As China threat looms, Japan’s Abe reverses 2010 cuts, expands military

By on    China, Exclusives, Intel Brief, Japan, NE Asia, World Links  

As China threat looms, Japan’s Abe reverses 2010 cuts, expands military

Special to WorldTribune.com Geostrategy-Direct.com With tensions between China and Japan rising rapidly, Japan’s new cabinet under Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has decided to augment its armed forces known collectively as the Japan Self-Defense Forces by as many as 18,000 troops. This was a direct reversal to the previous cabinet’s 2010 defense guideline which proposed to […]

There’s a word for Beijing’s new island dispute tactics with Tokyo: Hardball

By on    China, Exclusives, Intel Brief, Japan, Life, NE Asia  

There’s a word for Beijing’s new island dispute tactics with Tokyo: Hardball

Special to WorldTribune.com By Willy Lam, East-Asia-Intel.com Since territorial disputes erupted between China and Japan in the early 1970s over the Diaoyu islets (called the Senkakus in Japan), Beijing has stuck to late patriarch Deng Xiaoping’s famous dictum: “Leave the question of sovereignty for the next generation; let’s put the emphasis on joint [economic] development.” […]

U.S.-Japan turf battles still fester in Okinawa but now China is a factor

By on    China, Exclusives, Japan, NE Asia, North Korea, Stateside, Top Stories, U.S. Military  

U.S.-Japan turf battles still fester in Okinawa but now China is a factor

Special to WorldTribune.com By Donald Kirk, East-Asia-Intel.com NAHA, Okinawa, Japan — The future of American power in Asia revolves closely around U.S. forces on this island that is home to a full panoply of U.S. air and ground forces well south of the Japanese “mainland.” Most people here would just as soon they go somewhere […]

Tensions in Asia-Pacific give rise to multiple war games

By on    China, Exclusives, Intel Brief, Japan, NE Asia, Philippines, South Korea  

Tensions in Asia-Pacific give rise to multiple war games

Special to WorldTribune.com By Willy Lam, East-Asia-Intel.com A series of naval exercises involving troops from China, Russia, South Korea, the U.S. and the Philippines are likely to significantly raise tensions in the Asia-Pacific. The largest China-Russian naval war game since 2005 is scheduled to start next week in waters very close to South Korea and […]

South Korea beset by historical tensions with Japan, real time friction with communist neighbors

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South Korea beset by historical tensions with Japan, real time friction with communist neighbors

Special to WorldTribune.com By Donald Kirk, East-Asia-Intel.com SEOUL — No matter which way South Korea looks, the government faces tough new/old issues with the two enormous powers that have subjected the Korean Peninsula to pain and suffering over the centuries. First, this week, the problem was with China after the skipper of a Chinese fishing […]

China-Japan ties encounter severe turbulence in advance of Noda’s upcoming visit

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China-Japan ties encounter severe turbulence in advance of Noda’s upcoming visit

By Willy Lam, East-Asia-Intel.com Relations between Asia’s two biggest countries seem to be taking a confrontational turn on multiple fronts. On Sunday, the Japanese coast guard arrested the captain of a fishing vessel that had ventured into Japan’s territorial waters near the southwestern port of Nagasaki. While the skipper was released several days later after […]