Japan’s rejection of China olive branch on Senkaku-Diaoyu spat may be sign of tighter US ties
- A Chinese academic said Beijing was intent on reducing its presence in the disputed waters earlier this year, but that its overtures were met with hostility
- With tensions in the region rising, Xi Jinping may be using an incremental approach to stake Beijing’s claim as Japan seeks a tighter US bond
In the midst of current tensions between China and Japan in the East China Sea, a Chinese academic said Beijing wanted Tokyo to know it was intent on reducing its naval presence in the area earlier this year – an olive branch that was summarily snapped when right-wing forces in Japan hired fishing boats to go into the disputed waters, resulting in skirmishes between the two sides.
Liu Qingbin, an associate professor at Yokohama National University in Japan, said that a few months before Chinese President Xi Jinping was due to visit Japan in April, in what would have been the first visit by a Chinese president since 2008, Beijing had almost completely reduced its maritime activities in the Diaoyu Islands, or what the Japanese call the Senkaku Islands in the East China Sea.
However, Liu said the two sides went right back to skirmishing after the Japanese fishing boats entered the disputed waters, and Beijing once again began increasing its maritime activities there.
“The true situation was that China had actually released enormous goodwill earlier this year”, but that plan was derailed by the Japanese right-wingers, who wanted to create a scene before and during Xi’s visit, Liu said.
“The Japanese claimed that the reduction in military activities was due to typhoons, but there were hardly any typhoons in February,” Liu added.
Xi’s visit was later postponed, ostensibly due to the Covid-19 pandemic, and no new date was set.
Liu added: “This resulted in a tit-for-tat scenario and the situation that we are in today.”