Human Interest

This interactive page gives relevant information about islands that are disputed over in southeast Asia.  I liked it because you could see the information in context with the map.

This is like a game of Monopoly when people try and get all the houses or businesses. Except this is real life and real isles. Whose is whose? How does Asia decide where and how the EEZ's should be divided.

considering that half of the nations involved are island nations, this is hardly surprising. every nation has issues with their neighbors. even the us and Canada dispute some territory. but these disputes can hardly end as well, when half of these nations have fought wars with each other for most of their histories.

Even though it has been 70 years since Japan was waging war across the world, it still should be a little concerning to anyone who has studied and understands how World War II played out and its' ramifications.  Japan is, essentially, making a move to slowly move away from their war-inducing military restrictions.  While, I don't think anyone should "dictate" what Japan does, I think this needs to play out transparently and collectively for the world to see. 

This move by the Japanese government was inevitable and nessacary. Japans neighbors are becoming more hostile by the day. China and North Korea are both stepping up their military might. Both nations are clear threats to the peace and security of Japan. The natural response, would be to counter the growing militarism of China and North Korea by building up your own arm forces to serve as deterrent. The old article pacifying Japan  no longer makes sense in our current world environment.  Japan is now one of the United States strongest allies. Allowing Japan to raise an army, would take pressure off are already overextended military.

Since the end of the Second World War, Japan has remained out of external military engagements, the result of a clause in its constitution drafted to prevent a reoccurrence of the Japanese aggression that sparked the war in the Pacific. However, with both China and North Korea displaying some concerning foreign policy, with China in particular flexing its muscles in the South Pacific, Japan has taken measures to expand its military capacity. There has been open debate in Japan over whether or not to expand its military power, with public opinion being relatively split; in the US, there has been widespread approval for the decision, in the hopes that Japan, long since a regional power, will take more responsibility for both its own defense and the defense of its neighbors. With the expansion of China's naval power recently- with the artificial islands appearing all over the Pacific, and them recently establishing their first naval base on the African continent- perhaps it is time for Japan, one of the US's staunchest allies, to step up to the plate and flex its own muscles. If this push is successful in giving the Japanese military more bite, it will be interesting to see China's response to the measure, and if its foreign policy will change accordingly.

There will always be problems with every country. China needs to focus on their new issues and deal with them properly.

As China grows more aggressive in its territorial claims, Japan and South Korea are both adjusting their militaries to fit the situation. Both countries are expanding their military presence throughout the disputed region as they worry about China's expansion. The article states that China may be attempting to push American presence further away from their shores, and explains the increasing tensions between the two.

I understand that the united states has been the most powerful country in the world for the last 100 or so years and that china was not so powerful. But now china thinks it is time to grow and can do so because of its great economic situation and its building of military. China has rapidly moved up the ranks in these two titles and finally they want to show the world how powerful it got. i don't know what happens in the future but china knows it got America nervous though we would never admit it.