An article posted on the People’s Daily website and many other webistes in China accuses the U.S. of getting involved in Russia and Japan’s conflict over the Habomai Islands (in the southernmost Kuril Islands) and China and Japan’s conflict over the Pinnacle Islands (called the Senkaku Islands in Japan and the Diaoyu Islands in China). According to the article, the U.S. said it “will side with the Japanese on the Habomai Islands;” and in a conflict “will expel the Chinese from the East and South Sea.’’
The article noted that the U.S. will not get militarily involved in the Habomai issue, but will militarily intervene if China takes military action in the Pinnacle conflict. Commenting on U.S. involvement, a scholar from the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences said, “U.S. overall power is disappearing; its original strategic position is also rapidly declining. In order to keep its military presence and leading position in the Asia Pacific, it has to use Japan and South Korea, making them shoulder more strategic tasks.” A professor from China’s National Defense University pointed out that U.S. involvement in the Pinnacle Islands is consistent with the “U.S. National Military Strategy Report” issued more than a week ago. The report indicated that the U.S. will shift its military emphasis to the Asia Pacific region.
Sources: People’s Daily, March 2, 2011
http://military.people.com.cn/GB/14040232.html