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Lebensraum and China

Written by Philip Bowring

Thursday, 20 September 2012

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The Ryukyu chain

Reversing China's Humiliation: the Steps to Come

China’s noisy revival of its claim to the Senkaku/Diaoyu islands looks to be the thin end of a wedge pointed towards and perhaps even beyond Okinawa, the location of major US military bases. As in its disputes with the Philippines and Vietnam in the South China Sea, China is using its version of history as well as its naval power to promote claims which once seemed merely theoretical.

As of now, China is not advancing its East China Sea island claims beyond the Senkakus, a collection of uninhabited rocks which are roughly equidistant between the northern tip of Taiwan and Ishigaki island in Japan’s southern Ryukyu islands. But the historical references which it is using to justify its Senkaku claim can be readily applied to at least some of the Ryukyus. That whole 1,000 kilometer long chain of islands was once claimed by China and may be again.

For clear evidence of the Beijing wedge, the China Daily, Beijing’s English-language mouthpiece, on Sept. 14 quoted Ming Dynasty “Records of Imperial Title-Conferring Envoys to the Ryukyus” which includes the following passage about Ryukyans returning home from China: “Then Kume mountain comes into sight, that is where the land of Ryukyu begins.” Comments the paper: “This indicates that the Diaoyu islands belong to China, not Ryukyu”. This may seem an obscure bit of history irrelevant to today’s dispute. But look at the map. Kume island – Kumejima to the Japanese – lies 250 kilometers from the Senkakus but a mere 100 from Okinawa.

Four days later, the Council for National Security Policy Studies, under the China Policy Science Research Council, issued a declaration on Sept. 18 that “The Diaoyus do not belong to the Ryukyus, and the Ryukyus have never belonged to Japan. Japan's stealing of the Ryukyus was conducted without any legal grounds, and is completely illegal. Japan must unconditionally practice international laws as stipulated in the Cairo Declaration, Potsdam Proclamation, and immediately end its armed occupation and colonial rule of the Ryukyus. We firmly support the Ryukyu people's righteous fight for independence and self-rule, for ridding of Japanese colonial governance.”

In other words China appears to be using this bit of history to suggest that what are now regarded as the southern Ryukyus, which lie west of Kumejima, are not part of the Ryukyus, formerly a semi-independent kingdom. By implication they must belong to China.This is a huge step forward from China’s claim to the Senkakus alone, rocks which were of so little value that for years governments took scant notice of them.

China’s asserts that the Senkakus were always under Chinese jurisdiction until the Sino-Japanese treaty of Shimonoseki in 1895 when China was forced to cede Taiwan and part of Manchuria to Japan. Those territories were returned to China in 1945 and the Senkakus should have been as well, but the US treated then as part of the Ryukyus which were returned to Japan in 1972. China also claims that the islands lie on its continental shelf and are separated from the Ryukyus by a sea depression whereas Japan contends the shelf only end east of that chain where the sea bed plunges to the great depths of the Pacific. China’s case on the Senkakus is quite strong but does not in itself explain why the islands have become such a focus for Beijing.

Even making the big assumption that there are significant hydrocarbon resources in the vicinity, these rocks in themselves barely justify the nationalist emotion being raised on both sides and the threat to serious and lasting disruption of relations between the leading east Asian nations. For sure, the issues may be useful in domestic political struggles and diverting attention from economic discontents. But a bigger, longer term agenda is also at work as China seeks to become the regional power reversing the wrongs supposedly done to it in the past 200 years and resuming its status as the nation to which others paid tribute.

It links to another bit of history which may be coming back to haunt the US as well as China and Japan.. In 1873 Japan, fearful more of western than Chinese power, ended the Ryukyus’ semi-independence and incorporated them into Japan. China, which like Japan had regarded the Ryukyu kingdom as a tributary state, objected and appealed to former US President Grant to mediate.

Grant concluded that most of the islands were rightly Japanese, not Chinese but suggested that the southernmost ones closest to Taiwan could become Chinese. Beijing rejected this and its claim to the Ryukyus, though never formally abandoned, went into abeyance. But for how much longer? The Ryukyus had always been closer to Japan than China by language and culture and now they are largely integrated into Japan – opposition to US bases notwithstanding.

But China seldom forgets past “tributary” status, even if tribute was in practice just a tax to allow foreigners to trade with China. For many years the islands did more trade with China than Japan, and absorbed Chinese as well as Malay cultural influences. So while Beijing has given no hints of reviving its claim to all the Ryukyus its history references clearly suggest “the Ryukyus begin at Kumejima” not at Ishigaki or Yonaguni , the Japanese-inhabited islands closest to Diaoyu and Taiwan.

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Opium Pusher Descendant
written by Zheng He, September 20, 2012

Just scroll down for the proofs -

http://english.cntv.cn/special/diaoyuchina/homapge/index.shtml

(1) Japanese ancient proofs?
(2) Japan shd learn from being nuked twice not once by the US.
(3) The 3rd self-nuke in Fukushima Daiichi & the karmic effect of the recent tsunami.
(4) China today is no more a weakling fighting within itself; a weak China of yesterday where there was civil war between the Koumintang & Communist.
(5) A new China straight from the revolution has checked the UN led by the US at the Yalu River, stopped short of overrunning the capitals of New Delhi and Hanoi, withdrew unilaterally, after having taught a lesson.
(6) Japan has shown no remorse and repentance over the massacres of civilians especially innocent women and children in Harbin and Nanjing .
(7) The spirits of sex slaves from Korea as well are still crying out for justice like the Chinese.

Has Japan learnt? An eye for an eye, this vulnerable, next door floating submarine will sink first before anything or anyone else.

Philip Bowing . . . are you still eyeing for Hong Kong like your ancestors? Try harder.

Make No Mistake
written by Equal Partner, September 20, 2012

This is the new China today.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ri4eEHc4iwg

A responsible and peaceful nation on the rise yet capable in safeguarding its territorial soverignty and integrity without fear or favor unlike those British-drugged bygone years

Trolls of the East
written by pfffill, September 21, 2012

A thousand years from now, if China has not sunk under the weight of its own rhetoric, some Chinese will still be spuriously conflating issues and making hypocritical claims based on their own imperialist history, such as is evidenced by comments here.

A Japanese Professor Historian's View of the Diaoyutai Islands
written by Gestapo, September 21, 2012

Professor Kiyoshi Inoue,Department of History, Kyoto University, Japan -

http://thechinadesk.blogspot.sg/2007/04/japanese-historians-view-of-diaoyutai_09.html

The Healthy Men of Asia
written by The New Chink, September 21, 2012

Philip Bowring ?
Can you even read the the 5 000 year old Chinese characters let alone the ancient documents (which can be carbon tested for authenticity)? So wat rubbish are you writing that you understand ancient China. Like "tribute" is to allow them to trade with China? Utter rubbish. You cant read Chinese you dont know know the the naunces, the depth, the culture, etc., of the Chinese people. You brag about the very little you know. Shameful. Why dont you go write abt things you better understand like the Falklands, the bushmen of Australia, the Red Indians of America, etc. Surely your understanding nothwithstanding the hypocrisy would be genuine for such articles.
You mean Admiral Zheng He combed the Seven Seas just to get to the barbarians to trade with the Middle Kingdom in exchange for tributes? That shows how little you know about the East. The "tribute" is a show of kowtow and obedience to the Heavenly King, the Chinese Emperor, who commanded nothing short of respect and humility from all below the heaven. LOL. There was a civilised China even before your ancestors. Right?
Wat abt the Opium War? Next you will be saying the peace loving Brits were feeding Indian candy to the defenceless Chinese people to make them strong. Just go look at the British Museum. Nothing to be proud of being robbers. Right? The past is right only from atonment and remorse? Return the stolen artefacts and and antics. The Brits didnt CREATE them. They stole them and even burnt down wat they couldnt carry. The Yuan Ming Yuan Imperial Garden rings a bell?
How hypocritical the West is. Little wonder the entire world spurns them today. From the Middle East to Africa to Asia. And it's people like you who still write in this century with a divide-and-rule agenda in mind, disragarding truth & facts that makes educated people sick.
Nonetheless, the people today are longer gullible or stupid. They see, they judge, they discern.

Payback Time
written by Gungfu Panda, September 21, 2012

I find this "allow foreigners to trade with China" amusing.
You mean like China (when she had everything then under the sun) wanted to trade with "Great" Britain.
Our history (Im sure yours too) tells us that China had everything and wanted NOTHING from Britain. However the Brits were dying for Chinese tea, porcelain, etc., that they cunningly devised the you know wat surely that destroyed the lives of millions of poor Chinese then.
How kind. But karma has eventually caught up the Britain today. Hee . . .
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1549028/Britain-has-worst-drug-addiction-rate-in-Europe.html

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1549028/Britain-has-worst-drug-addiction-rate-in-Europe.html

Fair exchange
written by Tremblenobey, September 22, 2012

Don't know what all the fuss is about here. The West blessed China with Communism, Christianity, Capitalism and Consumerism in exchange for a nice cup of tea, rhubarb and Bruce Lee.

The Senkakus
written by ampontan, September 24, 2012

Even making the big assumption that there are significant hydrocarbon resources in the vicinity, these rocks in themselves barely justify the nationalist emotion being raised on both sides

False equivalence. The "nationalist emotion" in Japan is but a whisp of smoke compared to the conflagration in China.

China’s case on the Senkakus is quite strong

Only if you read and treat as gospel the Chinese claim and know nothing of the Japanese case. Both China and Taiwan considered them Japanese until the potential for resources was discovered. A 1971 CIA report was recently declassified and concluded that Japan had the strong case, and the responsibility for making a case lie with China. Of the many Chinese and Taiwanese maps that have cited the Senkakus as Japanese over the years, the CIA pointed to a 1966 atlas printed for the Red Guards.

Overall view. http://ampontan.wordpress.com/...ractions/ .

Historical view, with the parts the Chinese leave out:[url= http://ampontan.wordpress.com/...-response/

Quick hits: http://ampontan.wordpress.com/...the-loose/