US Senate Pledges to Defend the Senkakus in Defense Authorization Bill

[jimmy olsen]

Good, China has to know that the US won't stand by while they threaten their neighbors.

http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/front/archives/2012/12/02/2003549123/1

US approves amendment backing Japanese claims
DISPUTE:The US Senate reaffirmed the US' commitment to Japan in its territorial fight with China and said that an armed attack would be met in accordance with their treaty
AFP, WASHINGTON

The US Senate has unanimously approved an amendment that reaffirms the US commitment to Japan in its territorial dispute with China over the Diaoyutai Islands (釣魚台), known as the Senkaku Islands in Japan and the Diaoyu Islands (釣魚島) in China, and which Taiwan also claims, as Washington tries to counter any attempt by Beijing to challenge Japan's administration of the archipelago.

The measure was attached on Thursday to the National Defense Authorization Bill for Fiscal Year 2013 still being debated in the Senate.

The amendment says that while the US "takes no position" on the ultimate sovereignty of the territory, it "acknowledges the administration of Japan over the Senkaku Islands."

It further adds that "unilateral actions of a third party will not affect United States acknowledgement of the administration of Japan over the Senkaku Islands."

The legislation reaffirms the US' commitment to Japan under the Treaty of Mutual Cooperation and Security and warns that an armed attack against either party "in the territories under the administration of Japan" would be met in accordance with its provisions.

The amendment also noted US opposition to any efforts to coerce, threaten to use force, or use force to resolve territorial issues.

The Senate reiterated the US national interest in freedom of navigation, peace and stability, respect for international law and unimpeded lawful commerce in the region.

"This amendment is a strong statement of support for a vital ally in Pacific Asia," US Senator Jim Webb said in a statement.

It "unequivocally states that the United States acknowledges the administration of Japan over the Senkaku Islands, and that this position will not be changed through threats, coercion, or military action," the Democratic senator added.

In Taiwan, Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman Steve Hsia (夏季昌) yesterday said the ministry did not see any change in the US' position on the dispute over the islands because the US has repeatedly said it takes no position on sovereignty of the region.

The statement by the US that the Diaoyutai Islands were covered by the US-Japan security treaty was mainly "out of concern over the needs to maintain regional security" and "was irrelevant to which country owns the sovereignty of the region," Hsia said.

Hsia said the move by the US Senate was a repeat of the US position.

It is an undisputable fact that the Diaoyutai Islands are inherent territory of the Republic of China, Taiwan's adjacent islets and traditional fishing grounds of the nation's fishermen, Hsia said, adding that the passage of the bill in the US Senate can in no way change the facts.

The sovereignty of the islands has been a source of friction for decades, but the Japanese-Chinese row erupted earlier this year after the nationalist governor of Tokyo said he wanted to buy them for the city, forcing the Japanese government to buy three of the uninhabited islets.

Chinese vessels have been spotted in and around the territorial waters every day for the last month.

Both sides have publicly refused to back down on their respective claims to the Japan-controlled islands.

National pride as well as potential mineral reserves are at stake in the decades-old dispute, which has hit the huge trade relationship between the world's second and third-largest economies.

Additional reporting by Shih Hsiu-chuan

[jimmy olsen]

Chinese plane violates Japanese airspace. 

http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/japan-china-plane-spotted-disputed-islands-17954974#.UMs_ond5eZ4

Japan: China Plane Spotted Over Disputed Islands

By By YURI KAGEYAMA Associated Press
TOKYO December 13, 2012 (AP)

A Chinese airplane was spotted Thursday above small islands controlled by Tokyo but claimed by Beijing, the first time a Chinese aircraft allegedly violated airspace over the islands and the latest in a brewing territorial spat.

Japan levied a formal protest later in the day, but China said it was merely carrying out a normal operation.

The chief government spokesman said the Chinese plane entered Japanese air space in the morning. The Defense Agency said four Japanese F-15 jets headed to the area Thursday morning, but the Chinese plane, a Y-12, a nonmilitary type of aircraft, was nowhere to be seen by the time they got there. The Foreign Ministry said a formal protest was sent to the Chinese government through the embassy in Japan.

The islands known as Senkaku in Japanese and Diaoyu in Chinese have been at the center of a territorial dispute. The purchase of the islands by the Japanese government earlier this year from private Japanese owners set off massive anti-Japanese rallies in China.

"I want to stress that these activities are completely normal. The Diaoyu and its affiliated islands are China's inherent territory since ancient times," Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei said of the plane. "China requires the Japanese side stop illegal activities in the waters and airspace of the Diaoyu islands."
Japan China Disputed Islands.JPEG
AP
In this photo released by Japan Coast Guard... View Full Caption

It was the first time a Chinese plane entered Japanese air space over the disputed islands, as the two previous reported violations were by other nations, in 1979 by a Soviet plane and in 1994 by a plane from Taiwan, Defense Agency official Takashi Inoue said.

U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Kurt Campbell, while noting he did not yet know the specifics of the latest incident, urged calm, while noting the U.S. does not "take a position on the sovereignty of these islands."

"The security treaty between the United States and Japan applies to any provocative set of circumstances," he told reporters at the U.S. Embassy in Kuala Lumpur during an Asian tour. "We are encouraging all sides to take appropriate steps so that there will be no misunderstanding or miscalculation that could trigger an environment that would be antithetical to peace and stability."

Japanese ships have been patrolling the area around the islands in the East China Sea, on the lookout for approaching Chinese ships. Chinese ships have darted in and out the waters in that area in recent months.

Some analysts say China-Japan tensions are at their highest in years. Japanese exports have tumbled since relations soured.

Several candidates in the Dec. 16 parliamentary election are pushing for a more assertive and hawkish Japan, partly in response to the island controversy, including former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, head of the main opposition Liberal Democratic Party.

[The Brain]

China plane? Piloted by a Chinaman? 

[mongers]

Chinese plane violates Japanese airspace. 

America should come to Japans defence because of this:

[Sheilbh]

Stupid Congressional grandstanding

[Neil]

Just think how much better that plane would look raining down into the sea in pieces after a close encounter with a AIM-54, or whatever the fuck the USN uses since they faggoted up the Tomcat.