Chinese Maritime Surveillance And Fisheries Law Enforcement Command

Prior to Pearl Harbor, Japan started to create an empire that especially did not want to be manipulated by the United States. Steven Hook, the author of “U.S. Foreign Policy: The Paradox of World Power,” mentions that “With French and Dutch colonies in East Asia up for grabs, Japanese leaders knew that only the United States stood in the way of their plan to create a Japanese-led ‘co-prosperity

Over the span of a few decades, the Japanese and Americans were as is, heading towards war due to a varying amount of disputing between the two. In the 1930’s, Japan invaded China. This caused an uproar between the two countries at the time. This was one of the first few sparks to the flame. In order to create the perfect Yamato race, the Japanese felt that there was more validity if there were no one to stop them, (Document A). Destroying the Pacific fleet was the goal so they could expand and imperialize the world around them. America, being one of their main oil producers, made them the perfect target. Leading up to the attack, America placed an embargo on Japan, (Document C). Japan wanted to destroy the Pacific Fleet to gain oil and continue imperialization to obtain the perfect Yamato

In the 1930s the United Stated and Japan had a turbulent relationship as the result of Japan trying to expand into China and take their territory as well as take over their economy by force resulting in a variety of horrible events done to the Chinese. To reprimand Japan for their aggression towards China and to try to force them to end their aggression the United States put in place a system of economic sanctions and trade embargoes to cut off essential goods. Instead, this only made the Japanese more determined and after months of discussion no peaceful conclusion could be reached. This in turn led to the events on an island 2,000 miles from the U.S. mainland and 4,000 miles from Japan. The name of this island is Pearl Harbor, which was

The United States did not want the British controlling all of the trade in the Asian countries which in return, make the British even more powerful. So, the United States decided to spread its influence to Japan, as it was one of the few Asian countries that was not controlled by the British. Japan was weak because of its isolation and it was next to china so the U.S. would be able to participate in trade easier in the Asian region. The U.S. wanted to control Japan to gain many of its benefits, which are “The combination of it, advantageous geographic position and rumors that Japan held vast deposits of coal increased the appeal of establishing commercial and diplomatic contacts with the Japanese.” (Office of the Historian) The Japanese islands were just about everything the United States needed; the perfect geographic position, land in Asia, and a possible abundance of fuel. The U.S. was in need for more power and wanted to spread its influence to Japan in order to gain benefits. Japan was weak due to isolation and had no choice but to agree to what the United States wanted.

What did all of this have to do with the U.S.? Well, because the U.S. had ties with East Asia, politically and economically, the decisions Japan were making were also affecting the U.S. So, America took it upon itself to increase military and financial aid to China. The reason this decision was made was to cut off oil shipments and raw materials to Japan. This is what really angered the Japanese.

situation at this point in time and was not making any new allies. The Japanese had began to get

Since their purchase by the Japanese government from their private owners in September 2012, the Senkaku/Diaoyu Islands have been a topic of protest and discontent in the East China Sea and its surrounding area. While current conflicts have arisen because of skirmishes with patrol boats and sightings of Chinese drones flying over the islands, disputes over sovereignty of the Senkaku/Diaoyu Islands have existed since the cession of Chinese territory in the Treaty of Shimonoseki following China’s defeat in the Sino-Japanese War. Original ownership of the islands was never officially settled between China and Japan, but after the establishment of several more international treaties in the twentieth century, jurisdiction over the islands became unclear and practically undeterminable. While conflicts were set aside during the latter half of the twentieth century in order to improve Sino-Japanese relationships, the purchase of the islands and military activity renewed tensions between the two nations. Present-day territorial disputes over the sovereignty of the Senkaku/Diaoyu Islands are a result of the multiple cessions and reversions of control in twentieth century treaty laws between China and Japan.

The trade embargo by US had caused an uproar in Japan, and this led into the question, “To what extent was the trade embargo by the USA responsible for Japanese military actions in 1941?” Some historians claimed that the trade embargo had forced Japan to use their military to attack Pearl Harbor, but why? The embargo appointed Japan to felt threatened to performed their ideology, situated Japan in an untenable position since they’re intensely relied on US imports, and produced a panicking atmosphere for their country’s survival. Japan viewed the embargo as a threat to achieved their ideology. Japan in the 19th century had strived for nationalism and embarked on modernization, which caused them to acquired an aggressive expansion plan, starting

Economics, national security, and democratic values were all factors involved in explanation of United States’ response to Japanese and German aggression. To the superior degree, economics did not surpass the national security and democratic values. The United States are acknowledged for their freedom and equality, therefore their democratic values are a focal precedence. Meanwhile, our nation’s wellbeing is essential to use consequently the national security is foremost aspect in the response to Japanese and German aggression. America sought to be isolated at one point and avoid going to war with other countries for the protection of our country, but then the Pearl Harbor attack occurred. Bearing in mind the attack the Japanese put upon us, we entered the war which triggered these factors to take place, we insisted on spreading our democratic ideals. The aggression that the German and Japanese placed with us managed to make us secure our nation, preserve our nations self-governing principles in mind, along with the economics involved. It is said that if the French and British strength weakens, “…the United States will find itself alone in a barbaric world…” it is continued by saying that dictators all agree “Democracy must be wiped from the face of the earth” which exemplifies that America insists on spreading their democratic views and building their national security. (Document C).

The Americans prior to World War II had always seen the Japanese as an inferior race dating back even further than the time of Commodore Matthew Perry in the mid 19th century. The US government saw the country of Japan as childish and immature. After the War The United States wanted to fix Japan, make it an ally by changing the country into a more western mature nation. The USA wanted to create a democratic economic powerhouse in its own image. The reformation of Japan after the war was simply an imposing of western ideas and values, not unlike the Meiji period that happened almost a century prior. The article shows that the United States needed the help the Japanese because they believed that the Japanese could not help themselves. The article also show a contrast to this with the treatment of the Chinese by the Japanese during the second Sino-Japanese war, who saw them as inferiors. Japan saw themselves as liberators from barbarism as much as the Americans. The article stops itself from being an essay on the shortcomings of the US, but also of Japan; it succeeds in giving discredit where discredit is due, for a more balanced look at both of the

"In anticipation of possible open conflict with this country, Japan is vigorously utilizing every available agency to secure military, naval and commercial information, paying particular attention to the West Coast, the Panama Canal and the Territory of Hawaii," stated the 26-page memo.”

Another possibility is the Japanese believed that holding the two islands could prevent the U.S. from an attempt to invade Japan from the north by moving through Alaska down through the Aleutian chain, protecting its northern

“In the conventional fantasy Japan slyly undermined peaceful diplomacy and forced the American people into a war they did not want, whose government had employed every means to avoid. (Atwood, 2010)”

As of today, China has expanded and built over seven artificial islands in the South China Sea since 2014. The South China Sea has recently come to be a major problem in Asia as issues have risen over who has rights of passage and claims in this area. The Chinese of recent have been making territorial claims in the South China Sea that are in areas of free passage for many other Asian countries and the United States. In October 2015, a U.S. guided missile destroyer encountered one of the artificial islands and China’s response was that it would “take any measure” to maintain its security in “their territory”. The Chinese have been questioned in the Permanent Court of Arbitration by the Philippines after claiming rights to historical locations in the South China Sea, which violates sovereign rights of the Philippines, yet China responded to this outcome with refusal and has continued to advance itself in the territory causing huge disputes with its neighboring countries as freedom of navigation has been compromised through China’s actions.. In order to guarantee resolution and maintain the freedom of navigation aspect of international law there needs to be a foreign policy put in place that puts more United States military in the South China Sea with support from disputing countries like Japan and the Philippines as a way to make the issue multilateral and law abiding.

This research tries to present both sides of the argument on the control over the islands from the Chinese and Vietnamese point of view, but has an emphasis on how the United States plays a vital role in the resolution of this dispute.