Panetta Warns of War Between China and Japan Over Disputed Islands

CNS NEWS ^ | September 17, 2012 | Patrick Goodenough

[AmonAmarth]

(CNSNews.com) – Exchanging warnings but avoiding confrontations thus far, Chinese and Japanese ships have come within less than half a nautical mile of each other in an ongoing dispute over the sovereignty of contested islands.

Amid deepening tensions in a long-running saga over the uninhabited islands, known as Senkaku in Japan and Diaoyu in China, Defense Secretary Leon Panetta warned Sunday about the possibility of war between the two Asian countries.

“What we don't want is to have any kind of provocative behavior on the part of China or anybody else result in conflict,” he told reporters accompanying him on a trip that includes stops in Japan, China and New Zealand.

“My purpose will be to urge that they engage in the effort by the Asian nations to try to work out a format for resolving these issues,” he added, referring to a code of conduct developed by the Association of Southeast Asian Nations in a bid to manage unconnected territorial disputes between China and ASEAN members in the South China Sea.

[darth]

And they have nukes.

Of course, the Chicoms may have more, but nukes have deterrent capabilities.

[piasa]

I don’t think China’s oil supply is all that good either, that and fishing rights is why they want the islands and anything else they can lay their hands on... it’s why they’re in Africa and supporting Iran and Venezuela.