Obama silent on Diaoyu

By Xu Tianran Source:Global Times Published: 2013-2-25 1:18:01

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe failed to rally support in Washington for Japan's territorial dispute with China over the Diaoyu Islands in the East China Sea during his US visit over the weekend, experts said, adding that Abe's remarks that he hopes to meet Chinese leader Xi Jinping lack sincerity.

Abe held talks with US President Barack Obama in the White House on Friday, in the hope of gaining support from the US president for Japan's stance on the Diaoyu spat, among other issues. Abe stressed that the US-Japan alliance was "a stabilizing factor" in the East Asian region, adding that Tokyo has always been dealing with the Diaoyu Islands issue in a calm manner and it will continue to do so.

However, the White House appeared to want to lower the temperature between Japan and China. During the talks, Obama did not bring up the issue or even mention China. Only US Secretary of State John Kerry, in a separate meeting with Japan's Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida, said he wanted to "compliment Japan on the restraint it has shown."

Jin Canrong, an associate dean of the School of International Studies at the Renmin University of China, told the Global Times Sunday that the outcome of the talks between Abe and Obama was vague as Abe did not get any promises concerning the Diaoyu Islands from Washington.

The exchange marked a different tone than one month ago, when then US secretary of state Hillary Clinton warned China not to challenge Japan's control of the islands, triggering a rebuke from Beijing.

The US president didn't publicly pledge that the US-Japan Security Treaty applies to the Diaoyu Islands issue either, though the stance has been made repeatedly by his administration.

Washington would be considered as challenging Beijing if it backed Tokyo in its territorial dispute, Jin said.

Su Hao, a professor with the China Foreign Affairs University, told the South China Morning Post that "Washington is concerned that Tokyo would feel less restrained in such confrontations if it felt it had strong backup."

Xinhua said in a commentary that Obama's top priority is boosting the US economy and his administration must attach strategic importance to Sino-US ties. As a result, the Obama administration does not want a showdown with China on the Diaoyu Islands issue, which is not among the US's core interests.

Gao Hong, a researcher from the Institute of Japanese Studies at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, echoed the idea in an interview with China Central Television, in which he said Washington only regards Tokyo as "a chess piece" in its overall Asia-Pacific strategy, and it wouldn't risk jeopardizing US-China economic ties for Japan.

While stressing calm on the Diaoyu Islands row during the meeting with Obama, Abe later spoke in stronger terms in an address at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) on Friday, saying "we simply cannot tolerate any challenge now and in the future [on the control of the islands]."

"No nation should make any miscalculation about the firmness of our resolve," said the prime minister.

Since Japan "nationalized" the islands last September, China has sent government ships to the disputed waters on a regular basis, causing Japan to become concerned.

On Sunday, the Japan Coast Guard said three Chinese marine surveillance ships entered the territorial waters off the islands on Sunday, hours after one of Beijing's fisheries patrol boats sailed into the zone.

In the speech at the CSIS, Abe also said that he and Chinese leader Xi Jinping are from the same generation and he understood the difficulties of managing China. He said he hopes to talk with Xi concerning the outstanding issues between the two countries such as the Diaoyu dispute.

Abe's seemly positive words do no match his deeds, Jin said.

Prior to his visit to the US, Abe said in an interview with the Washington Post that China has a "deeply ingrained" need to spar with Japan and other Asian neighbors over territory.

The remarks were criticized by China's foreign ministry, though the Japanese government later said that the quotes published by the newspaper were "misleading."

"For the two countries' leaders to meet, Abe's administration should stop making provocative acts and create an atmosphere that is favorable to solving the outstanding issues between the two countries," Jin told the Global Times.

Agencies contributed to this story



Posted in: Diplomacy, Asia-Pacific

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