Sunday, January 5, 2014

A China-Japan War Is The World's Worst Nightmare

Dispute over islands in the South Sea between Japan and China continues (Reuters)

Asia's Worst Nightmare: A China-Japan War -- John Holmes, National Interest

Let's not understate the likelihood of war in East Asia or kid ourselves that the United States can remain aloof should China and Japan enter the lists. It's tough for Westerners to fathom the nature of the competition or the passions it stokes. From an intellectual standpoint, we have little trouble comprehending the disputes pitting the Asian rivals against each other. For example, both Tokyo and Beijing claim sovereignty over the Senkaku/Diaoyu Islands, a tiny archipelago near Taiwan and the Ryukyus. China covets control of offshore air and sea traffic, hence its new East China Sea Air Defense Identification Zone (ADIZ) and its efforts to rewrite the rules governing use of the nautical commons. Undersea energy resources beget frictions about where to draw the lines bounding exclusive economic zones (EEZs). And so on.

Read more ....

My Comment: Imagining the unimaginable .... but this is what many are now thinking about in Asia.

No comments: