2. As you can read at the following Reuters article, titled “Japan protests
Russian PM's visit to disputed island”, August 2015, the Kuriles Islands in
the Sea of Okhotsk have strained relations between Japan and Russia since
the end of World War 2. Russia calls the islands South Kuriles, and Japan
calls them Northern Territories. Russia took control of the islands in the last
days of World War 2. Russia was with the winners and Japan was with the
losers of the war. You can see the disputed islands at the following map.
Map 1
http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_XwegACm9U0M/TQvadfmSUzI/AAAAAAAAA
Ec/wMZKkFX5jMw/s400/kuril3.gif
As you can see at the following map of Energy Information Administration,
Russia produces 4% of her oil and 4% of her natural gas from the region
near the Kuriles Islands, and Japan is a country very poor in energy
3. resources. That problem became more important for Japan after the nuclear
accident of Fukushima in 2011.
Map 2
At the other end of Japan, at the East China Sea, Japan and China are facing
each other over the Senkaku Islands, which are controlled by Japan, but
Japanese control is disputed by China and Taiwan. See map 3 from
Wikipedia.
Map 3
5. It is believed that the East China Sea is rich in resources, and as you can read
at the following Reuters article, titled “Japan demands China halt oil
exploration in part of East China Sea, July 2015, China is exploring the
waters of East China Sea for oil , and Japan demands that China halts these
operations.
Moreover Japan wants to prevent China from militarizing the islets of the
South China Sea, which would make the South China Sea a Chinese lake.
China claims control of almost the whole of the South China Sea, due to
historical reasons, something strongly opposed by Vietnam, the Philippines,
Malaysia, Indonesia and Taiwan, which are the other countries of the South
6. China Sea. These countries are backed by India, Australia, Japan, South
Korea, and of course by the US. See map 4.
Map 5
The Straits of Malacca in South China Sea is one of the most important
energy choke points of the world, second only to the Straits of Hormuz in
the Persian Gulf, as you can see at the following table from the Energy
Information Administration.
Picture 6
7. As you can see from the table, in 2013 17 million barrels of oil were passing
daily from the Strait of Hormuz, and 15 million were passing from the
Malacca Straits. At the following map you can see the most important
energy choke points of the world.
Map 7
8. You can see that Russia and China have a motive to cooperate against the
US and their allies in the South China Sea, the East China Sea and the Sea of
Okhtsok.
At the following article from the Financial Times, titled “Chinese boats fish
in dangerous waters”, April 2012, you can read about China’s claims over
the South China Sea. The following map is from the same FT article, and it
depicts China’s claims. The Chinese “nine-dashed line” map.
Map 8
9. For the conflict of the South China Sea see also Huffington Post, titled
“Indonesia, America and China's Nine-Dash Line”, August 2014.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/stanley-weiss/indonesia-america-and-
chi_b_5784342.html
and
Huffington Post, titled “U.S. Alliances Encourage Asian Allies to Be More
Antagonistic Toward China”, May 2014.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/ivan-eland/us-alliances-encourage-
as_b_5358379.html
and
Financial Times, titled “Construction on the high seas adds to Asian
maritime tensions”, March 2015.
10. http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/3c886a62-d76f-11e4-94b1-
00144feab7de.html
For the Reuters article about Japan and Russia see
“Japan protests Russian PM's visit to disputed island”, August 2015
http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/08/22/us-russia-medvedev-japan-
idUSKCN0QR04A20150822
For the Reuters article about Japan and China see
“Japan demands China halt oil exploration in part of East China Sea, July
2015
http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/07/21/us-japan-defence-
idUSKCN0PV04420150721
For the Financial Times article about China and her claims in the South
China Sea see
“Chinese boats fish in dangerous waters”, April 2012
http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/edb1af28-877d-11e1-865d-
00144feab49a.html#axzz3jexkAKT0
