Yes, Prime Minister of Japan

To be honest, Li Xinghe was shocked when Trump said he wanted to turn Okinawa into U.S. territory.

This was an unexpected turn of events.

This outrageous move is utterly detrimental to the US, Japan, and its East Asian strategy, potentially even leading to a complete breakdown of the US-Japan alliance. The Okinawa Islands, already under US control and receiving tribute from the Japanese government, would be rendered unsustainable by nationalization, preventing further exploitation of Okinawa. Furthermore, the 140 million Okinawans are unlikely to agree to such a mad plan. Is it possible that American tourism revenue would replace tourists from neighboring China? Or, if the islands became US territory, would the presence of US troops prevent sexual assault and violence?

But he did it anyway.

Because he wants to serve a third term.

Therefore, this really provoked the Chinese leadership.

The United States and Trump are actually trying to establish a core territory in East Asia that belongs to them. Who can tolerate this?

For China, this territory on its doorstep, whose legal ownership is somewhat ambiguous, is essentially a piece of meat that, under the post-war international order, is unlikely to fall into its own hands. If it falls into Japan's hands, it will remain in Japan's. China originally had no plans to deal with it in the near future. However, if it suddenly transforms into American territory, that would be absolutely terrible!

Who wants to see such a troublemaker stuck at the door?

As a result, Wu Jianzhong, Li Daiyao, and others were bombarded with phone calls.

Li Daiyao was so angry that she gritted her teeth and made a phone call to Li Xinghe's headquarters:

"You crazy brat, you really don't care about anything when you go crazy, come here!"

Li Xinghe knew he had made a big fuss and quickly dodged:

"I'm busy right now."

I'm really busy, busy dodging calls from all sides.

Li Daiyao still demands:

"come over."

Li Xinghe was slightly firm:

"What, training the dog?"

Li Daiyao bared her teeth and grinned, resembling a demon from hell, showcasing the boldness and courage of Shandong women despite their small stature:

"Yeah, you little rascal, send it here!"

Today, I must make my younger brother, who has caused trouble, understand that in Shandong, there is a strict order of seniority in the family, and the eldest sister is responsible for disciplining her younger brother!

The author says:

Author's Note: Thank you all for your support. Here's a 4500-word post. Happy Lunar New Year's Eve!

Chapter 570: Let Japan Give an Answer! (3500 words)

Regarding the ownership of the Ryukyu Islands, during the dispute between China and Japan, when the Japanese began to vehemently denounce the Okinawans as inferior Chinese and remained incorrigible, the Japanese subconsciously believed that Japan, as a superior developed country, should have the Okinawans devoutly and unconditionally submit to Japan. This allowed them to repeatedly humiliate the Okinawans for their own amusement.

But when the United States suddenly announced that it would reconsider the status of the Okinawa Islands, the Japanese were finally taken aback.

what?

what did you say?

You're demanding Okinawa from me?

Japan seems to have just woken up from a dream, only now realizing that it is America's dog, a defeated stray dog, and has no important international standing in the postwar era.

Government departments went completely silent, and all candidates who declared their intention to run for prime minister were forced to urgently amend their campaign plans. Some even withdrew from the race altogether, fearing that the controversy would jeopardize their political careers. From the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, their official websites were shut down one after another to prevent Japanese netizens from flooding in with insults.

At this point, the Japanese academic community was finally forced to confront the recurring issue of 'sovereignty over the Okinawa Islands'—a topic that has been a recurring theme in the field of amateur science.

University professors are selectively quoting and repeating these passages in the media:

"The Potsdam Declaration has established that Japan’s sovereignty is limited to 'Honshu, Hokkaido, Kyushu, Shikoku and minor islands which we determine,' including the Okinawa Islands."

"Truman's Postwar U.S. Policy toward Japan continued the Potsdam Declaration, recognizing that areas including the Okinawa Islands belonged to Japan."

"The NSC 13/3 document emphasizes the United States' trusteeship over the Okinawa Islands, but never mentions that Japan should relinquish its ownership of the Okinawa Islands!"

"The Treaty of San Francisco already stipulated that Japan has 'residual sovereignty' over the Okinawa Islands, and the sovereignty of the Okinawa Islands undoubtedly belongs to Japan!"

Essentially, within the postwar order shaped by the United States, Japan does indeed have sovereignty over Okinawa.

However, this sovereignty has been deliberately diminished by the United States and is incomplete, which makes it prone to controversy.

In the political resolution of the issue with Japan at the end of World War II, the United States generally adhered to the principle of sovereignty belonging to Japan and administrative control belonging to the United States. However, just as the Japanese themselves acknowledged, this "residual sovereignty" was indeed "residual." Due to disagreements between the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff and the State Department, they only vaguely stipulated sovereignty over the island in documents such as the Cairo Declaration, neither demanding that Japan relinquish its sovereignty nor recognizing Japan's sovereignty over Okinawa.

By tacitly acknowledging Japan's remaining sovereignty over Okinawa but retaining trusteeship, the US adopted a two-pronged approach to intervening in Asian affairs and countering the Soviet Union. This served both to avoid being accused of imperialism and to keep Japan on a leash, preventing its potential communist influence.

Just as Americans list Iceland, Greenland, and Okinawa together when discussing global strategic deployments.

These three islands, involving both Japan and Denmark, are precisely the disputed areas where colonialism, anti-colonial struggles, and differences in national oppression coexist. The US strategy has remained consistent: using US military bases to provide welfare and prevent communism, while simultaneously using anti-colonial struggles to obscure sovereignty and avoid being accused of imperialism. It is both anti-Soviet and wary of its former owners.

But nowadays, the United States is no longer afraid of being accused of imperialism.

The Soviet Union is dead, so what if I'm an empire?

The Atlantic Charter also says it opposes colonialism and doesn't expand sovereignty, but have I followed it?

Apart from Iceland, which seized the opportunity to gain independence in 1944, of the three islands defined by the Joint Chiefs of Staff in 1945, the remaining two have now been declared to be under Trump's sovereignty, with him aiming to make America great again.

The Japanese have been futilely engaging in repeated internal propaganda in the media, seemingly trying to emphasize to the public that Japan does indeed have sovereignty over Okinawa and that the United States' demands are utterly unreasonable.

However, all these provisions regarding the sovereignty of Okinawa originated from the multiple rounds of postwar order design plans formulated by the United States between 1943 and 1948.

China does not recognize this, and the Premier at the time made it clear that he did not recognize a single one of them.

The tumultuous events of that era gradually shifted after the Great Leap Forward and the collapse of the Soviet Union. Even today, the sovereignty of Okinawa, and even the US's postwar settlement of Japan, remains a topic that can be brought up for discussion at any time.

Television stations, online media, and various forums are filled with Japanese people debating in a state of constant anxiety. Those pro-American and anti-China far-right extremists are spouting nonsense like "we should protest to the US president" and "Japan should demonstrate its international influence."

But perhaps for the first time since 2000, the comment section of Yahoo News was filled with a sorrowful atmosphere of "Dad is going to kill the dog," as if their devotion had been misplaced. The U.S.'s betrayal by the "barrel-wielding hero" has caused a collapse of confidence among the pro-American and anti-China far-right for the first time.

Li Xinghe's phone rang non-stop all day.

Political parties such as the Liberal Democratic Party, the Rikden Party, the Komeito Party, the Shinzo Abe, and the Tokyo Metropolitan First Party came to inquire, while politicians such as Fumio Kishida, Yoshihide Suga, and the Koizumi father and son subtly probed.

Japan would certainly not agree to hand over sovereignty of the Okinawa Islands.

But the question is, what will they do if Trump insists on taking the islands?

Li Xinghe's answer was only one:

"It's now a six-way game between Trump, the Republicans, the Democrats, the U.S. Forces Japan Command, the Third Expeditionary Force in Okinawa, and Japan. I think it's very complicated."

In theory, if the Japanese government grants Okinawa residents the right to vote independently, they will almost certainly vote for independence, which Japan cannot tolerate.

But what if we don't give them the right to vote, and the residents of Okinawa really want to vote for the US?

If the United States were to forcibly occupy Okinawa, China's reaction would be extremely sharp. Could Japan afford to do so?

This series of problems is torturing Japan's weak and increasingly incompetent diplomatic department.

……

After getting off work, Li Xinghe coughed twice and went to Zhuzhi Station.

He was not going to see Koizumi's mistress, but rather to have dinner with Zhao Lieshu, Li Daiyao, and others.

Zhao Lieshu continued to tidy up the dinner with tenderness, while Li Juyan clumsily but energetically helped her mother Xuan Zhihua tidy the table.

Li Daiyao then seriously took out her tablet and placed a photo of Wu Jianzhong, who was becoming increasingly bald and had a bitter expression, on the table, right on the four-person table.

In the middle.

Li Xinghe felt that his food no longer tasted good.

"Why does it seem like it's Old Wu's death anniversary..."

Li Daiyao immediately slammed her hand on the table and roared like a shrew:

"If your plan goes wrong this time, and the outcome of the Okinawa issue really turns Okinawa into a US military base, you might actually have to attend Old Wu's death anniversary. He'll be so angry that he'll have a heart attack and end up in the ICU!"

The issue of sovereignty over the Okinawa Islands is not only a matter between the United States and Japan, but also involves China's strategic adjustments.

Li Xinghe stirred up a huge mess, which led to an even bigger mess.

He pursed his lips and retorted stubbornly:

"I've crippled the US military in Japan, so what's there to be afraid of? The USS Washington and USS Kennedy are currently waiting in line for repairs at the shipyard. Look, four sailors just committed suicide. Besides, the US won't agree to it. The reason they handed over the Okinawa Islands to Japan was precisely to win over Japan and reduce governance costs."

For U.S. military sailors, working on a ship is an extremely painful job.

Seamen's income doesn't rely on a basic salary; it mainly depends on high allowances for fleet deployments. However, because dozens of ships are currently waiting in line outside a limited number of shipyards, sailors end up living ashore for years, relying solely on their basic salary. Some sailors never even set foot on a ship from enlistment to retirement because their vessels have been sitting idle in repair docks for four years.

Without money, they couldn't leave, they couldn't stay away, they ate like garbage, slept like dog kennels, had to pay for their own commutes, and paid rent for their accommodations. Therefore, the suicide rate among sailors was quite high even on land.

Of course, since the U.S. Navy can no longer pay the high allowances it used to, sailors on ships are much the same as those on land, and they both want to die.

Li Daiyao was left speechless.

Indeed, Li Xinghe single-handedly crippled the already limited combat capabilities of the US forces stationed in Japan.

He killed two successive major generals of the Army stationed in Japan, dismantling the Army; he seized the anti-missile ships of the Navy stationed in Japan, dismantling the Seventh Fleet's operational efficiency; not to mention the Air Force, the Yokota Air Base's airfield and hangars were set on fire by Li Xinghe every now and then.

Now, the Marines stationed in Japan are being subjected to starvation training by Li Xinghe, turning them into a scourge of hunger on Okinawa Island.

But the problem is the consequences.

He made a mess here, and he didn't report to his superiors how to clean it up afterwards.

Zhao Lieshu quickly intervened to defuse the siblings' argument:

"Sis, let's eat."

"Don't eat yet, write the report first."

Li Daiyao and Li Xinghe sat together, typing away on their computers, writing post-event reports with heavy hearts.

Fortunately, Li Xinghe had made preparations in advance. He handed a long "Final Report on the Resolution of the Ryukyu Issue" to Li Daiyao, who then scanned it and transmitted it to Wu Jianzhong via telegram software.

This report, after assessing U.S. military power, Okinawa's history, the feasibility of independence, and the power struggle among the U.S., Japan, and China, explains Li Xinghe's initial intention and objective in creating yet another sovereignty crisis: to force the Japanese government to recognize Okinawa's independence or semi-independence, thereby weakening its ability to control the East China Sea.

Japan's decline is China's rise.

The family only started eating after they finished writing the report.

Li Juyan heated up the food, and Zhao Lieshu and Xuan Zhihua had just taken out the side dishes when Li Daiyao pulled out a fake Taishan Daqu liquor from somewhere.

She asked Li Xinghe:

"Shandong is a land of etiquette, and we act reasonably. Did you not discuss this with your sister? Did you make a mistake?"

Li Xinghe could only admit:

"Yes Yes Yes."

Then a glass of wine was placed in front of him:

"drink wine!"

After Li Xinghe finished drinking, Li Daiyao asked again:

"As your superior, you didn't consult with me and let me get scolded. Aren't you letting your sister down?"

Li Xinghe sighed:

"Yes Yes Yes."

"drink wine!"

After a boisterous drinking contest, Li Xinghe was easily knocked down on the table by Li Daiyao, becoming her sister's plaything. Zhao Lieshu smiled helplessly and, together with Li Daiyao, dragged Li Xinghe to the bed.

Just then, Wu Jianzhong called:

"how's it going?"

Li Daiyao stuck out her tongue in the darkness:

"Sigh, I accidentally made a mistake with my younger brother."

Wu Jianzhong was unaware of what was happening on the other end of the phone and was still comforting Li Daiyao:

"You hit or scolded him? That's okay, it's only natural. He's still young, you should give him some guidance."

He claimed to know Li Daiyao quite well, so after submitting Li Xinghe's report, he comforted Li Daiyao, saying that it was a good thing for his younger brother to make mistakes.

When you're young, you make mistakes and correct them.

……

Li Xinghe's report was passed up the chain of command, cut into different pieces, and then supplemented with comments from various departments before being compiled at the highest level.