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Generational Dynamics Web Log for 31-May-2014
31-May-14 World View -- Japan's Shinzo Abe asserts Asian leadership against China

Web Log - May, 2014

31-May-14 World View -- Japan's Shinzo Abe asserts Asian leadership against China

Nigeria blames Cameroon for failure to defeat Boko Haram

This morning's key headlines from GenerationalDynamics.com

Russia finally pulls its troops back from Ukrainian border
Japan's Shinzo Abe asserts Asian leadership against China
The Chinese view of the 'China Threat'
Nigeria blames Cameroon for failure to defeat Boko Haram

Russia finally pulls its troops back from Ukrainian border

A blood-stained icon of Jesus lies in blood-soaked shattered glass after a clash on Tuesday at Donetsk airport (Reuters)

A blood-stained icon of Jesus lies in blood-soaked shattered glass after a clash on Tuesday at Donetsk airport (Reuters)

When Russia moved 40,000 troops up to the border with Ukraine, it was widely believed that a Russian invasion of Ukraine was imminent. The invasion never happened, but there followed a series of game-playing (intentional lying) episodes by Russia's president Vladimir Putin, announcing that the troops were being pulled back, when in fact there was no intention to pull them back.

But now, finally, Nato is confirming that about 2/3rds of the troops have been pulled back, though thousands of Russian troops still remain.

Even without an explicit invasion, the pullback does not indicate an end to Russia's military intervention in Ukraine. Reports continue of trucks laden with Russian and Chechen fighters and weapons traveling across the border to support and supply the pro-Russian separatist militias. Russia's "stealth invasion" indicates that further warfare is to come. Washington Post and Australian Broadcasting

Japan's Shinzo Abe asserts Asian leadership against China

Speaking in Singapore on Friday at the annual Shangri-La Dialogue on Asian security issues, Japan's president Shinzo Abe said that Japan will continue to be a pacifist state that makes great contributions to global peace, and he expressed the intention for Japan to take a more active part in guaranteeing peace and security throughout Asia.

However, the indicated that the way he's going to do that is to ally with Vietnam and the Philippines to force international arbitration over the territory that China plans to annex -- and indeed has already annexed by military force in some cases.

"What the world eagerly awaits is for our seas and our skies to be places governed by rules, laws and established dispute resolution procedures. The least desirable state of affairs is having to fear that coercion and threats will take the place of rules and laws, and that unexpected situations will arise at arbitrary times and places."

This was a direct criticism of China, which is refusing to follow international rules and established dispute resolution procedures. China does not want to submit the disputes to a court, because China would win some battles and would lose some battles. China is the greedy tyrant that wants everything. That's why China was furious and began taking revenge against the Philippines for appealing their disputes to the United Nations Arbitral Tribunal. China has refused to cooperate with the Tribunal.

At Friday's conference, Abe said that Japan has provided ten patrol boats to the Philippine Coast Guard, and that Japan is planning to do the same for Vietnam as well.

A Chinese analyst says that Abe is playing with international law to advance nationalistic goals:

"Abe is going against the spirit of peace that is fundamental to international law by using it as an excuse to move in the opposite direction."

Japan Times and Xinhua

The Chinese view of the 'China Threat'

China's state-run news agency provides a very interesting analysis of why they believe other countries see them as "evil or dangerous." Here are some excerpts:

"A tragic hostility is unfolding in Asia while Vietnam and Japan, who share similar culture heritage with China, see their neighbor much more like a thorn in their sides. After a Vietnamese fishing boat deliberately entered Chinese waters and collided in a kamikaze-style attack on a vessel protecting an oil rig in China’s Xisha Islands on Monday, Hanoi blamed it on China and quickly sought foreign aid to beef up its marine patrol. Japan’s Prime Minister Shinzo Abe found this a good chance for finger-pointing and eagerly dressed up Japan as a counterweight to the growing influence of China. This is ironic. Since his Liberal Democratic Party-led government took power at the end of 2012, Abe has been upsetting Asia with his attempts to reverting to militarism.
A good question is why has the term “China threat” been coined rather than “Japan threat”? Here are three key reasons. Firstly, China keeps emphasizing its special characteristics or differentia from the other states, which creates mystery and makes it easily depicted as an imaginary enemy. Still today, many Chinese sadly find their national totem of the dragon and the red flag of the country’s governing party, both majestic in the Chinese culture, seen as evil or dangerous symbols in the West. Secondly, within a few decades, China effectively eliminated poverty, and quickly rose into the world’s second-largest economy. More disturbing is the fact that all its economic achievements have been made under a political system whose founders had aimed to eliminate capitalism.
Over the past few centuries, the world has been following the Law of the Jungle: the strong get stronger while the weak get weaker. Can China be so different from the previous powers in not seeking hegemony? It is a question upsetting many people across the world. Many of those who advocate containing China involuntarily make an empirical judgment. It was too bad that Japan was not stopped in the 1930s. So it is time to stop China now, they say. But believe it or it, empiricism could be wrong. China will never be a second Japan.
With a history of 5,000 years and incorporating diverse culture that they have either created or had imposed on them, the Chinese people have developed a unique perspective on the relationship between man and nature as well as between state and state. Those familiar with Chinese history know China was the world’s most powerful state for a long period of time but it never colonized or invaded any country. “However large a country is, bellicosity will cause it to perish,” goes an old Chinese adage that still resonates nowadays."

Xinhua

Nigeria blames Cameroon for failure to defeat Boko Haram

The 200+ schoolgirls abducted on April 16 by the terror group Boko Haram in northeastern Nigeria have still not been recovered, and there is no indication that they'll ever be recovered. Furthermore, since the girls' abductions, over 500 civilians have been killed in multiple terror attacks by Boko Haram. Nigeria has struck a deal with Niger to allow its troops to cross the border in pursuit of Boko Haram, and is discussing a similar deal with Chad. But Cameroon is refusing to make such a deal, and Nigerian officials are accusing Cameroon of providing a safe haven for Boko Haram terrorists:

"Niger has been proactive and aggressive, Chad has shown zero tolerance for Boko Haram. Cameroon, we've engaged them to be more pro-active. They haven't really. Not yet."

However, Cameroon officials deny the allegations:

"Cameroon has never been the weakest link in the chain. As the deployment of troops and equipment in the past few days prove, we have put up an iron curtain with enough firepower, which Boko Haram cannot break."

Reuters

(Comments: For reader comments, questions and discussion, see the 31-May-14 World View -- Japan's Shinzo Abe asserts Asian leadership against China thread of the Generational Dynamics forum. Comments may be posted anonymously.) (31-May-2014) Permanent Link
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Generational Dynamics Web Log for 31-May-2014 31-May-14 World View -- Japan's Shinzo Abe asserts Asian leadership against China

Russia finally pulls its troops back from Ukrainian border

Japan's Shinzo Abe asserts Asian leadership against China

The Chinese view of the 'China Threat'

Nigeria blames Cameroon for failure to defeat Boko Haram

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Generational Dynamics Web Log for 31-May-2014
31-May-14 World View -- Japan's Shinzo Abe asserts Asian leadership against China