By Ryan Scoville
Japanese officials have made clear the country’s position on the East China Sea disputes.
Recently I went to Japan as part of a small group of American academics and researchers interested in Japanese foreign policy. During the trip, we met with officials from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ministry of Defense, Coast Guard, and Cabinet Secretariat to discuss recent developments in regional security and U.S.-Japan relations. Unsurprisingly, many of the meetings focused on the Senkaku Islands (known in China as the Diaoyu Islands). Here’s what I learned:
There’s Still “No Dispute”
First, during the meetings, it became apparent that at least some media outlets in the West haven’t been sufficiently clear about current Japanese policy. Tokyo’s longstanding position has been that there’s “no dispute” over the Senkaku – the territory belongs to Japan and there is nothing to negotiate or even talk about. This view is of course controversial in China, which also claims the Islands, and the two sides have been engaged in a fairly protracted and tense standoff as a result. To reduce tensions and improve bilateral relations, China and Japan jointly released a four-point statement on November 7. Sources such as the The New York Times suggested that the statement reflected a shift in policy: Japan would now recognize the existence of a dispute. On this view, the recent statement was a major concession to China because recognizing a dispute might open the door to bilateral negotiations that could have only one effect – namely, an erosion of Japan’s effective control over the territory.
But these media accounts are simply inaccurate. Japan has not changed its policy; every official who addressed the issue stated unequivocally that Tokyo continues to maintain that there is no dispute.
Read the full story at The Diplomat