Japan's strategic offensive, from Diaoyu Islands to Nay Pyi Taw

Illustration: Liu Rui

Shinzo Abe's election has pushed the Diaoyu Islands crisis into the edge of all-out confrontation between China and Japan.

 While Japan's high-profile move on the Diaoyu Islands is a direct confrontation against its neighbor, its actions in Myanmar are a secret detour against China.

As the Diaoyu Islands dispute gripped the attention of China and the whole world, Japan's newly appointed Finance Minister Taro Aso visited Myanmar to write off its debt of 500 billion yen ($5.58 billion), followed by major financial groups covertly pushing into Myanmar's economic field.

In fields where China is also involved, Japanese financial groups, with their advanced technology, strong capital and national support, are in a race with Chinese enterprises.

They do not aim for profits at the moment, and some would rather suffer a loss.

This is not a healthy competition, but a vicious economic war which aims to drive out Chinese companies, control Myanmar's economy, and finally, cut off China's energy passageway to the Indian Ocean.

Soon after the US focused on hedging against China in Myanmar, Japan immediately started annihilating Chinese enterprises under the umbrella of the US' strategy.

China has three grand strategic projects in Myanmar - the Myitsone hydropower project, which has been forced into a total shutdown, the Monywa-Latpadantaung copper mine, where several public protests have taken place, and finally, the construction of an oil and gas pipeline between China and Myanmar, where recent signs have become increasingly disturbing.

Myanmar joins sea and land in the US' C-shaped encirclement of China, which includes the Pacific Ocean, the Indian Ocean, East Asia and South Asia.

After the US decided on an eastward strategic shift centered on encircling China, an East Asian alliance, with Japan, the Philippines and Vietnam as the axis, promptly came into being and endangered vast areas in the East China Sea and the South China Sea.

It is a fatal threat to China, which relies heavily on the sea for its trade and energy. Under such circumstances, Myanmar's vital strategic position is evident, which is why the US and Japan have concentrated on the country.

Due to the strong US-Japan alliance, it is very difficult for China to achieve a decisive breakthrough in the East China Sea and the South China Sea issues, while a westward focus may be the best solution.

However, Myanmar, one of the four westward passages, was seized initially by the US and Japan, which have launched a strategic offensive in what seems like a showdown posture.

Through the powerful intervention of the US and Japan, great changes have taken place in Myanmar's political situation, and Myanmese military forces' large-scale attack on the Kachin Independence Army is only one event that shows this. 

Thus, Myanmar has become the arena where China, the US and Japan play out a strategic game. We hope China can develop a proper strategy to deal with the situation in the new century.

After the US' public announcement of its eastward strategic shift, some Chinese have given up their fantasies about the US.

 A number of Chinese have another fantasy of China uniting with Japan to isolate the US, as Japan's national strategy aims to keep abreast with China and the US in its politics.

But the US' usefulness is much greater than China's, and will be for quite some time. Japan will align with the US strategic direction in this period, rather than move closer to China.

I suggest strategy planning departments deploy unified strategic actions with regards to Myanmar and the Diaoyu Islands from the perspective of the overall Sino-Japanese duel.

On the issue of Myanmar, China should support the normal economic activities of Chinese enterprises with State power, as Japan has done. As for the Diaoyu Islands, China must leave Japan in a defensive position by regaining the initiative instantly.

By Dai Xu
The author is director of China Institute for Marine Security and Cooperation Studies. opinion@globaltimes.com.cn

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America's problem: Money politics seldom supports reforms

“Money politics” has become even more prominent in the U.S. presidential race this year.

In 2010, the U.S. Supreme Court removed the limits on corporate donations to political campaigns and ruled that corporate donations are a protected form of free speech. As a result, this year’s congressional and presidential elections have become the most expensive in U.S. history, with billions of U.S. dollars spent already.

While rich people are throwing loads of money into the presidential election, ordinary Americans are worried about their own financial conditions.

Over the past 20 years, the income of middle-class Americans has been on the decline, and the income gap is becoming increasingly wide.

A poll has found that most Americans believe that too much money has been spent on the elections, and political contributions will only enhance rich people’s influence over the policy-making. No matter who is elected the U.S. president, he is bound to pay more attention to the needs of the rich than those of the poor.

Rich people are enjoying greater influence in politics, while the rights of ordinary voters are being damaged, which runs counter to the U.S. constitutional principle of “political equality.”

The economy is the decisive factor in this year’s presidential election, but the two candidates have mainly attacked each other, and failed to introduce specific plans for solving the country’s economic problems when it comes to debates on economic issues.

The weak U.S. economy is a result of both the global financial crisis that broke out a few years ago and the country’s own political problems. All Americans see on television is the ugly partisan strife and politicians’ lack of courage to carry out reforms.

The U.S. president needs great public support to lead the country out of crisis, and should figure out whether he rules simply for the sake of ruling or acts only after carefully considering the people’s immediate and long-term interests. Americans should remember that money politics seldom support reforms.

Read the Chinese version: “金钱政治”砸不出变革动力; 
Source: People's Daily; Author: Zhong Sheng
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