In his policy speech to the Japanese parliament on Thursday, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe called for a “strong Japan” and ominously drew a parallel between the current tense standoff with China over disputed islands in the South China Sea and the Falklands war in 1982 between Britain and Argentina.
Abe cited former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher who declared that “the rule of international law must triumph over the exertion of force” to justify sending the British army, air force and navy to seize the Falklands back from Argentina. Casting China as an aggressor, Abe declared: “I want to appeal to international society that, in modern times, changes to the status quo by the use of force will justify nothing.”
Tensions over the small rocky outcrops, known as Senkaku in Japan and Diaoyu in China, have escalated sharply since last September when the previous government bought several of the island from their private Japanese owners. China has dispatched maritime surveillance vessels and aircraft to challenge Japanese administration of the islands. Japan has responded with a build up of coast guard vessels near the island and by scrambling air force F-15 fighter jets—most recently on Thursday.