Summary :
ON S E P T E M B E R 7 , 2 0 1 0 , a Chinese fishing boat collided with a Japanese Coast Guard (JCG) vessel in the East China Sea. The collision took place near a group of islands called Senkaku in Japan and Diaoyu in China. Totaling an area of 7 square kilometers, the five islets and nearby rock formations are 120 nautical miles northeast of Taiwan and approximately 120 nautical miles southwest of Okinawa. As all three of these governments claim sovereignty, all argue their fishermen are entitled to fish near the islands. The ensuing diplomatic crisis paralyzed the China–Japan relationship as Beijing decried the recklessness of the Japanese vessel and the detention of the Chinese crew by the JCG. Tokyo argued that the JCG was enforcing Japan’s maritime rights against a reckless captain who was fishing illegally. Japanese authorities subsequently released the captain without filing criminal charges, but not before China appeared to curtail the export of rare earth elements—a vital input in Japanese manufactured electronics— and anti-Japanese demonstrations raged across several Chinese cities. The administration of Kan Naoto was accused of backing down in the face of naked Chinese aggression. Nevertheless, the incident caused Washington to restate its view that though it did not take a position on the sovereignty of the disputed islands, they did come under the purview of the United States–Japan alliance. Two years later, tensions again surfaced when the governor of Tokyo, the outspoken conservative politician Ishihara Shintaro, attempted to purchase the Senkaku/Diaoyu Islands from their private owner. To prevent the islands from falling into the hands of a man bent on ruining the Sino- Japanese relationship, the central government of Japan bought the islands for itself. Despite these seemingly benign intentions, Chinese society was incensed. Chinese consumers boycotted Japanese goods, the Chinese government dispatched armed ships to the islands, and Chinese nationals turned on their own for using Japanese products.

Copies :