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Hither and Yon

Having sworn to ‘forever renounce war’, Japan still alone in a tough neighborhood

May 4, 2017
Special to WorldTribune.com

By Donald Kirk

TOKYO -- The shadows of war lengthen over Japanese society in thrall to Article 9 of a “peace constitution” foisted under the “occupation” led by the victorious World War II Pacific commander, Gen. Douglas MacArthur.

Much as the “rightist” Prime Minister Shinzo Abe might want to do away  Read More 
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Korea vs. Japan: 70 years after WWII, can we just move on? Apparently not

Special to WorldTribune.com
By Donald Kirk, East-Asia-Intel.com
SEOUL — Maybe Japan’s Prime Minister, Shinzo Abe, should have kept his mouth shut.
No matter what he might have said on the 70th anniversary of the Japanese surrender, he would be the target of intensive criticism. The fact is the Japanese are done with  Read More 
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South Korea and Japan struggle to move beyond bitter history to address China threat

Special to WorldTribune.com
By Donald Kirk, East-Asia-Intel.com
It’s a time for anniversaries and memories of the tragedies that have afflicted Northeast Asia over the past century.
On Tuesday, the Japanese remembered the horror of the single worst battle in Asian history, the three-month struggle for Okinawa. The battle ended with the  Read More 
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Forbes.com: U.S. Asian Allies Ask: Is U.S. Ready To Fight China Over Small Islets?

President Obama’s much-hyped “pivot” to Asia is leading to misunderstandings between what America’s Asian allies expect and what the U.S. is likely to do in case serious trouble blows up in the seas and small islands claimed by China all around its periphery.

The possibility for misunderstanding is most obvious in  Read More 
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