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The Diaoyu Islands Dispute Has Become a Three-Way Battle between China, the U.S. and Japan

Ma Guoshu, Dean of the Guangdong Win-Win Economic Institute, published an opinion article commenting on the defense bill the U.S. Senate passed, which stipulates that Article V of the Japan-U.S. Security Treaty applies to the Diaoyu Islands. The amendment notes that, while the United States "takes no position" on the ultimate sovereignty of the territory, it "acknowledges the administration of Japan over the Senkaku Islands." The prevailing view in the media about the bill is that the United States backs Japan and is suppressing China. The author believes that the U.S. move (harbors another insidious motive). While it is helping Japan on the surface, in reality it is to balance both sides and masterfully lay out a plan in order to achieve U.S. control of the Asia-Pacific region.

The author commented that the real intentions of  the U.S.  in the Diaoyu Islands issue are different. First,  the U.S. intends to vigilantly protect the Japanese economy, which is close to the national bankruptcy cliff. Otherwise, the whole "strategic plan of returning to the Asia-Pacific” would vanish like a puff of smoke. Second, the U.S. intends to force Japan into submission – to be transformed into an "Asia-Pacific Israel.” Only in this way can the U.S. effectively prevent China, Japan, and South Korea from forming a "surplus countries alliance" as a hostile force (to the U.S.) and remove the potential problem that can truly threaten the dollar’s global monopoly position. Third, an important option, as a U.S. global strategy, may be to cause the outbreak of a regional war so as to effectively shift the deep domestic crisis of the United States.

Finally, the author concluded, "As the chess game of the Diaoyu Islands progresses, a new pattern in the Asia-Pacific has gradually formed. It is destined to rewrite the established pattern of interests in the China-U.S. game."

Source: People’s Daily, December 5, 2012
http://world.people.com.cn/n/2012/1205/c1002-19792301.html