Power Balance of Asia

3/19/14

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/03/20/opinion/sharing-power-with-china.html?_r=0

China

In this article the power balance between the US and China was laid out over the conflict between Japan and China and their dispute over some islands in the East China Sea. The United States have declared Japan their allies under their defense treaty with them. China keeps threatening with their military which would easily over take the Japanese military if they were to attack. What China is looking for is to show they really have the power in Asia and that America is not willing to support Japan if this turned into an even bigger conflict. America could really lose power in Asia if that is how everything played out. China would really love this. If they did enter into the war they would have no control over it and would most likely lose. Both of their options are not good for America and so it has been hard for the Obama administration to take a side and put out a clear plan.

I think that this is another one of those sticky situations for our country and like the articles said either way and we have a lot to lose. We do have a treaty with Japan that says we would support them in a situation like this, so part of me says we need to step in and go for it. I also don't know if we should be butting in with a dispute between two other countries and risk our own money and soldiers. If we don't step in then we will lose a lot of respect and power in Asia who have always depended on us and always saw us as a huge world power. We could lose all of that. I just want to see if this becomes a bigger problem and see if we do anything about it.