Senkaku Island Dispute
UNDERLYING INTERESTS ARISING FROM THE SUBSTANCES OF THE NEGOTIATION / POSSIBLE ROOTS CAUSES THE PROBLEMS AND NEGOTIATION SOLUTIONS
China and Japan use a lingering conflict for their own domestic political interests.
Presenting Problem: a longstanding territorial dispute over who has sovereignty over the Senkaku islands.
Chinese believe the islands were unlawfully seized by Japan in the war 1895.
Japan argues that possession is nine-tenths of the law and that there can be no dispute since they have occupied the Senkakus for the past over 100 years. For the past 40 years Japan has managed to avoid the conflict over the islands by not raising questions of sovereignty and not engaging in any economic development.
China fully expected that the islands would be returned to them in 1972 when the United States gave up its occupation of the Okinawan chain.
As Japan’s Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda purchased the islands by buying them for Japan , the Japanese illusion that “ no territorial dispute exists” was undermined.
This offended China and immediately made violent protests for the purchase of the islands.
The Noda-decision and the Chinese protesting response mean that Japan can no longer adhere to the view that the islands are not dispute.
The challenge facing both countries is what to do about this, so they requested negotiated solutions to the dispute.
The questions now are whether or not both countries are hostage to extreme nationalist agendas and what conditions will be helpful to successful negotiations.
1. There has to be an acknowledgement of a divisive territorial dispute. As the Japanese government bought the islands, they acknowledged that the islands were contested and now both countries need to decide between a negotiated or confrontational solution.
2. Because Japan ignored the dispute, they should think about some suitable conciliatory gestures that could create conditions for both countries to come and to negotiate.
3. Political leaders on
China and Japan use a lingering conflict for their own domestic political interests.
Presenting Problem: a longstanding territorial dispute over who has sovereignty over the Senkaku islands.
Chinese believe the islands were unlawfully seized by Japan in the war 1895.
Japan argues that possession is nine-tenths of the law and that there can be no dispute since they have occupied the Senkakus for the past over 100 years. For the past 40 years Japan has managed to avoid the conflict over the islands by not raising questions of sovereignty and not engaging in any economic development.
China fully expected that the islands would be returned to them in 1972 when the United States gave up its occupation of the Okinawan chain.
As Japan’s Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda purchased the islands by buying them for Japan , the Japanese illusion that “ no territorial dispute exists” was undermined.
This offended China and immediately made violent protests for the purchase of the islands.
The Noda-decision and the Chinese protesting response mean that Japan can no longer adhere to the view that the islands are not dispute.
The challenge facing both countries is what to do about this, so they requested negotiated solutions to the dispute.
The questions now are whether or not both countries are hostage to extreme nationalist agendas and what conditions will be helpful to successful negotiations.
1. There has to be an acknowledgement of a divisive territorial dispute. As the Japanese government bought the islands, they acknowledged that the islands were contested and now both countries need to decide between a negotiated or confrontational solution.
2. Because Japan ignored the dispute, they should think about some suitable conciliatory gestures that could create conditions for both countries to come and to negotiate.
3. Political leaders on