Japan may be making moves towards an alliance with Vietnam and Philippines to resist China's increasingly aggressive stance in territorial disputes, reports Hong Kong newspaper Ming Pao.
Japan's prime minister, Shinzo Abe, has said that Tokyo is willing to engage in dialogue with Beijing with no conditions. Last week, Yu Zhengsheng, one of China's top leaders, responded to the remarks, telling a group of Japanese legislators from the ruling Liberal Democratic Party that the dialogue would only be held after Japan recognizes China's sovereignty over the disputed Diaoyu islands (Senkaku to Japan, Diaoyutai to Taiwan) and when Abe stops visiting the controversial war-linked Yasukuni Shrine.Media reports in Japan said Yu threw cold water with his words and reported that the country's government has decided to strengthen cooperation with Vietnam, while also conducting extensive talks with the Philippines, two countries which have territorial disputes with China in the South China Sea. Meanwhile, Japan's foreign minister, Fumio Kishida, has said that territorial disputes between Beijng and Hanoi Sea are due to China's unilateral provocative maritime activities. China should state the basis of its actions to Vietnam and to the international community, the minister said.
Vietnamese authorities said three of its nationals were injured by Chinese water cannon after a clash between their respective coast guard vessels in disputed waters on Friday. It brings the total number of people injured during their recent conflict to nine, Ming Pao said.Tensions between the two countries have intensified since May 2 after Vietnam attempted to halt China's drilling operations in waters to the south of Zhongjian (Triton) island in the Paracels, or Xisha islands in Chinese. Both countries accused the other of ramming their boats, with China also utilizing water cannon, the paper said.
Meanwhile, China is also engaged in a standoff with the Philippines after the country detained eleven Chinese fishermen for poaching sea turtles last week in the area of the disputed Spratly islands, also in the South China Sea. The fishermen face charges for violating animal protection laws and they could face at least 20 years in prison if found guilty. Philippine officials said the fishermen will remain in custody until prosecutors decide whether to press charges, though photos released by Philippine authorities show that a number of the captured sea turtles died and were kept in inhumane conditions.China has demanded that its nationals be released, citing GPS coordinates that suggest the fishermen were still in Chinese territorial waters.
http://www.wantchinatimes.com/news-subclass-cnt.aspx?id=20140512000059&cid=1101&MainCatID=0
No comments:
Post a Comment