Preventing War Between China And Japan

How To Prevent A War Between China And Japan -- Kishore Mahbubani, Bloomberg

China and Japan, Asia’s two most powerful nations, are increasingly jousting in the skies and in the seas near a set of disputed islands. Although their economies remain deeply intertwined, relations between the two governments seem locked in an irreversible, dangerous downward spiral.

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe further embittered feelings last week by visiting the controversial Yasukuni shrine, which honors the souls of Japan’s war dead, including 14 World War II leaders convicted as Class-A war criminals.

Needless to say, neither side seems terribly interested in a rapprochement. That’s a shame, because the deterioration in ties is fairly recent, stemming from a single incident involving the islands administered by Japan, which calls them the Senkakus, and claimed by China, which refers to them as the Diaoyu. A single, symbolic-but-generous gesture could well halt the slide.

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My Comment: There is more to the China-Japan dispute than just a few islands and some resources in the ocean. These two countries have been bitter rivals for over a century, and with this bad history it is going to take a long time before this "rivalry" has been dissipated.