Regarding David Walther's Sept. 30 letter, "Getting Taiwan on Japan's side": As a Chinese student studying in Japan, my reaction to the dispute between Japan and China over the sovereignty of the Senkaku Islands is that Tokyo Gov. Shintaro Ishihara's recent stunt to have the metropolitan government purchase and develop the islands sabotaged the Japan-China relationship, ignoring the efforts for peace and mutual benefits made by the late Chinese leader Deng Xiaoping and Japanese politician Kakuei Tanaka not so long ago. It was wicked timing on Ishihara's part.
I've seen many ideas suggested on this page for avoiding conflict, but the notion that Japan should ally with Taiwan (against China) — as improbable as that might be — would only make matters 10 times worse. China views Taiwan as a renegade state, and Taiwan is not recognized as an independent country worldwide.
Since China and Japan are neighbors and neither can move to another planet, shouldn't we all agree that the matter concerning the Senkakus must be resolved diplomatically so that no one gets hurt? If we allow the spat to continue, then we will have failed to learn from the past and history is doomed to repeat itself.
The opinions expressed in this letter to the editor are the writer's own and do not necessarily reflect the policies of The Japan Times.