Beijingoism for Babies: Chinese Nationalist Indoctrination and a Tale of Two Little Cousins

One encounter as an example of a much bigger problem.  As I recently had to explain to a student, racism, prejudice, nationalistic chauvinism, general tribalistic hostility to "the Other," and cynical state-sponsored scapegoating of people are by no means character flaws confined to the West (i.e., let's be honest, "white people"). I should point out too that while Beijing might get its kicks whipping up anti-Japanese hatred, it is clearly playing with fire.

Rant: Ma Ying-jeou Is A Dirtbag

We all already knew that, but it's cathartic occasionally to say so.

Cartography Caper: China to Publish New Map of Its Territories

Expect lots of tendentious claims on that map, and I'm not only talking about the Senkaku islands.  It's almost like Beijing is actively trying to tick off its neighbors.   

Best comment yet: View from Taiwan - "Rumor has it the map will include the Andromeda galaxy, Ringworld, and areas to be named south of Gondor."

Japan, China, and Senkaku Airspace

News blurb:

Japan's defence ministry said it was the first intrusion into Japan's air space by a Chinese government aircraft since the military began keeping records in 1958.

Land Grabs: Maps and Territorial Disputes

Bring it on!  Well, at least it's better than Apple Maps.

Japanese Athletes and the Beijing Marathon

Really? Really?  Petty, stupid dirtbaggery is petty and stupid.  

The Senkaku Spat and the Asian Cold War

*Sigh.*

Quote of the Day: China, Japan, and the Senkakus

Via View from Taiwan, here is a bit from a  recent Gordon Chang article:

Because senior Party leaders are failing to maintain unity at home, it’s likely they will continue to press Tokyo over their claims to the Senkakus.  In recent weeks, Beijing has upped the stakes by sending patrol vessels and threatening to flood the disputed area with “more than 1,000” craft. 

Unfortunately, Beijing in recent years has lost its ability to compromise its territorial claims, some of which are outlandish.  Beijing has laid down a marker for itself and cannot yield an inch.  This makes each claim a flashpoint. 

And Tokyo is beginning to realize there is no appeasing Chinese leaders.  On the 14th, the official China Daily, by making a reference to Kume in the Ryukyus, laid the historical groundwork for raising a claim on that Japanese island chain, which is near the Senkakus.  Said Hissho Yanai, a Japanese activist, to the New York Times, “If we let them have the Senkaku Islands, they’ll come after all of Okinawa next.” 

In fact, Beijing officials have talked about taking the Ryukyus after they get the Senkakus.  

What If? the Senkaku Scenario

Japan would have its work cut out for it?  As for the scenario itself as a possibility, you'll recall this recent cover of the Economist.  

Note too this precious line from the linked Foreign Policy piece: "And however sincere Washington's assurances about helping defend the archipelago, Tokyo should not bank on its doing so with any real enthusiasm."  Ya think?

It's Getting Crowded Around Those Senkaku Islands

Those little blobs of land and their surrounding waters are a big bone of contention between Beijing and Tokyo, and Taipei got in the act yesterday: some 40 Taiwanese fishing boats and 8 Taiwan Coast Guard vessels sailed into those waters and got themselves water-cannoned by the Japanese Coast Guard until they left (check out the news photo).  The Taiwanese Coast Guard was recently conducting drills out there.  Taiwan also claims the Senkaku islands, but generally speaking I'd say the Tokyo-Beijing catfight is of a higher order.

UPDATE: Photos from Japan's Kyodo News.  I give you one:

The New Cover of "The Economist"

Yes, this is the actual forthcoming cover of The Economist.  I thought the turtle's comment was a nice touch.  The China-Japan dispute over the Senkaku Islands has been in the news a lot lately ...

In addition: Look at the small print in the upper right corner. Is this publication actually going to run an article about Kate Middleton/the Duchess of Cambridge's  ... uh ... huge tracts of land?  I mean, the paparazzi shots of her topless on a beach have been making all the celebrity gossip rags, but come on!  Then again, as California Dreamer and I were saying earlier today, plenty of publications that aspire to seriousness have been running pieces about that ... er ... royal real estate.  Methinks it's partly one big excuse for journalists and analysts to talk about, as this sarcastic British commentator says, "boobs, boobs, glorious boobs."  (Good Lord!  Did I just blog about huge tracts of land?)  If you ask me, the boobs that really need a closer look aren't the ones on the duchess, but the ones who are in office and completely botching it.  

Besieging the Japanese Embassy in Beijing

Greeeeeeeeeeeeat.  I guess the Chinese didn't want to be left out of Embassy-Storming Week even though they have a totally different beef. Ostensibly it's the Senkaku isles, but it's more than that.

Chinese Patrol Ships Into Japanese Waters

There's a new round of the China-Japan dispute over the Senkaku islands as two(?) six Chinese patrol boats entered Japanese territorial waters.  Oh, and there's also a China-Philippines dispute over a shoal in the South China Sea - to which Manila is ready to redeploy ships after reports of Chinese ships mucking about there.  

Heh, there seems to be something about little islands in that part of the Pacific that gives Beijing a case of the knee-jerk expansionist chest-thumping crazies, to the headache of the Asian democracies involved.  Nobody likes a bully.  (Besides, as one of my Nerd Lords recently said with surprising forthrightness for academia, Beijing is "a criminal regime.") Note how very little of this ever shows up in Western news media.

Plus this saying that it's also Washington's problem, though that thought just makes me want to smack my head on my desk right now.  Foreign policy - ah, how to say this politely? - isn't exactly this administration's strong suit.

UPDATE: Dignified Rant has thoughts on how the US can help Japan.