the news makes me unhappy
It really pisses me off how countries get incredibly bent out of shape over territory, but these disputes become even more ridiculous when the land under question is isolated/not contiguous (and therefore not an imminent security threat) and uninhabited.
Yes, I am an IR major, I learned about why governments care and why it's advantageous to have these claims.
The extra fishing zone and/or natural resources and so on are not worth the loss of soft power/credibility/other associated troubles.
I don't think it's unreasonable for Japan to detain a fishing captain because his boat crashed into a coast guard vehicle in a place he vaguely wasn't supposed to be, but the Japanese are foolish to allow this to be made into a big issue.
Yes, perhaps appearing to yield and make steps to reconcile may look weak, but the vast majority of Japanese people are not scary nationalists who will flip out [read: WHEREAS A DISTURBING PORTION OF CHINESE ARE] and Japan has a lot more to gain by having a good relationship with China. I don't think China needs Japan as much.
Japanese society has too many problems to be creating more with these types of international disputes. Maybe if it could keep a prime minister in office for more than 6 months, someone with a long-term perspective of the future could finally be in charge.
Yes, I am an IR major, I learned about why governments care and why it's advantageous to have these claims.
The extra fishing zone and/or natural resources and so on are not worth the loss of soft power/credibility/other associated troubles.
I don't think it's unreasonable for Japan to detain a fishing captain because his boat crashed into a coast guard vehicle in a place he vaguely wasn't supposed to be, but the Japanese are foolish to allow this to be made into a big issue.
Yes, perhaps appearing to yield and make steps to reconcile may look weak, but the vast majority of Japanese people are not scary nationalists who will flip out [read: WHEREAS A DISTURBING PORTION OF CHINESE ARE] and Japan has a lot more to gain by having a good relationship with China. I don't think China needs Japan as much.
Japanese society has too many problems to be creating more with these types of international disputes. Maybe if it could keep a prime minister in office for more than 6 months, someone with a long-term perspective of the future could finally be in charge.