Comments on: More on Japan and Central Asia http://registan.net/index.php/2006/08/28/more-on-japan-and-central-asia/ All Central Asia, All The Time Fri, 25 May 2012 03:15:21 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 By: Nosemonkey / Europhobia » Koizumi and murderous dictators http://registan.net/index.php/2006/08/28/more-on-japan-and-central-asia/comment-page-1/#comment-299219 Nosemonkey / Europhobia » Koizumi and murderous dictators Sat, 25 Nov 2006 12:00:59 +0000 http://www.registan.net/?p=6622#comment-299219 [...] / Europhobia Anglo-European politics by J Clive Matthews Koizumi and murderous dictators Considering that Japan’s own Tony Blair, Junichiro Koizumi, is due to step down as PrimeMinister in a few weeks, it’s hard to know what impact his current sucking up to murderous Central Asian dictators will have on the constitutionally pacifist nation’s future foreign policy.Nonetheless, the fact that any supposedly liberal, westernised democracy would even consider attempting to build closer relations with the perpetrators of last year’s Andijan massacre, or a state which routinely employs threats of bottle-assisted anal rape in an attempt to silence political opponents, is concerning to say the least.Update: More in-depth analysis of Koizumi’s trip from the always top-notch Registan (and part 2, and again) and neweurasia. August 29th, 2006 [...] [...] / Europhobia Anglo-European politics by J Clive Matthews Koizumi and murderous dictators Considering that Japan’s own Tony Blair, Junichiro Koizumi, is due to step down as PrimeMinister in a few weeks, it’s hard to know what impact his current sucking up to murderous Central Asian dictators will have on the constitutionally pacifist nation’s future foreign policy.Nonetheless, the fact that any supposedly liberal, westernised democracy would even consider attempting to build closer relations with the perpetrators of last year’s Andijan massacre, or a state which routinely employs threats of bottle-assisted anal rape in an attempt to silence political opponents, is concerning to say the least.Update: More in-depth analysis of Koizumi’s trip from the always top-notch Registan (and part 2, and again) and neweurasia. August 29th, 2006 [...]

]]> By: Brian II http://registan.net/index.php/2006/08/28/more-on-japan-and-central-asia/comment-page-1/#comment-278786 Brian II Mon, 04 Sep 2006 06:58:25 +0000 http://www.registan.net/?p=6622#comment-278786 NYT Sunday September 2 "The one issue that roused China to fury was Japan’s bid for permanent membership on the Security Council. China’s all-hands-on-deck mobilization was a reminder that propriety goes out the window on matters China deems to be of national interest, just as had been the case a decade earlier when it openly tried to kill peacekeeping missions in Guatemala, Haiti and Macedonia to punish those countries for their dealings with Taiwan. The merits were plainly not on China’s side. No other country so self-evidently belongs on the council as Japan, which pays 19 percent of the U.N.’s budget, slightly below the U.S. assessment. (China pays 2 percent, and Russia 1 percent.) But Japan is China’s chief competitor in Asia, as well as America’s staunchest ally in the region." It seems that movements toward Japan by UZ/KZ suggest: - More clarity on the definition of the economic/strategic power 'bloc' - Central Asia + Russia; or - KZ and UZ believe what most Americans do, that the UN is a useless organization, hence they don't 'burn any capital' facing down China; or - As Sean Roberts pointed out, the fear of China overwhelming Central Asia is still quite tangible and much more credible than the non-plussed, Neville Chamberlain-esque bloviations of Martha Brill Olcott. Counterbalance in the form of Japan's UN Security Membership...probably (in the long run) will push SCO away from strategic security (ie, NATO-type-prototype) alliance, and squarely into the economic sphere. And Japan as a proxy/bridge for the US (not Europe) will seeminlgy be the extent of the US 'voice' in UZ. NYT Sunday September 2

“The one issue that roused China to fury was Japan’s bid for permanent membership on the Security Council. China’s all-hands-on-deck mobilization was a reminder that propriety goes out the window on matters China deems to be of national interest, just as had been the case a decade earlier when it openly tried to kill peacekeeping missions in Guatemala, Haiti and Macedonia to punish those countries for their dealings with Taiwan. The merits were plainly not on China’s side. No other country so self-evidently belongs on the council as Japan, which pays 19 percent of the U.N.’s budget, slightly below the U.S. assessment. (China pays 2 percent, and Russia 1 percent.) But Japan is China’s chief competitor in Asia, as well as America’s staunchest ally in the region.”

It seems that movements toward Japan by UZ/KZ suggest:
- More clarity on the definition of the economic/strategic power ‘bloc’ – Central Asia + Russia; or
- KZ and UZ believe what most Americans do, that the UN is a useless organization, hence they don’t ‘burn any capital’ facing down China; or
- As Sean Roberts pointed out, the fear of China overwhelming Central Asia is still quite tangible and much more credible than the non-plussed, Neville Chamberlain-esque bloviations of Martha Brill Olcott.

Counterbalance in the form of Japan’s UN Security Membership…probably (in the long run) will push SCO away from strategic security (ie, NATO-type-prototype) alliance, and squarely into the economic sphere. And Japan as a proxy/bridge for the US (not Europe) will seeminlgy be the extent of the US ‘voice’ in UZ.

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