Toma, Carlo
POLI 142J
Prof. Slantchev
Spring 2013
Senkaku Islands Dispute
Executive Summary The following essay lays out the problem of the dispute over the Senkaku islands. It begins with a detailed background of the dispute, tracing back to the early 14th century up until modern times, and the three separate claims to the islands from China (People’s Republic of China), Taiwan (Republic of China) and Japan. This is then followed by four different policies on what the United States can do in response to problem at hand. The following options range from full-scale military invention and completely tactical warfare to economic joint development of the disputed areas. The conclusion of the essay will list the faults within three of …show more content…

Tensions are continuously rising over these islands, “Between March and November, 47 Chinese ship incursions were recorded. From April to December, the Japanese Air Self-Defense Force (JASDF) scrambled fighters 160 times in response to Chinese aircraft in the East China Sea, up from 156 in 2011. On top of all the maritime disputes occurring both China and Japan are having protest regarding each others policies surrounding these islands, and because of constant pressure from the Chinese, Japan is forced to increase its defense budget by $410 million. Since the U.S. has public stated its support of the Japanese in this conflict, it is now left with a choice of how to handle this international situation and diffuse it before it escalates to full scale conventional warfare.
Options and Analysis
1) The United States initial strategy should of course be one of deterrence and in preserving the status quo, which basically would force both China and Taiwan to relinquish claims of the Senkaku islands. Achieving this objective is no easy measure and one that will require large amounts of communication and aid from both the U.S. and Japanese governments. In order to insure that Japan will continue to hold administrative control over the islands, all parties must come together in agreement over one signal policy. The first step in this deterrence policy is to bring both main land China and Taiwan