The American Interests At Risk

Starting in the early 1930’s, the Japanese began to display their great imperialistic dreams with ambition and aggression. Their goal was to create a "Greater East Asia Co-prosperity Sphere" where they controlled a vast empire in the western Pacific.1 In September of 1939, Japan signed the Rome-Berlin-Tokyo Axis Treaty, allying themselves with Germany and Italy in an effort to safeguard their interests in China from the Soviet Union. Japan’s only major obstacle left lay in the significant size of the United States Pacific Fleet. To rid themselves of this, Japan attacked the United States Pacific Fleet in hopes of crippling it enough to prevent any further hindrance from the

Last and biggest of the Pacific island battles of World War II, the Okinawa campaign (April 1—June 22, 1945) involved the 287,000 troops of the U.S. Tenth Army against 130,000 soldiers of the Japanese Thirty-second Army. At stake were air bases vital to the projected invasion of Japan ("Battle of Okinawa," 1996). The Battle of Okinawa remembered more for its iconic photograph of US Marines raising the US flag on Okinawa more so than any other war or battle ever fought. Okinawa the largest of the Ryukus islands played a major role in the American forces overall strategic efforts to advance to the mainland’s of Japan. Because it was the last major battle of WWII, the battle of Okinawa used lessons learned and TTP’s from all previous

Another area Buettner talks about is on the archipelago of Okinawa, about 800 miles of

Samoa, and other small islands. Japan was very vulnerable to a naval attack by America and

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 Second Sino-Japanese War was happening because Japan wanted to get more of China’s outer

"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.”

The battle of Okinawa began on April 1, 1945 and ended June . It took place over 82 days and fought on the grounds of Ryukyu, Islands of Okinawa.Okinawa was the second most deadliest battle fought in WW2. The battle was a stepping stone for an in invasion to get closer to the mainland, The battle involved the Japanese Army, minimal navy power and American and British navy support, along with Joint services of U.S Army, Marine Corps, and Navy.

China claims that the Spratly Islands/ Nansha Islands are discovered more than 2,000 years ago and it recorded in some historical books and documents (Scattered Books of the Zhou Dynasty, The Classics of Poems, Zuo’s Commentaries, and Statements of the States). In March 1959, China set up an office in charge of the Spratly Islands and other islands in the South China Sea. In March 1988, China try to against the penetration of the Spratly Islands by Vietnam. China also claims that other countries try to take over the ownership of the Spratly Islands considered illegal due to the China already own the authority of the Spratly Islands and undertake the responsibility on in charge all the feature of the islands. They also believes that the sovereignty

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.

The Diaoyu Islands conflict resurfaced in the 1970s as China and Japan talked about normalizing relations. 1972 marked the first time that mass protests over the Diaoyu Islands occurred in Taiwan, China, and among certain groups in Japan, but those protests were ignored. The short-term political concerns at the time were to normalize relations between China and Japan, and the details did not matter as much as building an alliance between the two countries to

In July 2013, Wenweipo - the pro-PRC Chinese-language newspaper published an article titled “Six Wars China is sure to fight in the next 50 years”. According to this article, after unification of Taiwan (year 2020 to 2025), China will take the second war: Reconquest of Spratly Islands (year 2025 to 2030) and “China will send the ultimatum to countries surrounding the Islands with the deadline of 2028. The countries having disputes on the sovereignty of Islands can negotiate with China on preserving their shares of investments in these Islands by giving up”. In 1999, two Chinese military colonels – authors of the book namely “Unlimited War” suggested using an “unlimited war” to solve the disputing in the South China Sea. These authors said that, to avoid a war does not mean that not using military force and a conflict is indispensable. However, there is one more important thing that to control the intensities of conflict that. It is necessary to conduct some special activities to prove the sovereignty of China in the disputing Spratly Islands but do not let this activities increase to the total war. These things prove that the potential war between Vietnam and China in the future could be come true.

After the conclusion of the San Francisco Peace Treaty between Japan and the allied powers in 1951, Japan and the ROC signed the Treaty of Taipei. Under these treaties, Japan confirmed that it renounced its claim to sovereignty over Taiwan. Consequently, it is not disputed that from October 1945 to 1949, both mainland China and Taiwan belong to one nation: ROC. Even if we assume that the San Francisco Peace Treaty is not able to decide the status of Taiwan, it cannot be ignored

The Dokdo Islets – also called the “Liancourt Rocks” – are at the center of a sorely disputed territorial issue between South Korea and Japan. It is an issue that has lasted for more than a century, and continues to the present day. The islets are located in the middle of the East Sea, and are believed to be rich in resources and harbor natural gas reserves. To the Koreans, the islets are known as “Dokdo”. However, to the Japanese, they are known as “Takeshima”. Thus, from the onset of the interpretation of the names alone, it is a debate over ownership that has simmered to such a point that it has resulted in an intermittent, ever-present strain in Korean-Japanese relations. As with every debate, there are differing viewpoints and vehement opinions, and the Dokdo Islets issue is no exception.

In order to better understand the dispute of these islands and this body of water, geography plays a role considering the area sea is located to borders on many different regions. According Chmillier-Gendreau (2000), the south-west of the Indian Ocean, the sea connects with the Straits of Malacca and Singapore. To the north-east, the sea connects with the Sea of Japan and the Strait of Korea. The position of this body of water is interconnected with many other bodies of waters which coincide with many countries. The islands residing in the middle of this sea therefore lies in the middle of many different countries. The two islands, Spratly and Paracel Islands lie in the middle of the maritime zone. Since it is in the middle, no neighboring country is really physically connected to these islands by geography (Chemillier-Gendreau, 2000, p. 16). Despite that fact, China and Vietnam both claim sovereignty over these islands based on historical and