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Japan Breaks with U.S. Allies, Buys Russian Oil at Prices Above Cap

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Re: Japan Breaks with U.S. Allies, Buys Russian Oil at Prices Above Cap

#71

Post by Ekaros »

matthewdgreen wrote: post #60
csomar wrote: post #35

The next few weeks/months are going to be very interesting. Saudi Arabia has doubled down on its new direction. Japan/EU seems at edge with the war in Ukraine. China is making new moves in the global financial scene. The US has accumulated significant political debt in the recent years. They have significantly abused their position with the US dollars hegemony. In this recent conflict, the cost burdened Europe and th…

As long as China and Russia remain peaceful and don’t threaten their neighbors with aggression, they can absolutely win the war for hearts and minds and thus assemble a broad coalition to buck the US’s interests. The problem here is that Russia has already invaded its neighbors and proven to be a security risk for Europe, while China is doing everything it can to signal to its own population that war with Taiwan is i…

On other hand. Not getting involved in others' conflicts might go well down in Africa for example.

Re: Japan Breaks with U.S. Allies, Buys Russian Oil at Prices Above Cap

#72

Post by lcvw »

matthewdgreen wrote: post #60
csomar wrote: post #35

The next few weeks/months are going to be very interesting. Saudi Arabia has doubled down on its new direction. Japan/EU seems at edge with the war in Ukraine. China is making new moves in the global financial scene. The US has accumulated significant political debt in the recent years. They have significantly abused their position with the US dollars hegemony. In this recent conflict, the cost burdened Europe and th…

As long as China and Russia remain peaceful and don’t threaten their neighbors with aggression, they can absolutely win the war for hearts and minds and thus assemble a broad coalition to buck the US’s interests. The problem here is that Russia has already invaded its neighbors and proven to be a security risk for Europe, while China is doing everything it can to signal to its own population that war with Taiwan is i…

Agreed. Russia and China have alienated every one of their neighbors by invading them, trying to take them over economically, and other bs. The US is the global hegemon mainly because of fear of Russia/China, which is not going to go away short of regime change imo.

Re: Japan Breaks with U.S. Allies, Buys Russian Oil at Prices Above Cap

#74

Post by missedthecue »

boringg wrote: post #56
csomar wrote: post #35

The next few weeks/months are going to be very interesting. Saudi Arabia has doubled down on its new direction. Japan/EU seems at edge with the war in Ukraine. China is making new moves in the global financial scene. The US has accumulated significant political debt in the recent years. They have significantly abused their position with the US dollars hegemony. In this recent conflict, the cost burdened Europe and th…

Can you describe why you think the US has "significantly abused their position with the US dollars hegemony."

I think the US sanctions regime, based on the supremacy of the US dollar, is nakedly abused. For instance, sanctioning ICC prosecutors who investigated US service members for warcrimes.

Re: Japan Breaks with U.S. Allies, Buys Russian Oil at Prices Above Cap

#75

Post by pigsty »

rayiner wrote: post #4
reducesuffering wrote: post #3

Money quote: 'It’s not as if Japan can’t manage without this. They can. They simply don’t want to,” said James Brown, a professor at Temple University’s Japan campus. Prof. Brown, who studies Russia-Japan relations, said Japan should move to withdraw from the Sakhalin projects eventually “if they’re really serious about supporting Ukraine.” Mitsui & Co. and Mitsubishi Corp. , two Japanese companies, collectively own…

> At least one middling positive of the invasion has been a litmus test for the levels of integrity of various countries. Russia annexed Crimea almost a decade ago. If you haven't read the writing on the wall and maneuvered independence you're incompetent or immoral. I can’t really parse this. Why should Japan care about Crimea or Ukraine?

There’s a non-zero chance Russia pulls a Crimea and needs to defend Russian speakers in some remote region of Hokkaido, or starts seizing Japanese waters as their own. And that’s ignoring the islands Japan claims but Russia has controlled for decades.

This also sets a precedent for other neighbors. Korea claims random islands and politicians sometimes call for extreme actions to defend them from Japan (Japan does absolutely nothing and Japanese people, for the most part, do not know of the existence of these islands). China claims random islands that Japan controls with some of the more extreme factions saying Okinawa in its entirety isn’t legitimately Japanese, so it should be independent. But also Okinawa used to be somewhat subservient to China, so eventually independence would mean being a province of China, just like Russia is claiming with eastern Ukraine (or even all of Ukraine, depending on the day).

And there’s also Taiwan, which if China sees people get burnt out with the Ukraine war and go back to normal trade in a year, gives them pretty good odds to rain down missiles then rush in and seize the land with minimum international backfire. And if Taiwan is easily claimed, there’s no reason not to pursue Okinawa and South China Sea territories. And South Sea conflicts would screw over Japan as well, since there’s loads of trade with Vietnam and other countries in the region, and Japan is heavily dependent on food imports from China and elsewhere.

Japan has a lot of reasons to care. If Russia’s strategy pays off (and it’s unfortunately seeming like it will, since people outside of the region are getting burnt out on it and Russian mothers will happily fight until their last son is getting picked apart by dogs), those same methods will be used in East Asia.

Re: Japan Breaks with U.S. Allies, Buys Russian Oil at Prices Above Cap

#76

Post by sampa »

baybal2 wrote: post #5
reducesuffering wrote: post #3

Money quote: 'It’s not as if Japan can’t manage without this. They can. They simply don’t want to,” said James Brown, a professor at Temple University’s Japan campus. Prof. Brown, who studies Russia-Japan relations, said Japan should move to withdraw from the Sakhalin projects eventually “if they’re really serious about supporting Ukraine.” Mitsui & Co. and Mitsubishi Corp. , two Japanese companies, collectively own…

> Japan should move to withdraw from the Sakhalin projects eventually “if they’re really serious about supporting Ukraine.” What an irony. Japan has to buy its own oil from Russia, from the island Russia seized from Japan.

it wasn't 'seized'. it was lost because Japan lost in WW2. they had it coming partnering with Hitler and going against USSR and Allies.

also they murdered millions of people in very sadistic ways

Re: Japan Breaks with U.S. Allies, Buys Russian Oil at Prices Above Cap

#77

Post by throwaway6734 »

csomar wrote: post #67
throwaway6734 wrote: post #58

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The US is the largest oil producer in the world, one of the largest producers of food, one of the top innovators, has relatively healthy demographics, is surround by allies (one of which produces oil and fertilizer), and has the most dominant military on the planet. Your outlook is significantly more gloomy than reality

[flagged]

Canada and Mexico aren't vassal states.

Re: Japan Breaks with U.S. Allies, Buys Russian Oil at Prices Above Cap

#78

Post by [deleted] »

user3939382 wrote: post #23

Anyone who's been paying attention I believe would agree that our foreign policy around Ukraine has come at a huge cost not only to us financially and economically, but also to our foreign relations. Under this conflict our relations with China, India, Brazil, Saudi Arabia -- these are important partners -- have degraded. Having watched that unfold, this isn't a surprise to me.

[deleted]

Re: Japan Breaks with U.S. Allies, Buys Russian Oil at Prices Above Cap

#79

Post by Ekaros »

ceejayoz wrote: post #34
user3939382 wrote: post #23

Anyone who's been paying attention I believe would agree that our foreign policy around Ukraine has come at a huge cost not only to us financially and economically, but also to our foreign relations. Under this conflict our relations with China, India, Brazil, Saudi Arabia -- these are important partners -- have degraded. Having watched that unfold, this isn't a surprise to me.

US-NATO/EU relations, in contrast, have rarely been stronger, and a long-standing US goal of increasing European defense spending has now become feasible. China and the Saudis are unlikely to somehow turn into genuine friends, and in China's case specifically the unified stance in Ukraine (as well as the "it's harder to invade than you might think" message) sends a bit of a message in the case of Taiwan. The trade-of…

I wonder where is the money to increase the spending? Even more insane level of debt? Even more suffering with inflation and lessening of public services?

Re: Japan Breaks with U.S. Allies, Buys Russian Oil at Prices Above Cap

#80

Post by st4lz »

vegabook wrote: post #45
st4lz wrote: post #30

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There is a shocking reality of how short-sighted and strategically shallow the opinions of people may be, even very literate ones with unlimited access to information. There are very long tensions between Japan and Russia about the Kuril Islands, that both countries have a claim on. It is very possible, that the same vague claims used on annexing Crimea today, or Donbas, would be used against Japan, and may not stop…

[flagged]

I don't think events related to what happened in Iraq has any relevance to Japan's view of international relations, or any other democratic society.

The question was about if Japan has any reasons to feel threatened by what happened in Ukraine. My reason is, any democratic society should be, which is not hard to imagine.

The question of "who is more saint" does not have any strategical significance and is clear reflection of russian propaganda. Obviously, nobody is saint. That doesn't make what happened in Bucha less shocking.

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