Published on May 11, 2019.
Drawing on Abe Nango’s essay in the March 2017 issue of Sound Argument, this piece argues that behind the Chinese Communist regime’s gaze toward Okinawa and the Senkaku Islands lie the logic of the tributary system and a strategy of resource acquisition.
Through Governor Onaga’s posture toward China, his exchanges with Premier Li Keqiang, and the meaning of U.S. military deterrence, it sheds light on the gravity of the Okinawa issue as one directly tied to Japan’s national security.

2019-05-11
Does that magazine recognize that the tributary system was a policy by which regimes that claimed hegemony over the continent and the Central Plain sought from surrounding regions products not produced within their own spheres of rule?
The following is a continuation of the previous chapter.
It is no exaggeration at all to say that the Asahi Shimbun and NHK have already entered China’s tributary system. The same is true of the comments by Arima and Kuwako on last night’s watch9 regarding the U.S.-China trade friction, and also of the comments by some people in the business world. It is no exaggeration whatsoever to say that the Asahi Shimbun is now a completely anti-national newspaper, a traitorous newspaper.
What the Chinese Communist regime desires now.
The Sankei Shimbun dated July 12 of last year reported on its front page, concerning development of gas fields in the East China Sea, “Maritime facilities protested to President Xi.”
Within that article, it said that “it cannot be denied that the platforms for gas extraction may also be turned into military outposts.”
The reclamation of reefs and the construction of runways in the South China Sea are manifestations of militarization into military bases.
The Chinese Communist regime is, at this very moment, trying to build a “Great Wall” at sea.
Under the tributary system, Yi Korea was wary of demands from the Qing for the cession of territory.
It is said that the dynasties of surrounding minority peoples incorporated into the tributary system received grants greater than what they offered in tribute, but is that really true?
In Yi Korea, they deliberately imported gold and “offered it in tribute” to the Qing.
They concealed the gold mines in Pyonganbuk-do within their own territory.
Even now, the reason the Kim Jong Un regime of North Korea remains at odds with Xi Jinping’s regime in China is because it is wary of its underground resources being usurped by the Chinese side.
For China, it wishes to keep North Korea under its influence because North Korea has abundant deposits of rare metals such as magnesium and tantalum, which China itself lacks.
Such circumstances lie behind the power struggles after Kim Jong Il’s death.
Then what is it that the Chinese Communist regime seeks in Okinawa Prefecture?
What should be noted is that the presence of methane hydrate has not been confirmed in the sea areas under the control of the Chinese Communist regime.
Methane hydrate buried in sea areas deeper than 600 to 800 meters would become developable if the Senkakus, and indeed Okinawa, were brought into its sphere, and for China it is an energy resource so desirable that it would reach out desperately for it.
At the symposium titled “Prospects for Japan-China Corporate Cooperation,” held before the meeting with Premier Li Keqiang, Tomikawa Seibu, chairman of the Okinawa Prefecture Asia Economic Strategy Initiative Formulation Committee, stated, “Okinawa is not Japan’s frontier but the center of Asia. Japan’s economy, which has entered population decline, will shrink if it remains dependent on the domestic market. Therefore, it is in a situation where it has no choice but to seek markets in rapidly growing Asia and expand there.”
This so-called formulation committee is an organization that is drawing up a vision toward the “self-reliance of Okinawa Prefecture” advocated by Governor Onaga Takeshi.
Chairman Tomikawa further stated, “Since the Ming period, Ryukyu built friendly relations with China, and it is said that officials and engineers from places such as Fujian Province visited Ryukyu and supported the Ryukyu Kingdom. Okinawa, as a ‘bridge of nations,’ is positioned as a bridgehead of Asia and can greatly contribute to Japan-China friendship and development.”
However, the problem is what kind of friendship is to be pursued with the Chinese Communist regime.
How can one seek to build friendly relations with the Chinese Communist regime and its People’s Liberation Army, which applies military pressure to the Okinawa island groups and seeks to build military bases on the Japan-China median line?
Surely it is not proposing that, “taking history as a mirror,” we return to the Ming tributary system that sought sulfur?
After the collapse of the Empire of Japan through defeat in war, the U.S. military, which militarily occupied the Okinawa island groups, has kept China in check.
In Weekly Asahi, Governor Onaga Takeshi was quoted as saying, “The U.S. bases are now the greatest obstructive factor to Okinawa’s economic development,” but is that really so?
Is not the reality rather that the presence in Okinawa of the U.S. military, whose values are founded on freedom and democracy, is restraining the advance of the Chinese Communist regime?
Weekly Asahi praises Governor Onaga Takeshi, who is in conflict with the Abe administration over the relocation of Futenma Air Station to Henoko, under the banner of “the economic self-reliance Onaga seeks,” but does that magazine recognize that the tributary system was a policy by which regimes that claimed hegemony over the continent and the Central Plain sought from surrounding regions products not produced within their own spheres of rule?
Conveniently for the Chinese Communist regime, the U.S. military has devoted excessive energy to Middle Eastern issues, and its vigor has declined.
Furthermore, with the emergence of Governor Onaga Takeshi, an honorary citizen of Fuzhou, it took this as the arrival of a once-in-a-thousand-years opportunity.
Two years earlier, Governor Onaga Takeshi said, “I am pleased that I was unexpectedly able to meet Premier Li Keqiang,” but that meeting was not unexpected at all. He met him in order to influence and envelop him.
For the Chinese Communist regime, Okinawa is not Japan’s frontier but the edge of the continent, and it is a planned site for building a base for methane hydrate development.
To that Premier Li Keqiang, Governor Onaga Takeshi petitioned, “I hear that a free trade zone is being established in Fujian Province. Okinawa also has various special zones. I very much hope to promote exchanges. I hope that regular flights with Fujian Province will begin operating.”
In response, Premier Li Keqiang said, “We support exchanges between the local governments of both countries. The Fujian Free Trade Pilot Zone is open not only to Okinawa but also to Japan.”
Here, Premier Li Keqiang mentioned the name of Okinawa Prefecture first, and only afterward added, “also to Japan.”
Does Governor Onaga truly sense the possibility that the economic self-reliance sought by Okinawa Prefecture could come to harm Japan’s national security?
It seems fair to say that the matter is considerably grave.
References: ▽Shinzato Keiji, The History of Okinawa Prefecture (Yamakawa Shuppansha, published 1972) ▽Japan International Trade Promotion Association, Report (41st Delegation to China, dispatched April 2015 / 42nd Delegation to China, dispatched April 2016) ▽Weekly Asahi (August 14, 2015 issue)