US amendment risks worsening Diaoyu conflict

By Jin Canrong Source:Global Times Published: 2012-12-4 20:15:04

The US Senate passed an amendment to the 2013 National Defense Authorization Act on November 29, stating that the Diaoyu Islands fall under the authority of Article 5 of the Japan-US Security Treaty.

The US has two stances on the Diaoyu Islands. It claims that it takes no position over sovereignty, but recognizes Japan's administrative jurisdiction and holds that the Diaoyu Islands issue falls within the Japan-US Security Treaty.

The US has long been trying to express the first stance and intermittently and evasively reiterates the second meaning. The Senate's passage of the act shows that the US wants to make clear the second meaning through the law.

We can no longer ignore the possible involvement of the US in the Diaoyu Islands issue.

Although currently the act has only been passed by the Senate, most of the times, the National Defense Authorization Act is echoed by the US Congress. And it would be politically difficult for any president to veto this move. 

Therefore, the act gives the US Congress good chance to entertain some favored proposals. It is not by chance that this bill took the lead and was proposed by a pro-Japanese senator.

There are more than 100 hardcore anti-China congresspeople while there's almost no pro-China camp in the Congress. Congress can only be tolerant of countries and regions such as Israel, Japan and the "Four Little Asian Tigers."

The US can share profits with them because they are relatively small and they can obey the US in terms of strategies and values.

However, China is a big power. The US does not have the ability to share profits with 1.3 billion people. Also, because of its strong independence, it is impossible for China to obey the US.

This passage of this bill once again shows that the US views China as a strategic adversary. It also shows that the US worries toward China's rise.

The act will have a huge negative impact on the efforts that China and Japan have made to prevent the Diaoyu Islands dispute from becoming a real conflict. Japan will take a harder line because of US support.

However, once there is a real conflict between China and Japan, the US will be very passive.

Strategically, the US will not fight against China because of the Diaoyu Islands which are far away from US territory. Tactically, the Pentagon may not have prepared for that.

Therefore, in fact, these senators' flippant actions will put US national interests in danger.

The author is deputy dean of the School of International Studies at Renmin University of China. opinion@globaltimes.com.cn



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