Over the last couple years China has continually asserted its rights over the Senkaku Islands and surrounding territorial waters. In 1969, it was announced that under the seabed around the island chain there was possibly oil and natural gas reserves. Since then, Taiwan and China have continually tried to claim ownership of the islands. In 1971, the Japanese regained control of the islands for the first time since 1945, after the United States gave them back after taking them in WWII.
In 2006, tensions between Japan, Taiwan and China amplified when vessels from China and Taiwan carrying protesters circumnavigated the disputed islands, causing the Japanese Coast Guard to step in and block them. Then in 2008 Chinese Coast Guard Vessels approached within .04 nautical miles of the main island. In July 2012, Coast Guard Vessels from Taiwan and Japan collided while escorting Taiwanese protesters. In 2013, China and Taiwan sent fighter jets into Japanese air space, prompting the Japanese to issue a stern warning. Most recently, Defense Minister Itsunori Onodera, admitted that a Chinese frigate had weapons locked on a Japanese destroyer and helicopter, with the Japanese destroyer only three kilometers apart. To date, that encounter was the closest the two countries have come to full blown war. Meanwhile, The United States has remained steadfast on its position that that Japanese have ownership of the uninhabited islands.
In Washington D.C. Secretary of state John Kerry vowed that the U.S. would defend the Japanese against attack, including over the islands claimed by China.
"That includes with respect to the South China Sea," he(John Kerry) said, before correcting himself to say the East China Sea, where China and Japan have conflicting claims.
Secretary Kerry also reaffirmed the 1960 treaty that states the U.S. will defend to the death its allies in the region. In response to the defensive stance the U.S. and Japan have taken; China imposed a must identify rule for planes flying over the area. The United States flat out said they will not comply.
What does China have to gain from winning the Islands from Japan? War with us. War between super powers most of the time results from one owing the another a large percentage of their currency. I.E. China who owns 1.4 trillion dollars of our debt and with another 3.2 trillion owned by foreign governments.
If China does declare war on us it probably will happen after the year 2024, when its projected that China's Economy will surpass that of the United States. If and when war is declared and after some time has passed and both sides suffer equal destruction the two superpowers will probably agree to stop the war and work out a deal. What do you think will be the first item of discussion? Reimbursement of the debt owned to China. Let's face it, we cannot pay it now, let alone after fighting a world war, so what could the USA do? One of the only things they have left, land within the United States. Your house, town or even state could be a territory of a foreign country. Seem to far out? Look what we did to Germany and Japan after World War II.
Lastly, what if Japan and China are working together in someway to corner us into war. After all, the prime minister chose to attend the memorial of the fallen Japanese soldiers over the memorial that symbolizes the end of WWII. Time will tell.
.jpg)
