Posted on 04/14/2005 5:07:28 AM PDT by TigerLikesRooster
Thursday April 14, 7:23 PM
Japan considers posting soldiers to protect embassies abroad in wake of China violence
Japan's foreign minister urged China on Thursday to denounce a recent spate of anti-Japanese riots, and said Tokyo is considering posting its own military personnel abroad to protect its embassies.
Protesters last weekend threw stones and broke windows at the Japanese Embassy in Beijing in a flare-up over Japanese textbooks that critics say downplay Tokyo's wartime aggression. Chinese officials said Japan was to blame for the outbreak.
But Foreign Minister Nobutaka Machimura, who heads to Beijing for talks on Sunday, suggested in Parliament on Thursday that China was letting the demonstrators off too easily.
"The protesters' acts of destruction are unforgivable, whatever the reasons may be," Machimura told an upper house committee. "They demonstrated to cries of: `We're nationalistic, so we're not guilty.'"
"If they know they are guilty for their acts of destruction but claim their innocence, and Chinese diplomats allow that, the government is acknowledging its support for the demonstrations," Machimura said.
Machimura added that the government was looking into posting soldiers abroad to protect its embassies. Japanese embassies currently rely on local authorities for protection.
"We must ... see what kind of protection we can provide so that (the embassy employees) can work with a sense of security," Machimura said.
In the same committee session, Defense Agency chief Yoshinori Ono said his agency "would like to consider what legal measure is necessary to carry out a mission by the Self-Defense Forces," Japan's military.
China's premier said Tuesday that Japan's failure to "face up to history" was responsible for the protests and indicated Beijing may block Japan's bid for a permanent U.N. Security Council seat.
Machimura's statements came as the Japanese government said there were signs of further protests this weekend and it had urged the Chinese government to prevent a recurrence of violence.
"We understand that people have been calling out on Internet sites for further demonstrations on Saturday and Sunday. Frankly speaking, we are concerned," Senior Vice Foreign Minister Ichiro Aisawa said. "We of course will ask China to do more than enough to ensure the safety" of Japanese in China, he added.
Kyodo News agency also reported that Chinese officials had assured Japan that they would guarantee the foreign minister's safety while in China.
The sudden escalation of protests against Japan, which have flared occasionally in recent years, coincides with heightened tensions between the two countries over interpretations of World War II history, a long-standing territorial dispute and tussles over seabed gas exploration rights.
On Wednesday, Japan announced it would begin reviewing applications from Japanese companies for such exploration rights in a disputed area of the East China Sea, triggering criticism from Beijing that the move was "a provocation."
Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi on Thursday urged China not to further escalate tensions, suggesting that the exploration of the gas fields could benefit both energy-hungry nations.
"We should not flare up the conflict and should make the sea into a sea of cooperation," he said. "We need to continue talks keeping in mind the broader view."
Also Thursday, officials were investigating whether cyber attacks on Japanese government Web sites might be linked to Chinese hackers.
The National Police Agency and Defense Agency said their Web sites were temporarily disabled starting late Wednesday by unknown hackers sending massive amounts of requests to the server. The so-called denial-of-service attacks bombard a Web server with so many inquiries that the machine becomes unusable.
http://asia.news.yahoo.com/050414/ap/d89f55g00.html
Ping!
Indeed, that is very possible, and one can be sure that it is going into the calculations in Kasumigaseki.
It appears that we'll see what mettle makes up Prime Minister Koizumi.
I smell that the PRC rats are sponsoring and fomenting violent protests against the Japanese. And it's certainly not because of text books.
For Chinese regime, the real beef is for territorial disputes over islands, and Japanese bid for the permanent member of U.N. Security Council.
It's almost as if they want a confrontatation. What? For the pretext of moving on Taiwan? Or scrapping their go-between status with North Korea on nukes?
They are really screwing themselves and their Beijing Olympics. To quote Admiral Yamamoto who referred to another Japanese enemy, "we have awoken the sleeping giant". Nobody benefits from a Japan in Asia starting to throw their troops around, and China should have learned this lesson.
Every American has to question themselves? If a certain nation instituted huge, violent demonstrations against US Embassies and consulates and American stores, and American tourists or students were set upon, what would be our sentiment if Bush threatened to send in the USMC? to protect our citizens and sovereign territory. We'd all be yelling for it.
America could use Predator drones and their hellfire missiles.:-)
Re #7
Do you not suspect that The Chinese Govt is putting pressure on PM Koizumi and his faction.Hoping that the Japanese busness and corporate sector will try to moderate PM Koizumi. But of cource this can back-fire on the Chinese, if all the Japanese unite and rally around Koizumi
Are the Chinese trying to influence the Japanese to replace Koizumi(after his term is up) with a more moderate PM, one who would Not visit the Yakusuni Shrine. Sometimes human behavior can be mysterious and baffling isn't it?
Problem is, they misjudge the Japanese just as the Japanese misjudged the Americans in 1941.
When push comes to shove, the Japanese will swing the pendulum from one of extreme pacificism, right into extreme nationalism and they will smack the Reds back if pushed too far. Koizumi's approval rating will soar.
Not to mention, all it takes is for the Chinese Authorities to then try to step in and control these increasingly out of control mobs, and some student gets shot or stampeded, and the blame will go on the Chinese government, the PRC could face a sudden turn around in anti police sentiment from the protests, such as it is that they are volatile and they will spin on a dime. For now, they are shouting "Mao zedong wansui!", and "hong chi!" ("Long live Mao!" and "Red Flag!"), and ("Patriotism is not a crime!"), but that could easily be turned into, "Police Killed Our Demonstrators!" with one foolish move on either side. Watch for 17 April for even more trouble.
Then (if this were the scenario) it would spiral out of control and against Chinese authorities instead, they will have to crack down on all internal Chinese organizing phone messaging and websites, and you could have another Tienanmen Massacre. The students are just dupes at the present but they can become like a huge hive of wasps, unable to control further.
Ah, so! Sending honorable "Sand Pebbles," des' ne?
Post the Yakuza's Uyoku group. That'll be a blast.
--Red Chinese students/cybergeeks launching wave after wave of cyber attack on Japanese websites, with DOS attacks, and Chinese websites encouraging those with skills to attack at least once a day. Japan's national police agency site one of the targets, also targeting Japanese companies.
--Japanese tour groups cancelling one after the other for trips to China during upcoming Japanese holidays
--Elementary school entrance celebrations for six year olds, (Japanese in China) cancelled for fear of attacks by Chinese on such schools
--Japan says they have authorized private Japanese companies now to set up and drill for oil in the disputed areas between Okinawa and Taiwan, off the Chinese coast...Chinese foreign ministry outraged--Chinese students now spreading an internet rumor that 2 Chinese have been killed by Japanese in the Kansai region of Japan. Japanese officials, police deny any such deaths have occured. Rumors spreading on Chinese internet.
--16/17 April set for demonstrations all over China...Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Louyang, Xian, Wuhan, Nanjing, Shenzen.....
I would predict that the Chinese Navy would take such action as shutting down Japanese drilling operations and seizing platforms, ships and personnel (then let's see what the Japanese self defense forces do). What are US treaty obligations to Japan to protect it from unwarranted foreign harrassment or attack?
I predict the Japanese self defense forces will protect their drilling operations checking any PRC attack.
The Japanese should speak softly, and look into air-to-air refueling capability. They should consider developing small aircraft carriers, and look into purchase of transport aircraft.
They should dramatically expand their cooperation in SDI, missile technology and intelsats. They should enhance their interoperability with US forces. They should beef up their reserves of ordinance (which is a weakness of theirs). They should up recruitment of good people dramatically (being in the SDF is mostly considered uncool in Japan).
Of course, this will provoke great anxiety in the rest of asia, and given Japan's past, it should. All kinds of Chinese and Korean people are going to object to this, and I believe that after all kinds of elaborate diplomacy, there will still be absolutely no way around that.
But I don't think the Japanese are going to extravagantly sit back and be smushed by the PRC. I like China, but over the long term, I really think they intend to do a "Nanking" on Japan, just to pay them back.
A lot of the problem for the PRC will revolve around securing sea lanes to assure access to oil, which is precisely what Japan was after in WW2.
Over the long term, war in the Asia-Pacific region is inevitable, and it really is a pity.
It's getting eerily reminiscent of the propaganda campaign the Nazis used against Poland in the months leading up to their September 1939 invasion.
I'd want him to go ahead and close the embassy.
It may come to that.
The thing is, the Communist Authorities inititally instigated these anti-Japanese demonstrations two weeks ago (first in Chengdu as reported on the scene by Freeper Dr. Marten), by actually helping the Chinese students, letting them carry rocks and bottles, having cleverly printed slogans all with the same kind of message, PLA soldiers and Red Chinese police looking the other way during the vandalism, even joining in and laughing, watching and chanting when several Japanese students were brutally beaten by a mob at a restaurant. I've seen it all on film.
The Communist's instigate the volatile and huge Chinese masses to backlash whomever is conveniently on their CCP shitlist at the time, just as they turned out huge Chinese violent crowds against the US Embassy and consulates, over the PC-3 Orion incident with our US Navy in early 2001.The exact same pattern of collusion and then stating, "sorry, this is Chinese sentiment, which you can appreciate, and the responsbility for it is all YOURS." They tried this crap on us.
But here is the problem.
IT IS STARTING TO SPIN OUT OF CONTROL.
With Chinese modern cell phones, beepers, chat rooms, etc., many more massive demonstrations have been called for on Saturday and Sunday in China and the authorities cannot stop it, (except with water cannon, truncheons, billy clubs or even live ammunition).
Japanese embassies and consulates are on HIGH ALERT. They are warning all Japanese in China to watch it and not go out if they can help it.
The Chinese Government is now applying the brakes to the masses, intimating that "they should trust the Chinese Communist Party" to straighten out Japan".
However, some Chinese in Beijing are telling Chinese TO GO TO TIENANMEN SQUARE ON THE WEEKEND FOR A MASSIVE TURNOUT.
If it spirals out of control, the police will be force to use strength and force on the Chinese young people.
They, not of the mentality to take it sitting down (and here's the rub) could in a flash forget all about the "Nips", and start chants against the police.
Then the CCP has a 'situation' on their hands. Riots could start, and if any young student is shot or roughed up, word could spread in the crowds and then to other cities.
The Chinese Government bears FULL RESPONSIBILITY for what happens in the next 24-48 hours.
If our intelligence people knew what they were doing, they would infiltrate those crowds and sew seeds of animosity towards the Gonganju and the CCP, spreading rumors of CCP crackdown on the people, and rile up the crowds away from the "Nips" and toward their own Communist dictator leaders.
It won't be nice, but eggs might have to be broken to create an omelet, i.e. an uprising against the Chinese Government. Let's see what happens.
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