Japan's Abe compares Senkaku dispute with the UK's Falklands War

http://www.geostrategy-direct.com/geostrategy-direct/secure/2013/03_20/ne.asp

 

Japan's Abe compares Senkaku dispute with the UK's Falklands War

The ongoing dispute between the UK and Argentina, which ignited a fully fledged war in 1982 over the South Atlantic island of Falklands has a distant echo in the Western Pacific.

Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, in a speech to the Japanese parliament on Feb. 28, compared Japan's current dispute with China over the Senkakau Island to the war over the Falklands, where residents have just voted overwhelmingly to stay with the United Kingdom.

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, addressing the National Diet in Tokyo, quoted former British prime minister Margaret Thatcher stressing the rule of law in the 1982 Falklands war. Yoshikazu Tsuno / AFP

Abe quoted Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher's statements on the Falklands War to stress the importance of the rule of law.

Thatcher responded to Argentina's use of force to take the Falklands island by dispatching a naval expeditionary force and successfully retook the island from Argentina. Mrs. Thatcher was emphatic in declaring that her government acted solely for the purpose of upholding the basic principle of international law against arbitrary application of force to settle international disputes.

“Looking back at the Falkland Islands conflict, former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher said the following: ‘The rule of international law must triumph over exertion of force,' ” Abe said as quoted by the Wall Street Journal.

Abe also stressed that Japan's fundamental interest was to "make the seas, which are the bedrock of our nation's existence, open, free and peaceful in the absolute sense."

China claims that the Senkaku islands, which have been under Japanese control, belong to China and has been threatening the use of force against Japanese coast guard vessels and aircraft.

Unlike the Falklands, the Senkakus are uninhabited. Also unlike the Falklands War during which the U.S. officially remained neutral, the U.S. government has warned China that the U.S. has treaty obligations to help Japan defend the islands if China uses force to take them.