Gordon Forgey

China and Japan are at odds over a couple of islands in the South China Sea.

Chinese mobs have threatened Japanese interests in China. Emotions are high. Resentments and hatreds from World War II have been rekindled.

Despite the dangers, the situation is a bit refreshing. Here is an old-fashioned dispute.

It is a dispute over territory.

For generations, the world has been fraught with religious and ideological conflicts. From Ireland where Protestants fought Catholics and the contests between the old Soviet Union and America to the current conflicts between Muslims and Christians and even between Shia and Sunni, conflicts have been about competing ideologies and religions.

This diplomatic crisis has nothing to do with any of that. It is purely and simply about territory. And, as often in the days of empire building, the land at the center of the dispute is not just inconsequential, it is totally inconsequential.

What a change!

The crisis is almost like an old, comfortable pair of shoes. In fact, the crisis is so old school and so out of style that it is not getting much media coverage. Reporters may not know what to make of it. There are no mullahs or priests, no mean-spirited Florida minister, no ideological hacks and no great contest of political and religious philosophies and systems. It is not about perceived slights and insults or cartoons or movies. It is simply about land and not much of it at that.

One can almost see Queen Victoria with a big smile on her face reveling in challenges of an empire.

Gordon Forgey

Publisher