2011-09-12 (China Military News cited from http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424053111904265504576566301313995720.html">wsj.com and by CHESTER DAWSON) -- Japan's new defense minister said that while the American alliance remains the core of security policy, he wants to improve ties between Chinese and Japanese armed forces as a means of dealing with China's military rise.
"The U.S.-Japan security relationship is the cornerstone of our national security policy, but based on that foundation we need to improve relations with China," Yasuo Ichikawa said Monday in an interview with The Wall Street Journal, his first with a foreign media organization since taking office Sept. 2.
Mr. Ichikawa also said the contract for a next-generation fighter aircraft, a long-delayed and highly anticipated project sought by three global defense titans, will be awarded by year's end.
Sino-Japanese relations have been strained by a series of recent incursions by Chinese ships into Japan's territorial waters in the East China Sea. A war of words between Beijing and Tokyo followed the arrest of a Chinese fishing crew last year, raising alarms about China's intentions toward its Asian neighbors. The dispute came shortly after the resignation of Yukio Hatoyama, who as prime minister had made improved ties with China a central focus of policy.
Japan's new defense minister, appointed by Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda, downplayed the territorial spat's impact and stressed the importance of opening communications channels with his counterparts in China.
"I'd like to work toward increasing interaction between Japanese and Chinese defense personnel," Mr. Ichikawa said, adding that he would try to visit China personally. He wouldn't be the first Japanese defense minister to do so, but a trip would signal a thaw.
That overture to Beijing evokes Mr. Hatoyama's embrace of China as a counterweight to the U.S., but Mr. Ichikawa said he has no intention of putting distance between Tokyo and Washington.
However, resolution of a long-simmering controversy involving plans to relocate a U.S. military base in Okinawa may take more time, he said. While Washington's desire to make progress is clear, the defense minister indicated Okinawan anti-base sentiment and budgetary limits might slow progress.
"We have to be mindful about the feelings of the Okinawan people and Japan's own schedule issues such as the deadline for budget requests" on defense-related allocations, he said.
In June, the U.S. and Japan agreed to postpone plans dating from 2006 to close a U.S. Marine Corps base at Futenma in Okinawa by 2014, citing cost concerns and local opposition to the proposed relocated Okinawa base.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424053111904265504576566301313995720.html">Original Full Report
September 12th, 2011 at 3:38 pm
Better relations with China is always in the interests of Japan and all other nations in Asia and beyond. The problems or unfavorable attitudes obstructing the productive inter-actions between Japan(including a small number of Asian countries)and China are the inability and the lack of courage(fears of US backlash)from the formers to view and handle every situations base merits and NOT some un-natural sentiments or external influrences. If the concensus among all of China's Asian neighbors are positive and constructive toward what is true and practical for Asia as a community of nations,the potential for overcoming difficulties,mis-understandings, and many other challenges will be so great and spectacular that the whole global environment would be reshape,changed,and re-strutured for the better for the first time in human history(this kind of humanistic World has been long over-due).
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September 12th, 2011 at 4:39 pm
Its in China's interest to see the removal of the us in the Asia Pacific. So anything that would result in that would be best for China and Asia. Which is the reason for China's participation in the Korean and Vietnam wars, removing american influence there. Other countries in Asia are reluctant because some of them are occupied and have little say in the outcome. Even if their parties werent divided and forced to fight one another due on american bribery, corrupting their political systems. They still have to find the force needed to make americans withdraw.
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September 12th, 2011 at 5:39 pm
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September 12th, 2011 at 5:50 pm
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September 12th, 2011 at 7:14 pm
Its bases are there but there is nothing preventing the Chinese navy from going wherever it wants in the Pacific.
"Feb 22, 2011
The Chinese Navy has become bolder in its patrols, which have gone as far as Guam. Chinese subs have also surfaced within five miles of the Kitty Hawk aircraft carrier"
"Chinese flotilla of four People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) ships transited from west to east through Japan’s narrow Tsugaru Strait en route to the Pacific Ocean".
"Mystery Missile Launch Seen off Calif. Coast - CBS News
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2010/11/09/.../main7036716.shtml - Cached
Nov 9, 2010"
The Chinese navy can go where ever they want. There isnt anything anyone can do to stop them since any country would be reluctant to enter a shooting war with the Chinese.
But what bothers me is that american forces are even stationed in the Asia Pacific in the first place.
A removal would definitely a proper step forward.
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September 12th, 2011 at 7:17 pm
"Associated Press
Wednesday, February 13, 2008
MOSCOW, Feb. 12 -- A long-range Russian bomber buzzed the aircraft carrier USS Nimitz in the Pacific Ocean last weekend, while a second bomber circled about 50 miles away, U.S. officials said".
american control over the Pacific is largely nominal. But still, I dont even like the fact that they are there.
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September 13th, 2011 at 10:17 pm
Mr. Yasuo Ichikawa, like all other Japanese militants, is a wolf in sheep's disguise.
I would suggest for China to ignore Japan for a while, not until Japan is willing to admit fault about invading China and massacring people (200,000+) in Nanjing before the Second Would War, and/or admit fault in its history books.
The entire chain of archipelagos that is presently called Okinawa Prefecture used to be part of China, and was seized after the Sino-Japanese War. According to the Cairo Agreement, Japan as a defeated nation after WWII, is supposed to return all occupied islands to their original owners. US, instead, acting as a culprit and accomplice, signed a cooperative agreement with Japan, awarding Japan with the Okinawa chain, thereby sewing the seed for future crisis. If Japan can acquire land by winning a war, justifying its imperialistic intention, then leave China alone. Someday, when China becomes stronger, it will re-claim what used to belong to China, including DaoYuTai.
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September 14th, 2011 at 7:59 am
On foreign policy, I've tried but cannot deem a country that shelters foreign military bases and show a dependency in which the disparity of leverage between them somehow resembles the old colonialism style, a truely sovereign country. Moreover its constitution, the highest law of any country, was written by a foreigner. OMG.
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September 17th, 2011 at 10:36 am
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September 21st, 2011 at 10:36 am
No you arent. The f35 is a watered down 22. Its a piece of trash that sacrifices its combat ability in favor of vtol. Something the developed as early as the Soviet Yak and British harrier. Ultimately, the entire concept was abandoned. China would crush the Japanese and us.
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September 21st, 2011 at 3:28 pm
Ako, I'll consider the Japanese military independent if it can build its own carrier planes instead of buying the F-35 from the US. All the electronic equipment and propulsion on Japanese destroyers are of American design. The F-2 is all American technology. The 22DDH will make a perfect target for the Dongfeng 21D anti-ship missile. Even Admiral Roughhead is fully aware of its deadly potential.
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September 29th, 2011 at 11:08 pm
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September 29th, 2011 at 11:14 pm
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September 30th, 2011 at 12:18 am
I will look forward to it.
萬歲
I think Banzai is derived from the Chinese term Wan Sui. It means 10,000 years. East Asian version of long live the Emperor.
Its good to see Japan still practices emperor worship, or the son of heaven.
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September 30th, 2011 at 4:17 am
The past 200 yrs have been a great education for china.... now it is time to apply those lessons... the aggressors powers are frightened because "Revenge is a dish best served cold"
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September 30th, 2011 at 7:46 am
There is no such thing as a JASDF Stealth fighter. It is just a concept that they are looking at and there is no intention to build it at all. They are just looking at it to try to encourage the americans to sell Japan the "overpriced" F-22 fighter. The Japs know that the F-35 is no match for China's J-20 and they need the F-22 to counter it. Anyway the F-22 is so damn expensive that it could bankrupt Japan.
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September 30th, 2011 at 8:06 am
I hope the build the JASDF, better than buying a 22 or 35 from the us. Japan will finally be building warplanes again instead of paying tribute money to the us.
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September 30th, 2011 at 2:19 pm
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September 30th, 2011 at 2:55 pm
No way. The J20 is superior to anything the us has. The Russians have their own stealth in the form of the PAK 50. It has its own stealth philosophy, thus shares no resemblance to Chinese stealth. We will wait for the Mitsubishi Zero, hopefully it brings Japan to military maturity. Putting an end to the days of paying protection money and a rise to Japanese indigenization in the military sector.
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September 30th, 2011 at 8:08 pm
We are not paying 200 million per plane for the F-22 and still reluctant to give us all the available technology. We are very capable as a country provided we don't have that gag in our constitution that prevents us from building offensive weapons. That may change one of this days.
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September 30th, 2011 at 8:48 pm
I dont know man. I dont doubt Japanese intelligence but being able to produce the best selling car and video game console isnt the same thing as producing a fighter jet and vise versa. us can build a stealth fighter but she cant build a speed train. Russia can produce a 100 megaton bomb, but cant produce a decent automobile. Japan has been out of it for so long that it would almost have to start from scratch. The biggest challenge would be the powerplant. Japan will have to produce a 5th generation turbofan even though it has no history of producing a 3rd or a 4th. The tech trees are just too divergent. Japan even had to have the airframe for its stealth fighter to be studied in france to determine its radar cross section. So this is going to be one heck of a ride. Nonetheless, I will be rooting for ya.
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October 1st, 2011 at 1:37 am
Sorry Ako the right way to refer to you is Nip. Yeah right......I'll believe it when I see your aircraft.
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October 1st, 2011 at 2:13 am
Ako, I will believe it when you have a real prototype that actually flies and Japan decides to build it. Hope the Americans will actually sell you the engines and avionics and hope the Americans don't force Japan to abandon it as they always like to do.
By the way......"Ako the NIP" actually sounds pretty good. Americans somehow like to call the Japanese "Nips". Perhaps we should all refer to Ako as the NIP!!!!
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October 1st, 2011 at 5:16 am
Ako........there is a real irony to this so called Japan and US alliance.
If a Japanese person like you were to go to Texas in the US, there is a good chance that you would be racially abused and then lynched by some Neo Nazi Skinhead or even the Ku Klux Klan. If you were an Indian from India,it would be worse, you would probably be chained to the back of a pickup truck by the Ku Klux Klan and dragged to your death. Try going to a town called Jasper in Texas.....they like to drag people around in trucks at night.
Of course......I will be accused of being a racist by even bringing this topic up. Maybe we should all just keep quiet and pretend that all this things do not happen in Western countries and that White Supremacists are really nice guys.
You see Ako......you will eventually begin to see that China and Chinese are actually nice people. The real threat is actually not from China. We all know who the real threat is.
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October 1st, 2011 at 4:41 pm
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October 1st, 2011 at 4:46 pm
Japanese people were the only people besides the Native Americans to have been holed up into concentration camps. The Supreme court upheld it as constitutional up until after the war. american servicemen used to deliver the skulls of Japanese soldiers to their girlfriends back home.
http://radioislam.org/islam/english/toread/japskull.jpg
You are talking about some real sick people.
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October 1st, 2011 at 4:51 pm
An employee from chrysler bludgeoned a Chinese to death with a baseball bat because they thought he was Japanese.
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October 1st, 2011 at 4:56 pm
Russia is China's ally, Iran is a bit new to the club and not a member of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization. But Iranian inclusion would strengthen the coalition. Russians have a habit of trolling especially with that latest bomber flight. But we happen to be on the same side.
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October 1st, 2011 at 5:58 pm
hollywood is a troll. They made anti-Japanese films all throughout the 80s and 90s. Rising sun, Black Rain, Robocop 3. The only Japanese protagonist in these films would have to play the role of some indian scout.
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