U.S.-Japan guidelines said to specify Senkakus' defense

Japan should promote strong partnerships through strategic cooperation with various friendly countries to enhance peace in the region .

Japan should not be too provocative in pushing too hard in the Senkaku. Whether the Americans really want to have their blood shed for some nothing islands that have only symbolic value would be surprising.

And China will suddenly care because... ?

Good news. Protecting border of the country is not about the business of "some nothing islands". I hope Japan will do more to maintain status quo in the region where China's expansion is putting pressure on other countries, rather than being a free rider expecting US to do everything. I wonder why we can't send more JMSDF old ship and submarines to the Philippines, Vietnam and Thailand.

please sign here on the dotted line to protect me

I feel sorry to have to make our strongest ally play along with our game of chicken with China when China isn't even bothered by us at all. I just hope Abe won't make a complete fool of us in his address at the U.S. Congress.

in the event of an attack on Japanese islands.

Nobody is going to attack the Senakakus because there is nothing but rocks there to attack.

Even so, this is unfortunate. Because those islets should be attacked! As neither side has a claim that is worth a pile of dung, the Senkakus should be blown to smithereens before they become an excuse to blow US to smithereens.

Can Reuters quote the source of this statement? " but Washington has also made clear it does not want to get dragged into a Sino-Japanese conflict." Two Secretaries of State, Two Secretaries of Defense, AND the POTUS have stated that the Senkakus are included in US- Japan Security Alliance defense parameters.

@Short and Bitter

You think Shanghai and Peking will come out of a war ahead?

our game of chicken with China when China isn't even bothered by us at all

The avian metaphor you're looking for uses an ostrich....

@Short and Bitter

1) China started the infringement on Senkakus when oil were found beneath the islands.

2) Senkakus are one of the paths in water where Chinese Navy could advance their fleet and submarines through out to anywhere in the pacific, along with South China Sea.

3) Developing blue water navy so that to use it as the political means has been a major objective of the CCP for more than a decade now.

Saying "there is nothing to attack but rocks" is like saying Rubicon just a tiny river.

Japan should start development of fishing village, coast guard station, and other defense related facilities on the islands.

jj1067Apr. 16, 2015 - 12:38AM JST 1) China started the infringement on Senkakus when oil were found beneath the islands.

The Japanese statement that Daioyu/Senkaku was "terra nullius" is significant because it serves as an acknowledgement that Japan had no meaningful claim to Diaoyu/Senkaku based on historical activities prior to 1895. Japan’s argument largely ignored the historical position put forward in Chinese accounts. Claiming that the uninhabited islands were not occupied by any power, or terra nullius, Japan annexed the islands in 1895 shortly after its victory in the Sino-Japanese War. At the time, Japanese interior ministry noted that it was still unclear as to whether the islands belonged to Japan, especially as there was detailed knowledge of the islands in Chinese writings, making Koga’s claims of ‘discovery’ difficult to substantiate.

sfjp330Apr. 16, 2015 - 06:02AM JST

OK, let's go to ICJ.

@Tom Webb "and other defense related facilities on the islands".

Perhaps, japanese authorities are awaiting more support from US side to make decisions.

A drowning man trying to catch at a straw!

Maybe the US Marine Corps would like to move there?

U.S.-Japan guidelines said to specify Senkakus' defense

And thereby the US encourages Japan's hypocrisy on insisting that a dispute doesn't exist over the Senkaku / Diaoyu islands, while one does over Takeshima / Dokdo. Good onya Uncle Sam