not until 1882 that Japan incorporated part of the Ryukyus, present-day Okinawa (the Nakayama Kingdom that paid tribute to the Qing Dynasty), and the northern Ryukyu islands, into Japan, and forcibly transferred them without the consent of the Qing government. In the so-called agreement on the transfer of the Ryukyu Islands to the Ryukyu Islands, Japan also recognized the Sakishima Islands, which are today's Miyako, Ishigaki, and Yaeyama, as part of the Qing Dynasty.

Later, because the Qing Dynasty did not care about this issue, Japan occupied all of the Sakishima Islands. Therefore, judging from today, Japan forcibly belongs to the Ryukyus, and it actually has no bottom in its heart. Especially after World War II, the United Nations has been entrusted with it for such a long time, and Japan has no bottom in its heart. Therefore, Japan is very happy to see and very much hope that China will recognize Okinawa as an inalienable part of Japan's territory.

Of course, the issue of the Diaoyu Islands is actually a different issue, because the Diaoyu Islands are an island under the jurisdiction of China, and they are not part of the Ryukyu Islands at all.

The reason why we raise the issue of the ownership of the Ryukyu Islands today is not to say that the Diaoyu Islands are part of the Ryukyus. Rather, when Japan covets and attempts to forcibly occupy Diaoyu Dao, we must tell the Japanese: Don't say that Diaoyu Dao is an inalienable part of China, even if Japan forcibly occupies the Ryukyus, it cannot be supported by international law.

Whether it is the neutrality of the Ryukyus, the United Nations trusteeship, the future independence of the Ryukyus, or any question of the future of the Ryukyus, it is an international issue, an international issue that has not been resolved today.

We are more accustomed to solving problems with an attitude of calming things down, and we are more accustomed to thinking of the other party as very rational, righteous and gentlemanly. It is precisely for this reason that we do not want the issue of the Diaoyu Islands to cause a big dispute, so Comrade Deng Xiaoping once put forward the principle of "shelving disputes and making joint development."

But what is the problem now? The Japanese side did not put aside the dispute, and they were pressing forward step by step. Today's provocation of the Diaoyu Dao issue, including the Ryukyu issue, is not provoked by the Chinese, but by the Japanese who lift a stone and shoot themselves in the foot!

Japan has been implementing a methodical and step-by-step policy of encroachment. This was the kind of policy when Japan invaded China, and it used this policy of gradual encroachment in the land of North China and Central China. Today, Japan is pursuing such a policy in the Ryukyus and in the East China Sea.

Therefore, when we raise the issue of the ownership of the Ryukyus today, we are actually trying to arouse the attention of the Chinese to their greater rights and interests, and to warn us of Japan's behavior of "swallowing this piece today, swallowing that piece tomorrow, and that piece the day after tomorrow." Of course, it is necessary not only to arouse the warning of the Chinese nation, but also to arouse the warning of the international community. This is a great way out for us to really solve problems in the future.

Desert islands and misguided countries

Some scholars in China have put forward a view that Diaoyu Dao is a "desert island" and "does not produce GDP", further explaining that Diaoyu Dao is "insignificant", and even accusing fishermen of "misleading the country" and "harming the country" by landing on the island.

In fact, the argument that "Diaoyu Dao is an insignificant desert island" is really misleading the country and harming the country.

On the one hand, these people are greatly influenced by Japan, and as for how much interest they have in Japan, of course, we are not able to analyze it here.

On the other hand, I don't think they know anything about the Diaoyu Islands.

According to the 200-nautical-mile exclusive economic zone set by the Diaoyu Islands, Japan immediately demarcates a 12-nautical-mile territorial sea with a 3.6-square-kilometer island like the Diaoyu Islands, and then sets aside a 200-nautical-mile exclusive economic zone. Japan's 200-nautical-mile exclusive economic zone, centered on the Diaoyu Islands, includes almost all of the waters off Zhejiang and the Taiwan Strait.

An exclusive economic zone that an island can obtain is almost 400,000 square kilometers. What is this concept? Taiwan covers an area of more than 30,000 square kilometers. These nearly 400,000 square kilometers of maritime rights and interests will have a very large erosion of our exclusive economic zone and our seabed resources! This is one aspect.

In addition, from the perspective of marine geological structure, China and Japan are called opposite countries. Our two countries face each other, but we do not share the continental shelf of the East China Sea, which is cut off by the Okinawa Trough.

According to the provisions of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, the seabed rights and interests of the continental shelf shall belong to the countries that extend the continental shelf, and the entire seabed rights and interests of the continental shelf in the East China Sea shall belong to China, the country that does not share the same shelf. And once the Diaoyu Dao is returned to Japan - of course, we Chinese will never recognize the Diaoyu Dao as part of Japan, but if Japan completes the process of "nationalizing" the Diaoyu Dao and claims the Diaoyu Dao as its own, Japan can claim that it has a territory on the continental shelf in the East China Sea. Then the basis for the delimitation of the submarine continental shelf between China and Japan will be changed, and China and Japan will change from being countries that do not share a shelf in the opposite direction to countries that share a shelf in the opposite direction. If the two sides share the continental shelf, then the continental shelf in the East China Sea will be half of the family, and Japan's theory of some so-called median lines will be established, which will cause us a loss of more than 200,000 square kilometers of maritime rights and interests.

Some of our scholars, including some media professionals, don't really know what the Diaoyu Islands mean. If you don't understand, it's best not to talk too much. If you don't understand, you will come out as an expert and scholar to say that the people who protect fishing are not patriotic but harmful to the country. In fact, this kind of argument is harmful to the country.

In fact, these fishermen are defending the interests of the Chinese nation with their own lives. Our understanding of Diaoyu Dao should first start with the academic and theoretical circles, and we should not only focus on some non-governmental people who have no resources, but as so-called theoretical figures, media personalities, or even media leaders with huge resources and social influence, they regard the action as harming the country, and this is actually a long-term erosion of the interests of the Chinese nation, and this is a lesson that we must learn.

How does the Chinese nation form a united mind? This remains a major test for us today. In particular, if our academic and ideological circles have a vague understanding of this issue and regard the Diaoyu Dao as a mere projectile land, then it is indeed necessary to carry out a popularization of maritime rights and interests.

The significance of folk fishing

On August 15, 2012, Chinese non-governmental fishermen carried the five-star red flag and successfully landed on the Diaoyu Islands, a Chinese territory, to declare China's sovereignty. Subsequently, all 14 people on board were illegally arrested and detained by the Japanese side. After many solemn representations and efforts by the Chinese government, Japan unconditionally released all 14 Chinese personnel and vessels illegally seized in the Diaoyu Islands and its adjacent waters on August 17.

The actions of Chinese non-governmental people to protect fishing are actually the strength and aspirations of the Chinese nation to jointly safeguard national sovereignty.

Where does a country's greatest strength come from to safeguard its own rights and interests? One is the strong determination of the government, the other is to effectively defend its sovereignty with the strength of the country, and the greater strength is the people's hearts.

This kind of popular support is not only on the mainland, but also in Hong Kong, Macao, and Taiwan, as well as overseas Chinese; this is the common aspiration of the Chinese nation, and this is the most powerful voice of a country in safeguarding its own national sovereignty.

Compared with the voice of the government and the voice of national strength, people's hearts are an effective supplement, and they are also a more basic thing. On this basis, the voice of the government and the armed forces of the country will become more powerful.

When it comes to national sovereignty and territorial integrity, this voice is the most fundamental. Especially in today's era of economic globalization and social informationization in the world, the voice of a nation as a whole cannot but be taken seriously by any country in the world.

The Chinese people's behavior of protecting fishing reflects the overall will of the Chinese nation, no matter what kind of political system, ideology, ideals and beliefs. We can see that there are quite big differences between the mainland and Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Macao, including overseas Chinese, in terms of ideology, ideological belief, and religious belief.

Despite these differences, we have one thing in common -- we jointly safeguard the interests of our own nation.

The greatest significance of the non-governmental people's action to protect fishing lies here, it transcends the social and political system, transcends ideology and tradition, and although there are various differences within us Chinese, it is condensed in this point.

Of course, in this process, there have been some excesses, but on the whole, it has helped to promote the overall harmony of the Chinese nation, and I think there is no doubt about this.

The issue of the Diaoyu Islands is very complex and cannot be resolved quickly by acting on the whims. Moreover, after all, the issue of the Diaoyu Islands has been shelved for so many years, and everyone should fully estimate its complexity. This kind of complication cannot be solved by a few demonstrations, smashing some Japanese goods, and immediately resorting to force.

On the issue of the Diaoyu Islands, we should jointly grasp one point, that is, the Chinese nation should unite as one, and this is the most basic way out of this issue, and it should not be divided because of the solution of this issue. For example, because of the settlement of the Diaoyu Dao issue, there has been great confrontation and resentment between the people and the government.

There is no doubt that all members of the Chinese nation, whether they are the voices of the government or the people, should be unanimous and proceed from the point of how to effectively safeguard the long-term interests of the Chinese nation and safeguard the national sovereignty of the Chinese nation.

The question that needs to be discussed in detail is what kind of ways and methods can be more effective. Of course, in the course of the discussion, different voices are allowed. However, in the course of the discussion, we must not forget the theme that others are very happy to see the Chinese nation split, such as Japan, which is very happy to see such a situation occur. We have suffered losses in the past because we have been divided and conquered by our opponents.

Therefore, under such circumstances, it is a test for the Chinese nation to unify its determination and will around the Diaoyu Dao issue, complete the unified arrangements, and then carry out actions to safeguard national sovereignty in an orderly manner.

A clear guide to history

On September 11, 2012, the Japanese government signed an "island purchase agreement" with the so-called "owners" of the Diaoyu Islands.

The main driver of this crisis is Japan, which has pushed the Diaoyu Dao issue from shelving to the brink of crisis by discarding a tacit agreement reached between the two sides that had already been agreed upon by the two sides, from the first-generation leaders Mao Zedong and Zhou Enlai to the second-generation leader Deng Xiaoping.

In this situation, the Japanese side is completely taking the initiative to push forward and approaching the brink of the crisis step by step, and the Chinese side really has no way to retreat, so it has no choice but to make a strong response and make the necessary counterattack.

Some scholars in Japan believe that Japan's actions are worthy of such a big reaction. Some people say that the Japanese government planned to buy the island a few years ago, and it is being implemented today, so we should not react so strongly.

Some people also said that there was a problem of translation between China and Japan, and that when Japan talked about the "nationalization" of the Diaoyu Islands, its so-called "nationalization" should be translated as "nationalization." After the change from private management to state management, the Japanese government will be able to effectively prevent Japanese non-governmental people from landing on the islands and developing them, which will reduce the conflict between China and Japan.

These public opinions can be seen in China, and they are also said by some experts and scholars in China. From this point of view, it is particularly worthy of our vigilance.

History is a mirror. We can see how the "77 Incident" happened back then. The reason for the "77 Incident" was that the so-called Japanese soldiers were lost for no reason, and finally the Japanese soldiers found them, but the battle had already begun.

In addition, when the "77 Incident" occurred, the Japanese said that I did not invade and occupy your China, and I just wanted to promote the "autonomy of North China". What is "North China Autonomy"? It was Japan that found a group of traitors to represent Japan's interests, carried out so-called superficial management in North China, and used some Chinese loyal to Japan as puppets to promote "autonomy in North China."

Japan launched the "77 Incident", saying that I did not want to invade you, I was just "the autonomy of North China". Then, of course, Japan occupied the whole of North China, and its face was exposed, and there was no such thing as "autonomy in North China."

History is a mirror of reality, and we can use history as a mirror to see how crises occur, how large-scale conflicts between countries occur, and this is how little by little they accumulate.

When the other party is encroaching and pressing step by step, if we retreat step by step and compromise step by step, it will create a great illusion for the other party, and the other party's adventurous nature and the danger of the other party will be greatly improved. This is a very good historical reference for us today.

We can see this situation very clearly from the whole process of Japan's step-by-step attempt to encroach on the Diaoyu Islands. First it was a private landing on the island, and then it was called dissuasion by the Japanese government. Then there was the so-called private landing on the island to build a lighthouse, and the Chinese side asked the Japanese side to demolish it, and the Japanese side said, first, this lighthouse was built by a private person; Second, this lighthouse is conducive to navigation and the safety of passing ships, and everyone benefits, including mainland China and Taiwan, so it is okay not to dismantle it.

Then there was the private purchase of the island, a very strange thing, the territory of China was privately owned by Japan. The Japanese also explained that our political system is different from yours, and you see that we are this system, even if it is private, and we have no way to do it. Now the governor of Tokyo has come out to buy, which is the so-called semi-national purchase, and then the Japanese Noda government and Ishihara have jointly completed a double play.

Noda said that instead of Tokyo buying things that might trigger a greater conflict between Japan and China, the Japanese government would rather be able to keep the peace and use these things to paralyze the Chinese.

Therefore, when the Japanese proposed the so-called nationalization of the Diaoyu Dao, no matter whether it was translated as "nationalization" or "nationalization," there was no doubt that this was an important step for Japan to nationalize the Diaoyu Dao.

Otherwise, our three important leaders, President Hu Jintao, Chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress Wu Bangguo, and Premier Wen Jiabao of the State Council, would not all have come out to make very tough voices to expound China's fundamental position and say that we will never make the slightest concession on sovereignty.

Japan should see these warnings very clearly: Today's China is different from that of the past China, and Japan will use those effective tricks of the past to today, and in the end it will lift a stone and shoot itself in the foot.

Japan's countermeasures against China are still underestimated. Both the Japanese right-wing and the Japanese ruling authorities have not yet profoundly comprehended the tremendous damage that the Diaoyu Dao incident has done to Sino-Japanese relations.

Some Japanese media have said in their reports that Sino-Japanese relations are the worst since Koizumi's visit to the Yasukuni Shrine in 2005, and these Japanese media have taken it too lightly, and Sino-Japanese relations are not the worst since 2005, but the worst and most dangerous period since the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and Japan in 1972!

Japan's so-called "purchase" of the Diaoyu Dao, China's territory, has provoked a profound and comprehensive backlash in Chinese society, and this comprehensiveness involves all strata, all fields, and all different strata, whether they are developed or underdeveloped, whether they are blue-collar workers or white-collar workers, whether they are leaders or being led, the Chinese nation has maintained a high degree of unity on this issue, and has also shown great righteous indignation.

Japan underestimated the reaction of the Chinese leadership and underestimated the public opinion in China. If Japan does not make adjustments, it will be difficult to avoid an all-round deterioration in Sino-Japanese relations.

In response to the Japanese Government's so-called "purchase" of the Diaoyu Dao, we must take substantive steps, and this step is by no means a matter of warning Japan, and there must be a substantive step, and this step is by no means just starting around the Diaoyu Dao, but is comprehensive. It should not only include the issue of maritime rights and interests, but also the economic, political, and other aspects of the relationship between the two sides, which should be re-evaluated and reconsidered.

The most significant significance of the announcement of the baselines in the territorial sea is to solidify the ownership of the Diaoyu Islands to China in the form of law. Moreover, the baselines of the territorial sea announced by us are exactly the same as those announced by the Taiwan side, and they completely coincide. This shows that the Chinese on both sides of the Taiwan Strait have jointly recognized that Diaoyu Dao is an inalienable part of China's territory, and this is a very good legal basis for us to establish.

Of course, my personal opinion that Japan's response to Japan's purchase of islands is not just a matter of announcing baselines in the territorial sea and merely sending ships to patrol.

When Japan provokes the Diaoyu Islands as an issue and as a crisis, our response to the crisis should be more comprehensive and diverse, and it is by no means just that Japan designates this island, and we have a conflict in this place, and it is impossible not to involve other areas.

Whether it is announcing the baselines of the territorial waters or sending ships to patrol, this is only the first step in countering Japan's Noda Cabinet's purchase of the islands, and there are several more steps to follow. We must be prepared for a comprehensive deterioration in Sino-Japanese relations.

The overall deterioration of Sino-Japanese relations is something that no one wants to see. Since the beginning of reform and opening up, Sino-Japanese economic cooperation has brought great benefits to both sides. Japan has also provided us with some development assistance, which has also played a very good role in China's economy. The huge market that China has provided to Japan has also become a fundamental factor in Japan's economic growth and prosperity.

There is a rule of international trade: if the volume of trade between two countries exceeds $200 billion, the two countries have a major stake, and it is necessary to establish close economic relations, but also close political and even military cooperation. Trade between China and Japan has reached $300 billion, far exceeding this figure, which shows the depth of economic exchanges between China and Japan.

But today, judging by the wishful thinking of the Chinese, we very much want to establish a very good economic relationship with Japan, including a relationship of political mutual understanding.

However, Japan has made such a choice, repeatedly ignoring China's warnings, and has taken risks to complete the so-called "nationalization" of the Diaoyu Islands, forcing China to have no choice. When Japan begins to actively seek confrontation with China, we cannot make any dodges.

The win-win situation of Sino-Japanese cooperation is obvious, and the situation of Sino-Japanese confrontation and double loss is also obvious. Since Japan is not afraid to bear the price, there is no need for the Chinese to be afraid to bear the price. We often say that China can do without anyone.

Today, although we have made extensive use of international funds, international technology, international resources, and international markets in the process of globalization, the world is much bigger for China, and our resources are much stronger than those of Japan.

Japan wants to use the Diaoyu Islands to subvert the achievements of World War II

Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda has set a policy of internationalizing the dispute over the Diaoyu Islands, making Japan's position clear in his address to the United Nations General Assembly, and enlisting the support of the United States, Vietnam, and the Philippines in order to force China to make concessions under their "diplomatic encirclement."

Japan has taken a series of abnormal actions, and of course it is also linked to the dream of the Japanese right-wing to become a "normal" country.

What does Japan mean by wanting to be a "normal" country? It is to overthrow Japan's status as defined by the United States, the Soviet Union, and other world powers after the end of World War II, from the Cairo Declaration to the Potsdam Proclamation and the Yalta Agreement. Japan wants to overturn such a position entirely.

Of course, Japan has a very ingenious way of hoping to achieve this subversion. On the surface, Japan is fighting for territory with a certain country, or with South Korea over Dokdo, or with China over the Diaoyu Islands, or with Russia over the South Kuril Islands.

All the planning in Japan is very ridiculous. Including Shintaro Ishihara of Tokyo, whose earliest book, "Japan Can Say No", pointed the finger at the United States. At the time, he meant that Japan was still a colony of the United States, so Japan had to become independent from the United States in order to obtain such a political status, mainly to say "no" to the United States.

So today, the same Ishihara, saying "no" is coming to China. Moreover, he used the United States, which he was originally prepared to say "no," as Japan's endorsement, the so-called "U.S.-Japan Security Treaty." This is a small trick played by Japan in international politics, and it is a cautious eye, not a big one, and there is very little hope that this trick will succeed.

Japan's move is a challenge to the justice of the anti-fascist war of World War II, and if Japan's act of overturning the case for World War II is left unchecked, it will certainly harm the Quartet and cause endless troubles in the future.

From this point of view, the US side should pay special attention.

The United States is actually playing with fire between China and Japan, and on the one hand, it tells Japan that the "U.S.-Japan Security Treaty" applies to the Diaoyu Islands, which the United States now directly calls the "Senkaku Islands"; On the other hand, he told the Chinese side that the United States does not take a position on territorial disputes.

This kind of duplicitous trick played by the United States actually hurts itself in the end. This is because if Japan makes a fundamental reversal of the achievements of World War II, then it will mainly overturn the United States. Japan feels that after World War II, the international community has given it a lot of compulsory things, including the United Nations hosting many Japanese islands, the United States stationing a large number of troops in Japan, restricting Japan's constitution, Japan's unarmed provisions, and so on, and imposing all kinds of restrictions on it, and Japan feels that the biggest source of these restrictions is the United States.

In fact, Japan will ultimately overturn the achievements of World War II, and the most important thing is to subvert the international order established by the "Yalta Agreement" after World War II, which was reached between the United States and the Soviet Union.

"Propaganda war"

On the one hand, Japan does not recognize the existence of a territorial dispute over the Diaoyu Islands; On the other hand, they have launched a "propaganda war" on the Diaoyu Dao issue in the international community, preaching their own things and refuting China, which is actually bogged down in a predicament.

Of course, the international community can understand this kind of mentality towards Japan. If an area is in dispute, it is a common phenomenon in the international community that the party in actual control does not want to speak of it as a dispute and does not recognize the existence of a dispute in order to strengthen its actual control.

Therefore, judging from Japan's refusal to admit that there is a territorial dispute over the Diaoyu Islands, many countries in the international community actually understand that this is obviously a dispute. Everyone understands that Japan's non-recognition is based on tactical considerations, not that there is no dispute in practice.

From Japan's strategic point of view, it is best not to admit the existence of a dispute, because once the dispute is recognized, it will bring great challenges to its actual control and leave behind great hidden dangers in the future.

On the issue of sovereignty over the Diaoyu Islands, Japan's biggest weakness is its lack of convincing evidence, and it is difficult for it to achieve the desired results in its "propaganda warfare" in the international arena.

From the Japanese side, one of the biggest weaknesses right now is here. This is because on the issue of the ownership of the Diaoyu Islands, including who was the first to discover and name the Diaoyu Islands, it is difficult for Japan to come up with so many materials like China from the perspective of historical documents. Japan can only prove that the so-called Diaoyu Islands belong to Japan from the few things that Japan has collected after the Sino-Japanese War in 1895, and this is Japan's difficulty.

Japan wants to break through its weaknesses, so it is desperately trying to publicize it internationally and make up for its shortcomings. Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda's speech at the United Nations also meant this, hoping that the issue of the Diaoyu Islands would arouse a relatively large repercussions at the United Nations. It is hoped that from the aspect of historical jurisprudence, we will try our best to get rid of the passive position we are currently in.

Divide the two sides of the strait

At a time when tensions were continuing in the sovereignty dispute between China and Japan over the Diaoyu Islands, Japanese Foreign Minister Koichiro Genba suddenly expressed the hope that negotiations between Japan and Taiwan on a fishing agreement between Taiwan and Taiwan on fishing around the Diaoyu Islands would be resumed at an early date, claiming that the Diaoyu Islands issue was still unresolved.

In this statement, the Japanese foreign minister expressed his hope to restart the so-called negotiations on a fisheries agreement between Japan and Taiwan. This negotiation was unilaterally shelved by the Japanese side for a long time. In the past, it was Taiwan that was very active, and Japan was very cold. Because Japan believes that there is no controversy, there is nothing to talk about, this thing is mine, and you Taiwan has no share at all.

Now, under strong pressure, especially after Japan completed the so-called "nationalization" process of the Diaoyu Islands, there is a surge of actions on both sides of the Taiwan Strait to protect the Diaoyu Islands. Japan is under tremendous pressure, and under such circumstances, Japan has chosen such a method in an attempt to divide the forces on both sides of the strait.

Ma Ying-jeou on the other side of the strait once told a Japanese reporter that Taiwan will never take joint action with the mainland on the issue of defending the Diaoyu Islands. After Ma Ying-jeou said this, the people on the mainland were very disappointed, and the people on the island were also very disappointed. Ma Ying-jeou was under great pressure from the people on the island, and later adjusted his words accordingly.

After the readjustment, the mainland side naturally believes that unified action is the best thing for the two sides of the Taiwan Strait to take unified action in protecting fishing fishing, and the Taiwan side has said in the past that it will not take unified action, but now it is noncommittal, and a vague space is retained.

This is what Japan fears the most, and what Japan is most worried about is that the two sides of the strait will jointly take action to protect the fishing, because then Japan will face much greater pressure than it is now. After completing the so-called "nationalization" process of the Diaoyu Islands, Japan is deeply feeling increasing pressure.

So how do you resolve this pressure? Japan has come up with a trick, and that is to divide the two sides of the strait. Let's talk to your weak power first, and divide it. It estimated that it would be difficult to negotiate with the mainland, so it first started negotiations with Taiwan on the fishery issue, and partly admitted that there was a dispute with Taiwan over the fishery issue, not on the issue of sovereignty, but on the issue of fisheries.

Although Japan has released a little something, we can also see Japan's gradual retreat. Of course, it is a matter of withdrawing from a space after that, first defusing Taiwan's forces beyond the act of the two sides of the strait jointly defending fishing, and then dealing with the mainland alone. This is all the cards that Japan has to use to start so-called fisheries talks with Taiwan.

In the face of some other maritime rights and interests in Diaoyu Dao, some Chinese people have advocated that military personnel on both sides of the Taiwan Strait should jointly defend their "ancestral rights," and this "ancestor" is the "ancestor" of their ancestors, and called on Taiwan and the mainland to establish a united front to jointly safeguard maritime rights and interests.

Such a statement deserves consideration on both sides of the Taiwan Strait, because both sides of the Taiwan Strait belong to one China. Although there are quite a few "dark green" people in Taiwan who believe that Taiwan should become independent. Historically, however, the Diaoyu Islands were under the jurisdiction of Yilan County in Taiwan, which in turn is a province of China. From this general point of view, and from the perspective of the common interests of the Chinese nation, the two sides of the Taiwan Strait will undoubtedly be a win-win situation for both sides of the Taiwan Strait in completing the settlement of these so-called rights and interests issues in the East China Sea. What is this win-win situation? It is a win-win situation for the Chinese nation.

From these aspects, cross-strait cooperation in the East China Sea, the South China Sea, and the Taiwan Strait is a win-win situation for the Chinese nation. On the issue of the East China Sea and the South China Sea, if there are some discordant voices and splits, it is likely that the Chinese nation will be broken by each other. On these two issues, if everyone thinks that they are the community of the Chinese nation, then cooperation is a win-win situation.

Of course, what is needed here is a greater sense of national tolerance, which goes beyond ideology, beyond the social system, and beyond the so-called controversy over reunification or independence, and seeks greater common ground, and then what will be achieved will undoubtedly be a great win-win situation for both sides of the strait.

But it's a vision, and it's very difficult to get there. What's the difficulty? In fact, Japan has long considered preventing such a situation. In order to prevent the two sides of the Taiwan Strait from taking such a common position, resolving the East China Sea issue, and even the South China Sea issue, the Japanese side has long taken in-depth precautions. These in-depth precautions can be seen from the various performances of some political figures in Taiwan, such as Lee Teng-hui and Chen Shui-bian. To a certain extent, the work done by Japan has been quite effective.

What banner do some politicians in Taiwan waive? In the name of so-called safeguarding the interests of the island and Taiwan, we proceed from such a standpoint. What is it actually? In fact, it is the overall interests of the Chinese nation that are undermined, and it is the interests of Japan that are catered to.

Japan is very happy to see the split between the two sides of the Taiwan Strait, because only when the two sides of the Taiwan Strait are split can it find a gap in the current situation of these divisions and from this contradiction and realize its own interests.

We want to prevent these things from happening. We often talk about the question of history calling for a big mind, and at the same time it calls for a question of great honor and disgrace.

We often say that the people make history, but historically, in history the little people and the big people coexist. What kind of character do you say Chen Shui-bian is? That's a very typical little person. What kind of big guy is called? Just like Sun Yat-sen, he took the country and the nation as his ambition to struggle, rather than the interests of the individual and the group.

People like Sun Yat-sen, Mao Zedong, Deng Xiaoping were big shots. Only such a big man can write big history. How can we jointly write the great history of the two sides of the Taiwan Strait and the Chinese nation? Is the history written big or small? Of course, it also depends on our mind and bearing, and our specific pursuits.

The United States has taken an ambiguous attitude on the issue of the Diaoyu Islands

The attitude of the United States on the issue of the Diaoyu Islands has never been clear.

Ambiguity is itself a policy of the United States. On July 9, 2012, U.S. State Department officials issued a statement arguing that the Diaoyu Islands belong to Japan. If it is an official conversation, the names of State Department agencies and personnel are available, but the official declined to give his name, and the conversation is informal.

Even if it is official, the Diaoyu Islands are subject to a certain clause of the U.S.-Japan Security Treaty. But he immediately added that the United States would not intervene in the sovereignty dispute over the Diaoyu Islands. In fact, the attitude of the United States is ambiguous.

The U.S. strategy is still quite old-fashioned, and the biggest reason for the U.S. existence in Asia is the Sino-Japanese dispute. Of course, from this point of view, we are very sorry that China and Japan have been in such a state for a long time.

China's attitude has always been that the so-called "one strip of water" is to exempt Japan from war reparations and promote the integration of the Sino-Japanese economy. A series of issues, such as the "visit to the Yasukuni Shrine" by high-ranking Japanese officials and the refusal of the mayor of Nagoya to admit the "Nanjing Massacre," have had a very big impact on Sino-Japanese relations.

Nowhere was this kind of impact on Sino-Japanese relations provoked by China, but all of them were provoked by Japan on its own initiative, leading to such a deadlock in Sino-Japanese relations.

The stalemate in Sino-Japanese relations is something that the United States is happy to see.

The United States told the Japanese: "China has ambitions to eat the Diaoyu Dao, and the United States must help Japan defend the Diaoyu Dao." In addition, he said that China's threat to the Korean Peninsula and other areas is a necessary condition for the creation of the so-called "China threat theory" and its existence in Japan as a U.S. military base.

The United States, in turn, said to China: "I do not exist in Asia, and if Japanese militarism develops, it will be very unfavorable to China; I exist in Asia and contain the development of Japanese militarism. ”

What the United States does is to curry favor with both ends and gain from both ends. In order to expose this trick of the United States, only when China and Japan can truly tide over their own difficulties and truly deal with the problems between the two countries can the United States not drive a wedge between Sino-Japanese relations.

It is our hope that China and Japan will handle Sino-Japanese relations separately. However, judging from Japanese political circles, such a possibility does not exist at all. Japan's political circles are still thinking about breaking away from Asia and joining Europe, and they are still thinking about using the power of the United States to suppress China and then realize Japan's greatest interests in Asia.

For quite some time, Japan will continue to exist as a vassal of the United States, rather than as an independent force, and this is a very big trouble in Sino-Japanese relations, and it is also a big trouble in the triangular relations between China and the United States and Japan.

Whether the United States provokes confrontation between China and Japan or controls the confrontation between China and Japan to a so-called controllable level, the core of the confrontation between China and Japan is to maximize its national interests.

On the surface, Panetta's words and actions are different from Secretary of State Clinton's, as if two people are talking two things. Hillary Clinton fanned the flames everywhere and said everywhere that the U.S.-Japan Security Treaty applies to the Diaoyu Islands.

As Secretary of Defense, Panetta's speech during his visit to Japan was very restrained, and it was not at all as direct as Hillary Clinton. First, there may be slight differences between the policies of the U.S. Department of State and the policies of the U.S. Department of Defense; Second, we prefer to believe that these are the two cards of the United States, one with a red face and the other with a white face.

Hillary Clinton fanned the flames everywhere in Asia, according to her, she came for peace, and after she left, Asia was in full swing and confrontation began, and it was looking like she was going to bring the United States in. Play a role of extinguishing the fire and pacifying, suppressing all parties, he remains calm, and you also remain calm.

What does Panetta mean by staying "calm"? It is in the interests of the United States that the East must maintain a huge dispute, and that there must be a huge dispute between China and Japan; However, China and Japan should not tear their faces apart, because it is not in the interests of the United States to really tear their faces and involve the United States.

Therefore, the United States is playing a very dangerous game, which is to provoke discord between China and Japan, and at the same time to maintain the intensity of this discord, not to go too far, and not to allow large-scale conflicts to break out between the two sides, thereby destroying the pivot of the entire world economic development, which will have a major impact on the interests of the United States.

This is because the U.S. has huge investments in both China and Japan, and the U.S. domestic industry is very dependent on the benefits of investing in China and Japan. As the US economy worsens, if chaos breaks out in the East, and if an all-out confrontation between China and Japan unfolds, there is no doubt that it will have a tremendous impact and blow to US interests.

So, the United States has a secretary of state, that is, its foreign minister, to come to Asia to play the role of provoking disputes, and then let a secretary of defense, who is the person in charge of the armed forces, come here to play the role of de-escalating the contradictions.

Whether it is to provoke confrontation between China and Japan or to control the confrontation between China and Japan to a so-called controllable degree, the core point is for the sake of the national interests of the United States, and all its arrangements are for the maximization of the national interests of the United States, neither the maximization of Japan's interests nor the maximization of China's interests, and in the end they are all aimed at maximizing the interests of the United States, and this is the trick that the United States is playing.

During his visit to Japan, US Deputy Secretary of State Burns expressed the hope that Japan would not allow the situation to escalate again. At the same time, Japan and the United States plan to conduct a joint military exercise involving the Japanese Self-Defense Forces and the US military, which will be the first time that Japan and the United States will conduct a full-scale joint island-seizing exercise on a Japanese island.

This contradictory policy of the United States toward China and Japan actually shows a contradictory state of the United States. On the one hand, the Asia-Pacific region is a source of the world's future rejuvenation and the center of the world's future development. On the other hand, China is rising rapidly, how can it be effectively contained? This is also something that the United States must take into account, not only to consider, but also to complete the actual deployment.

In such a state, it is a reasonable calculation of the United States to use Japan's power to disperse China and indirectly have a deterrent effect on China. Of course, there is a limit to this kind of calculation, and if it is not done well, this card is very dangerous, and if this card is not played well, it is easy to involve the United States.

After involving the United States, will it be necessary to spend so much money economically to support military operations? And in terms of the will of the people, is it worth the price of the Americans' lives for the disputed island, which it itself recognizes? It is clear that American voters are reluctant to do this, and it is clear that American politicians cannot take this extremely risky step for the sake of their own political future.

The United States must not only burn this fire to a certain temperature, maintain the rift between China and Japan, and maintain Japan's containment of China, but also prevent Sino-Japanese relations from crossing a dangerous red line. If this dangerous red line is crossed, all the calculations of the United States for the Asia-Pacific region, the resumption of US economic growth, and all hopes for the future of the Asia-Pacific region will be dashed.

Therefore, the United States is very cautious, and it is repeatedly admonishing Japan.

Of course, the United States also said the same thing in China, and hoped that China would remain rational and exercise restraint and try its best to resolve the issue by peaceful means. It seems fair, but the United States knows perfectly well in its heart that it is Japan that is provoking the tense situation on the Diaoyu Islands, and the Chinese are very restrained. So, although the Americans say the same thing to China and Japan, they are actually knocking Japan with a heavier weight, that is, Japan, you should stop stirring up trouble, and it will be dangerous if this situation goes any further.