Cinematheque: Mulan is finally Chinese again! (and other film news)
Protest in Guangzhou: Why would you burn garbage?
Barbie Spa: For the cosmopolitan plastic beauty in you
Obama in China: Long gone, and still headlinin'
Lot o' Hotpot: Three Travellers
On Friday, Chinese protesters clashed with Japanese coast guard ships and helicopters off the coast of the East China Sea islets, known as the Diaoyutai (钓鱼岛) in China and the Senkakus in Japan. The islands are located 170 km (100 miles) northeast of Taiwan and 410 km (250 miles) west of Japan's Okinawa island are a long-standing source of dispute between China and Japan. In brief, Japan claimed the islands in 1895 when it colonized Taiwan, but the United States controlled them after World War II and returned them to Japan in 1972. While they are currently administered by Japan, the Diaoyutai are independently claimed by Japan, China, and Taiwan. The islands are uninhabited but surrounded by rich fishing waters, and it is believed that they sit above vast underwater oil and gas deposits.
The Chinese ship, an aging fishing trawler, the "Restoration II" ("保钓二号") set sail from Hong Kong on Sunday for the islands with a crew of about 25 ethnic Chinese activists from Hong Kong, the U.S. and Canada and elsewhere. According to the Washington Post, the protester's ship was met by three Japanese Coast Guard helicopters and twenty ships, which used water cannons to deter the protesters. According to the International Herald Tribune, spokesman for the activists, Ku Kwai-yiu also maintains that the Japanese vessel deliberately rammed the protester's ship, damaging the ship and injuring protesters aboard. According to Japanese coast guard official Koji Yoshida, the protesters came within 13 kilometers of the island before they were forced to return to port in Hong Kong.
In a follow-up match of verbal ping pong, the two sides each issued public statements.
Explaining the aggressive Japanese response, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yasuhisa Shiozaki is quoted by the Washington Post as saying:
"We have said that Japanese authorities will deal sternly and take steps to expel them if they enter and land on Japanese territory."In the International Herald Tribune, the Chinese Foreign Minstry counters:
"China had demanded through diplomatic channels that Japan should not take any action which may endanger those Chinese citizens and their vessel ... but its illegal and tough actions injured the Chinese citizens and damaged their ship. We protest against this move of Japan."
As for unqualified claims of sovereignty, the Washington Post writes:
"Historically, it's clear that they are Japanese territory," Japanese Foreign Minister Taro Aso said earlier on Friday.
Naturally, this contradicts equally opaque statements in the China Daily which quotes an unnamed Chinese Foreign Ministry Official:
The Diaoyu Islands and adjacent islets have been Chinese territory since ancient times and China has incontestable historical and legal evidence on this, the Chinese official said, adding that it is completely legitimate for the Chinese citizens to declare such sovereignty.The so-called "actual control" of the Diaoyu Islands by Japan severely infringes China's sovereignty, the official said.
The Diaoyutai have long been a point of special interest for nationalists from both sides, and Friday's voyage marked the 10th anniversary of the death of Hong Kong activist David Chan Yuk-cheung, who drowned while trying to land on the islands in 1996. Around the same time, the China Federation of Defending Diaoyudao Islands Limited, the group that organized the protest, claims that right-wing Japanese activists, in a devilishly brilliant Machiavellian machination, released goats on the islands. (If that isn't in The Art of War, it should be!) The goats are now said number nearly 300, and their presence on the islands has been used as a pretext for the Ecological Society of Japan to travel to the islands study the plant life and thereby, further assert Japan's claim. Additionally, in 1988, a 5.6 meter lighthouse was erected by Japanese activists to mark a claim on the largest of the Diaoyutai islands. And in 2003, according to the People's Daily, nine members from the Tokyo-based Nihon Seinen Sha group, a Japanese right-wing organization, made a landing on the islands.
Obviously, the Diaoyutai are a potential flashpoint for future shenangians between China and Japan, but more seriously, this instance underscores China's many border disputes which are likely to come to the fore as a self-confident China grows increasingly assertive. Already, the Diaoyutai incident has raised calls for China to beef-up its ability to patrol its coastline.
Personally, Shanghaiist is throwing our support to the goats.
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“钓鱼岛”; the full name is“钓鱼台群岛”,a series of small islands；in Japanese Kanji,“尖阁列岛”。
“钓鱼台”, on the other hand, usually refers to the grand hotel for state guests in Beijing.
I don't think anyone is sailing to the 钓鱼台 -- certainly not the Japanese coast guard. Thanks.
China seems to claim alot of other countries' territories.
China seems to have a chronic problem claiming other countries' territories.
so do a lot of other countries
like Canada
Russia
England
and the US
need i say more ?
And what sort of territories do those countries claim as theirs "since ancient times"?
Usagi, did you have fun during the gay pub crawl?
nah, didnt get to go, it was toooooo far away, but went to San Fran's world famous parade instead
yeah, it was fun
heard of a thing called the Lousiana Purchase 1803 ? yeah, so what happened to the Confederate States? oh yeah, Texas, California, Florida ? oh yeah, what about Hawaii ?
Puder Rico, Panama ?
Quebec and Canada?
Northern Ireland and England ?
Chechenia and Russia ?
Okinawa and Japan
to whomever fixed the repeat posts, Thank You
The Louisiana Purchase? France got paid for it.
The Confederate States were defeated and when they signed on the Constitution, there is no legal provision for them to seperate. Texas won its independence WITHOUT the US army, then joined the US on its own. Florida and California were absorbed from the remains of the Spanish empire, none of that territory was ever rightfully Mexico's.
Hawaii was a straight-up conquest spurred by corporations. Puerto Rico, Panama and the Phillipines (you forgot about them, learn your history) were also taken from the Spanish empire.
But at no time were those territories ever claimed as "rightfully the territories of the US since ancient times".
Quebec and Canada were French and British colonies, respectfully. Quebec has held referendums to secede and all have failed.
Northern Ireland and England? Don't know much of the real history, ask someone who is Irish or British, but part of that war seemed based on religion.
Chechnya and Russia? see above, though I've read that the seperatists are actually a minority who happen to have weapons.
Okinawa and Japan? Don't see any problems there, is Okinawa in revolt?
What else have you got?
without saying that the US backstabbed France as soon as they truned around, eventhough paid for it.
the South was lost due to insufficient finance, even today, the south claimed other wise.
They still stole or you put it , absorbed from the Spanish Empire, how could that be rightfully claimed. and I am not even talking about Mexico.
Puerto Rico, Panama none of that is rightfully an State yet.
so you can keep your opinion reserved when Phillipines becomes one of them.
Quebec and Canada is still long going on FYI.
Northern Ireland and England is also still long going on.
Chechnya and Russia same thing, they all have the same problem.
Okinawa and Japan same problem, ask anyone from Okinawa, and they would tell u that they are not Japanese, they are from Okinawa.
according to you, then the Dali Lama had no right to claim Tibet is his country and they should have their indepence. and since the TW government lost the civil war, they should sign the treaty as well and not hold TW as an independent country, and all would be as well?
I'm not here to argue with you claiming China has the right to DiaoYuTai islands, if that is the case, so does China has a lot of other rights too, like more of the southern islands' group, like TW.
all im saying is China isn't the only country in this world has these things going on, so does a lot of other countries, I hope you can respect others and have some respect for yourself as well.
always see the big picture and try to understand other's logical reasoning.
there is never anything truly right or truly wrong. after all, when you lose, you are the terrorist; when you win, you are the king.
that's what the US Founding Fathers did.
FYI
China isn't the only place that's claiming DiaoYuTai, so does TW.
I don't understand why you have to turn this into a China good/bad discussion.
Yes, a lot of countries have border disputes; that is normal. What is unusual is the rapid rate of Chinese ascent, China's unusually long history, and it's willingness to interpret that history as "continuous and unified" and make claims based upon that understanding.
I'd love to hear about France getting backstabbed even though the US paid the agreed upon price for the LP.
The Confederacy also lost to insufficient industry and the UK and France not being able to reach their ports, BTW the confederacy planned on turning the Carribbean and Mexico into plantation colonies if they won.
The Spanish stole that land from the natives, the Mexicans inherited it, so beating an occupier to take their land is perfectly OK.
Puerto Rico chooses not to be a state, Panama was at most a commercial source of agriculture. So what part of China's "universe" can choose whether to join or keep Beijing at arm's length.
The Quebec issue is pretty much dead, they couldn't live on their own economically.
Northern Ireland is disarming and England is not pushing the Church of England, and you can see that the English are slaughtering Irish to suppress them, a favorite PLA/Imperial Chinese army tactic.
According to my logic re the Dalai Lama. Of course Tibet is "his country" as he is the rightful rule in exile. Don't put words in my mouth, son. The TW gov't didn't lose the civil war, they gained TW, which under the Treaty of Cairo is the sole property of Taipei.
China is a major world power that is acting like a child, demanding this and that over some supposed past wrongs and part of these real esate grabs is due to desperate nationalism to preserve support for the CCp. Europe needed two earth scorching to learn the stupidity of this thinking, China has nukes. Heck, Beijing claims part of northern Korea, hope the PLA has been practicing hard, the SK army is not some group of lightly armed villagers like the Tibetans were.
Why do you bother answering back to nanheyangrouchuan?
He/She obviously has alot of time on his hands, and has a problem with China/Chinese in general.
It may just be that his someone who has a problem with everyone in general, the real grouchy types.
Basically, the type of person you wouldn't normally talk with in person, or at a party, so why bother on the net, usagi?
Probably because usagi isn't afraid of intellectual debate concerning the "blue sky and green grass" of the Capitalists' Paradise aka the Next Superpower aka heaven. B is obviously someone who is scared to discuss things in a rational way and prefers to be told "everything is wonderful and that's what you are going to keep believing".
hahahahahahahaha
no one has ever called me 'son' since i was born
:D
If China really is a major world power like you claim She is, then she should have no problem taking what's hers. so in other words, TW was rightfully occupied, then it should be able to have the ability to establish regular contact, but no, it took years for families from both lands to reunite.
kind of like the S/N Korea story, isn't it.
just because it's 'communist' then it is automatically bad in your books.
it is true, that until one day we eliminate hunger and poverty in this world, communism will never be truly achieved.
but you'd also have to understand that China does deserve its credits for doing a fairly decent job so far.
regardless of this land issue, so does the middle east have such dispute as well.
you can say that China doesnt have the 'right' she so claims since' the ancient times'. Were you all alive and well during that 'ancient times'? Can you truly and honestly say that those places REALLY didnt belong to China under oath?
if you do, then i'd like you to answer a question a lot of people are dying to findout, and i will be sure to accredit the answer to you, you must've been present when they built the Pyramids too, so did the Aliens help them?
Being a world power means you can influence events beyond your immediate borders. China does weigh heavily on world financial markets, shipping and geopolitics (S. America, Africa and the middle east especially) so in that sense, China is a world power.
China's military is not quite up to the task, China could make a big mess going after TW, but if the PLA loses, the CCP will crumble and so will China, that is why the CCP has not sent the PLA to burn TW to the ground so TW can feel the loving embrace of mother china.
Not quite like SK/NK.
I stopped believing China was "communist" after about 3 months. China's govt has always behaved in this manner: controlling, paranoid, arrogant with an inferiority complex.
Pushing literacy and barefoot doctors were China's biggest accomplishments. Creating a class of untouchables, unprecedented pollution and unflinching support for the murderous Kim family are going to be China's true legacies.
Middle eastern territorial disputes have little to do with "middle of the world" mentalities and more to do with the map drawing of european powers and tribal rivalries, same as africa.
The supposed "Zheng He" map only confirmed what many have suspected, china has rewritten history so many times to justify what land it owns adn what it invented that china cannot keep its story straight anymore. Thankfully, the Persians and other asian countries also recorded their histories including China's hegemony, constant bullying and frequent invasions.
Bad, deceitful China.
so in other words, China is a BAD BAD BAD country, then what the hell are u doing there ?
to be among the horribles and fight back when the timing is right ?
or to become one of them ?
if China has obviously according to you falsified historical record and map, then other countries' MUST be right.
if you dont have any faith in any of the old records, how can you have so much in others old records ?
didnt they also went through society transition as well, some even more than what China went through?
i am now totally dismissing your point, there is no more reason to do this little DEBATE with you, because you are starting to contrdicte yourself.
So thin skinned and proud, you must be chinese.
Yes, other countries must be right because it is the word of many against the word of one. The lie of Zheng He's map, the weak attempt to create "Beijing man" and the failure of archeological expeditions in Xinjiang to prove that Han chinese settled that area in the stone age (Turkish caucasians actually did) only prove in stone the deceitful, crooked nature of China's recorded history.