The Senkaku/Diaoyu Islands have long been a point of contention between Japan and China [and by extension, Taiwan].
Much like the dispute with Korea over Takeshima/Dokdo, both nations are making claims to the territory, and both Japanese and Chinese citizens have staged protests. The situation was exacerbated when the Japanese Coast Guard apprehended 14 Chinese citizens who had traveled to the islands from Hong Kong. Tensions mounted to the point that riots broke out in some major Chinese cities.
The U.S. has made its official stance on the matter by passing a bill stating it would intervene with armed forces as per the U.S.-Japan Mutual Defense Treaty, should a third party pass aggression. This has long been understood, but with President Obama signing the bill, Washington has made its stance firm.
The ensuing netizen reactions were a mix of anti-Chinese sentiment and either gratuity or skepticism towards the U.S.
From Yahoo! News:
U.S. Senate Passes Bill Reaffirming Senkaku Under American Protection
WASHINGTON– In a regular session on December 21, the U.S. Congress approved a national defense bill for fiscal 2013 (DEC 2012 – SEP 2013) which affirms Article 5 of the U.S.-Japan Security Treaty covers the defense of the Senkaku Islands in Okinawa Prefecture. The lower house approved the bill on December 20 and it became officially enacted with the signature of President Obama.
‘The unilateral actions of a third party will not affect in any way the United States’ acknowledgement of the administration of Japan over the Senkaku Islands,’ the provision in the bill said, in an apparent reference to China.
Furthermore, the bill declares that the East China Sea, including the Senkaku Islands, is important asset of the Asia-Pacific region, including critical sea lanes. It also points out that the settlement of territorial rights in the East China Sea requires complete self restraint from all related parties.
From Twitter:
ririri1108:
Yes━━━(ﾟ∀ﾟ)━━━ !!!!! Is the U.S. leaning toward being more firm with its relations with China after seeing the LDP’s victory…?
iamriki2010:
If the U.S. sends their armed forces to patrol around Senkaku, I’ll know they’re our allies for sure.(^^)
umbro47:
We really must get to the point where we can protect ourselves without the need to rely on America.
Fukurou:
So far they’ve been clear about it, but I’m thankful they went as far as declaring it in a bill. It’s going to be tough to pay that back but we have no choice. America also despises China’s territorial expansions.
cobrajet_jp:
America protecting our peace is nice and all but am I the only one who thinks this is just a pretext to stay in Okinawa?
mamoru_aurola:
This has got to be the Democrats’ greatest achievement! Thanks to them, we have not escaped the 50 years subordination to America. We don’t have to do anything and military expansion has become way easy, right? Hmph (￣ー￣)
<丶｀∀´>（´・ω・｀）（｀ハ´ ）さん：
Well, not so much for Japan, they’re doing it because if China built a base on Senkaku, it’d be trouble for the Okinawan army and the 7th fleet.
<丶｀∀´>（´・ω・｀）（｀ハ´ ）さん：
Bring it on China!
<丶｀∀´>（´・ω・｀）（｀ハ´ ）さん：
This is the best diplomacy Xi Jingping can muster wwww He’s totally incompetent. That incompetency will be the end of China.
<丶｀∀´>（´・ω・｀）（｀ハ´ ）さん：
If the Communist Party were to apologize to Japan, that’d pretty much destroy them. Perhaps that’s why they’re desperately threatening us now.
名無しさん＠１３周年:
Say whatever you want, America is reliable(´・ω・`)
名無しさん＠１３周年:
Only 10 trillion yen [~$118,723,000,000]? That must be compensation…
名無しさん＠１３周年(In response to above):
名無しさん＠１３周年:
You know, even if the self defense force were attacked, there is a high chance the American forces would do nothing. The U.S. Democrats owe a lot of money to the Chinese Communist party.
名無しさん＠１３周年[In response to above]:
It’s obvious that America does not want to go to war, but because they want to prevent an invasion they may have to make a move.
名無しさん＠１３周年:
Just make it the 51st state. We don’t need to run it.
名無しさん＠１３周年:
This is for America’s own interests, not for the benefit of Japan, right? Japan and China quarreling is not necessarily a bad thing for America. Nevertheless, I’d rather avoid conflict. I’d like to focus on our ability to avoid war.
名無しさん＠１３周年[In response to above]:
Well, Senkaku has valuable resources for energy. They [The U.S.] took drastic measures to prevent Iraq and Iran from developing nuclear weapons. The same goes for North Korea. It’s better for America if Japan gets the resources around Senkaku than if China gets them. That’s basically what everyone is saying.
Diplomacy is not about being good buddies. Diplomacy is about achieving realistic national interests. However, with those national interests in mind, the canceling of Takeshima Day and the decision not to station officials on Senkaku are disadvantages.
