Daily Lessons from Life 23 April 2013 - Japan's prime minister on Tuesday vowed to "expel by force" any Chinese landing on islands at the centre of a territorial row.

"Japan's prime minister on Tuesday vowed to "expel by force" any Chinese landing on islands at the centre of a territorial row -

TOKYO: Japan's prime minister vowed Tuesday to "expel by force" any Chinese landing on islands at the centre of a territorial row, after eight Chinese government vessels sailed into the disputed waters.

The latest clash over the archipelago upped the stakes in a tense diplomatic battle as nearly 170 Japanese lawmakers visited the controversial Yasukuni war shrine in central Tokyo, seen as a potent symbol of Japan's imperialist past, riling its neighbours China and South Korea.

Japan's Deputy Prime Minister Taro Aso and Keiji Furuya, the chief of the National Public Safety Commission, separately visited the shrine on Sunday, while Internal Affairs Minister Yoshitaka Shindo also visited at the weekend."

So is PM Abe mimicking the North Korean rulers? Is he having a mad-cow day? What does he want to achieve by talking so tough? For China to call his bluffs? At what cost to Asia?

Lessons for me are:

1. this 'sensitive' issue will forever foreshadow any meaningful progress in the relationship between Japan an its 2 biggest neighbours, China and South Korea, as long as the Japanese government DOES NOT, once and for all, acknowledge the atrocities and suffering and pains inflicted on these 2 countries and other Asia Pacific nations that were attacked and occupied by Japan during WWII!;

2. PM Abe supposedly has a family history with this WWII as his grandfather or someone he is related to was in the war cabinet during WWII. Maybe he has a misplaced loyalty to the family's honours. If so, it is sad. He is trapped by his own inability to breakout of the senseless tradition. Having said that, I can understand as 'honours' and 'tradition' are emotional issue where, time and time again I have said, rationality has no chance when emotion runs high!;

3. now what? should China call Abe's bluffs and land their ships on the disputed island? Should Abe orders the attack on the landing Chinese ships so that we can have this bloody troublesome issue revisited and have a 'face off' and 'showdown' where winners take all once and for all? It will be irresponsible of me to call for such drastic action. But then, Japan and China and South Korea will continue to be in frustrating 'You better not do this or else ...' irritating dance forever.

Well, guessed it is better than outright war!