【Regional Peace and Stability】
The antithesis of peace is war, and war, legitimate or illegitimate, always causes heavy casualties among civilians. So any country involved in a war should, to some extent, be held accountable for the dead and injured civilians. Since the Self-defense operation against Vietnam in 1979, China has not engaged in any wars for 36 years. Isn't this a great contribution to world peace and stability? During this period, the world has seen many battles and wars each year, and an examination of the permanent member states of the UN Security Council will tell the world which country is involved in wars in the highest and lowest numbers.
China has made substantive contributions to world peace, stability, equality and justice. China has been making positive efforts to solve international disputes peacefully. It has led or participated in the Iranian nuclear talks and the Six-Party talks. And China has deployed its military forces to take part in international peace-keeping operations, disaster relief operations and escort cooperations. Most recently, China has done its best to help other countries evacuate their personnel from Yemen during its own excavation operations. A clear fact is that in the past thirty-six years China did not engage in any wars, while the other four permanent members of the Security Council were involved in wars in ways big or small.
On the other hand, the United States, as a world power, should take the responsibility of urging Japan's commitment to the Peace Constitution and fight against militarism, since Japan has sent dangerous signals that threaten world peace and stability in a series of movement. Over recent years, there have emerged voices in Japan that denies the final result of Tokyo Trials, the atrocities it committed during World War II, and the existence of comfort women, as well as the Nanjing Massacre. Japan also attempts to amend the Constitution and has been expanding its military build-up for successive years, sending dangerous signals and posing a serious threat to the post-war world order. Japanese behavior is deeply influenced by its views of war and history, especially its attitude towards the Tokyo Trials. And the United States has exerted great influence on the formation of the Japanese attitudes and positions. In light of its domestic political situations and the Cold War, the United States granted blanket exoneration of Emperor Hirohito, and did not prosecute those responsible for the comfort women and the use of chemical and biological weapons. It also did nothing, if anything, to stop Japan from releasing Class-A war criminals early. All these have had a direct bearing on the Japanese political scene today. If the United States follows the old approach and allows Japan to break free from the Peace Constitution, Pandora's Box will be opened and Japanese militarism is likely to cause another havoc to Asia-Pacific countries and peoples.
Peace and development remain the prevailing trend of the world today. This region has kept an overall status quo of peace and stability for quite a few years. The time when this region did see armed conflicts after the end of Second World War is the time when other countries intervene in this region. For example, the US came to this region with both Korean War and Vietnam War. Other armed conflicts are also the negative legacy of the colonial rule. I read one blog saying that Norman Mailor’s question of ‘Why Are We in Vietnam’ is still lingering in the air. Nearly every major war after the Second World War has the US as a participant. The American people have the right under their Constitution to know the answer. Are the American GIs there really for world peace and American state interest or they are themselves the sources of tensions and conflicts.
Finally, the maritime disputes between China and some countries are not the mainstream of China's relations with other countries. Countries should strengthen exchanges and cooperation and reduce groundless criticism. The existence of these disputes, as objective facts, do not constitute obstacles to the development of comprehensive relations between China and the countries concerned. As a matter of fact, trade volumes between China and Japan, South Korea and ASEAN have been on the rise, along with uninterrupted cultural exchanges and cooperation.
China has also seen deepened political, economic and security cooperation with American military over recent years, and the leaders of both countries have reached a consensus on building up new-model relationship between major powers. The maritime disputes are only a small piece of the growing pie for China and other countries as their relations become closer, and it is ill-advised to ignore their cooperation and exchanges, while at the same time, hyping up their differences and disputes. No parties should take the existence of disputes as hostage to the development of those friendly cooperation and double-win. China and other Asia-Pacific countries have millions of reasons to develop their relations to seek peace and cooperation, but they have no reason to cause any damages to the relations.
（Author: Andy Yifei, LLM, Univeristy of Nottingham） |
