Washington takes cautious stance, stresses diplomatic, peaceful solution
Source: The Korea Hearald
Dokdo Islands
The United States appears perplexed over a series of territorial disputes involving its key Asian allies and partners amid their mounting calls to exert its diplomatic clout to support their claims.
Mindful of the sharply conflicting interests in the disputes, Washington has so far taken a cautious stance, reiterating that the concerned parties should work things out “peacefully through dialogue.”
As states are jockeying to secure more strategic maritime interests in the region where untapped resources are buried and crucial sea lines of communication run, these issues have become more intractable. This calls for America’s sophisticated exercise of diplomacy, experts pointed out.
“Asia has yet to completely settle their historical issues, causing such territorial disputes to rage on and get in the way of their moves for bigger regional cooperation,” said Kwon Tae-young, adviser to the non-profit Korea Research Institute for Strategy.
“It is not what we used to simply call islands and waters. It is a crucial trove of untapped resources presumed to be buried in waters near islands such as the Kuril Islands and others in the East and South China Seas.”
In particular, the recent war of words between America’s core allies of South Korea and Japan over Dokdo has apparently embarrassed Washington as it could hamper its deepened engagement in the strategically vital region.
The dispute over a chain of islands in the East China Sea, called Senkaku in Japanese and Diaoyu in Chinese, is also putting Washington in a diplomatically difficult position with Tokyo actively seeking Washington’s backing for its claim.
Tokyo officials have reportedly demanded that Washington reaffirm that America’s commitment to the defense of Japan is applicable to the disputed islands under their Mutual Cooperation and Security Treaty signed in 1960.
The application means military intervention from America in the event of an armed attack on them. The demand comes as the two allies are said to be in negotiations over a revision to their defense cooperation guidelines.
The U.S. basically recognizes Japan’s control of the islands although it does not speak out about it in consideration of its diplomatic and economic relations with China.
The islands were temporarily under America’s control after the San Francisco Peace Treaty was signed in 1951 to officially end World War II. Washington returned them to Japan in 1972. Japan first incorporated them into their territory after the Sino-Japanese war in 1895.
Amid Japan’s efforts to capitalize on its decades-old alliance with the U.S. to resolve the dispute, China has also sent a clear message against Washington’s support for Japan’s claim.
A Chinese military delegation visiting the U.S. has reportedly told U.S. officials that Beijing is against Washington’s application of the U.S.-Japan pact to the defense of the disputed islands.
Observers said that Beijing might feel nervous as Washington has sought to keep it in check amid its allies and partners’ calls to help settle a string of maritime disputes in the South China Sea.
The U.S. has presented a warning message to China, stressing the importance of the “freedom of access and navigation in the rule-based regional order.” But for the U.S. apparently adopting a policy of both engaging and checking a rising China, being dragged into any regional territorial spat is very burdensome, experts said.
“The U.S. needs China and vise-versa. Embarrassed over the dispute, the U.S. may continue to resort to diplomacy and rhetoric to defuse tension and resolve the issues peacefully. But of course, when things get out of hand, Washington could use its military to protect its partners,” said Kwon of the KRIS.
The U.S. also appears to be carefully watching the Russia-Japan dispute over four islands in the southern part of the Kuril Islands due to the two powers that play influential roles in the regional security contours.
Two Russian warships are sailing around the islands. It claims that the move is part of a usual event to commemorate its fallen sailors, but speculation has been sparked that Moscow seeks to further strengthen its control of the disputed islands.
The biggest headache for the U.S. is the continuing row over Dokdo, analysts said. As the U.S. is refocusing on the economically vibrant region amid the rise of China, experts say Washington might have to capitalize on its key allies of Korea and Japan.
But securing cooperation between Seoul and Tokyo has been a tough task amid their historical animosity stemming from Japan’s 1910-45 colonization of the Korean Peninsula.
Analysts say that Tokyo could continue to take a tough stance over Dokdo ahead of possible parliamentary polls in October or November.
Japan incorporated the islets as part of its territory in 1905 before colonizing the entire peninsula. Korea has been in effective control of them since its liberation in 1945.
By Song Sang-ho (sshluck@heraldcorp.com)
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