Page 33 - Rethinking China Policy

Rethinking China Policy

Although Japan is not a claimant in the South China Sea disputes, it remains concerned about China’s growing
military presence in the busy shipping lane and is keen to maintain a rules-based order at sea.

Tokyo meanwhile is involved in a dispute with Beijing over the Japanese-controlled Senkaku Islands in the East
China Sea that are claimed by China…..

On the South China Sea, Abe stressed that Japan places a high level of importance on upholding the law and
solving disputes peacefully.

“The issue of the South China Sea has drawn the attention of the international community and directly affects the
peace in the region,” Abe said.

Maritime security cooperation is of the utmost importance for fellow maritime nations Japan and Indonesia, he
added.

“Japan will actively encourage cooperation in maritime security and the development of the remote islands in
Indonesia,” he said.

http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2017/01/16/national/politics-diplomacy/abe-jokowi-unite-south-china-
sea-disputes-plan-two-plus-two-meeting/?utm_source=Daily%20News%20Updates#.WHzsc7GZMQ9

In short, Abe is not sitting on his hands waiting for the Trump Administration.

He is actively working to strengthen relationships in the region in and of themselves but also to strengthen his
hand with Washington and to prepare the ground for evolving relationships with China as well.

TO WHOM DO WESTERN “CHINA EXPERTS” OWE THEIR ALLEGIANCE?

By Danny Lam

President Elect Trump’s 10-minute phone call with President Tsai of Taiwan was a watershed event that
marked the great divide between the Kissinger-Nixon era of foreign policy toward China and the Trump era.

At the beginning of the Kissinger-Nixon era, the US was faced with a heavily armed Soviet Union allied with
a nuclear-armed PRC with what appeared to be unlimited manpower.

Detaching the PRC from the Soviet orbit fundamentally altered Soviet calculations and accelerated their
decline was a prize.
Today, the problem is reversed.

The US and allies are faced with a heavily armed, well financed Communist Chinese regime and a weak, non-
communist Russia with little to fall back on except nuclear weapons.

Normalization of relations with the PRC was accomplished through the issuance of three communiques in 1972,
1979, and 1982 that defined the relationship. In those documents, the PRC and US explicitly acknowledged
their differences. “There are essential differences between China and the United States in their social systems
and foreign policies.” (para 8, 1972) and made clear that the differences are only papered over
temporarily for the sake of peace.
Temporarily is the operative word.

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