CHAPTER 556: CHAPTER 234: SOUTHERN RYUKYU ISLANDS

"Father-in-law, recently the navy has allocated three ironclad ships. I’m planning to pursue a colony in the Far East."

"Hmm, you have an idea?"

The Far East is definitely the most enticing region of the colonial era. The Huaihai Economic Zone in East Africa and the Zhuhai Trade Region are among the significant markets for the Heixinggen consortium, but these can only be considered as economic colonies.

There’s nothing much to say about economic colonization; even in the 21st century, it’s the most common form, similar to aid to Africa, which in reality is also a form of economic colonization.

Colonization, colonization, it naturally means making the people of the region create value for external capital. East Africa is no saint; if there were no profit in the Far East, they wouldn’t have developed regional economic zones like the Huaihai Economic Zone and Zhuhai Trade Region.

In the previous life, the global trade system led by the United States was the highest expression of economic colonization. After all, the definition of a colony is a country or region stripped of political and economic independence, controlled, and exploited by capitalist countries. America’s group of allies were of this type.

In fact, compared to this form of economic colonization, East Africa itself is more like a traditional colony country in the strict sense, except East Africa doesn’t have a sovereign country above it. This is proven by the nearly twenty million black slaves in East Africa.

Ernst took out a map from the drawer and spread it on the table; it’s clearly a map of the Far East sea.

"Father-in-law, you went to the Far East last time as well, you should be familiar with this place, right?" Ernst pointed to the location of the Ryukyu Kingdom.

"I have some impressions, but it’s not easy to take?"

Grand Duke Ferdinand knew the composition of this so-called Ryukyu Kingdom was very complex, with interests from both the Far East Empire and Japan.

"Yes, so my target is not the entire Ryukyu Islands, but the southern Ryukyu Islands."

The southern Ryukyu Islands, known in Japan as the Senkaku Islands, are the southernmost island group of the Ryukyu Islands, composed of the Miyako Islands and Yaeyama Islands.

These names are relatively unfamiliar, but if someone had followed the news in their previous life, the geographical term Miyako Strait would be more recognizable. The southern Ryukyu Islands lie south of Miyako Strait, a crucial base for controlling the Miyako Strait.

"Last year, there were disputes over the Ryukyu Islands region between the Far East Empire and Japan, right?" Grand Duke Ferdinand asked.

At the end of 1879, Japan decided to depose the King of Ryukyu and establish Okinawa Prefecture, which as the nominal sovereign country of the Ryukyu Kingdom, the Far East Empire naturally opposed.

Therefore, Japan backed down and proposed the division of the Ryukyu Islands, ceding the southern Ryukyu Islands to the Far East Empire, with the central and northern Ryukyu under Japanese control. The condition was that the Far East Empire added a clause in the friendly treaty granting Japan most favored nation status, which the Qing Government naturally disagreed with. At this time, the Far East was not kind to Japan, thinking that by adopting a policy of leaving Asia for Europe, they could truly become Western Devils. The two countries were therefore in a standoff, leaving the area as disputed territory, with undetermined sovereignty.

In fact, until the 21st century, the southern Ryukyu Islands remained the territory of the Far East Empire, as explicitly stated by the Cairo Declaration and Potsdam Declaration, with Japan illegally occupying them.

Ernst reckons this bargain might as well be taken by East Africa. Now, neither the Far East Empire nor the Japanese navy is formidable, and East Africa can act with force.

So Ernst told Grand Duke Ferdinand: "No worries, when the snipe and clam fight, the fisherman wins. We’ll directly negotiate with the Far East government to first acquire the economic rights in the area, then plan to turn the region into a colony by the end of the year."

This is also a typical strategy for East African colonization; the overseas province of Lan Fang became East African territory in this manner, though Ernst doesn’t plan to turn the southern Ryukyu Islands directly into East African territory, but rather a colony.

Why wait until the end of 1880? Because historically, that’s when Japan officially abolished the Ryukyu Kingdom.

By then, East Africa could establish a tributary state in the southern Ryukyu Islands simultaneously, with no valid opposition from the Far East Empire and Japan, as the Ryukyu Kingdom would have been annihilated. Even if they opposed, it would be futile, given their weak naval strength, and the East African navy had already made a display in the Far East at an earlier occasion.

Of course, Ernst would also give enough face to the Far East Empire, obtaining the governing rights from them, as they couldn’t defend it anyway. This means it would still nominally be Far East territory, but practically an East African colony.

Whether in the future this area could return to the Far East Empire’s hands would depend on whether the Far East Empire could revive itself. If they become strong, East Africa wouldn’t be able to freeload and refuse to leave.

In reality, the southern Ryukyu Islands hold significant value for both the Far East Empire and Japan, as Japan values sea power and has great ambitions; thus, the location of the southern Ryukyu Islands is crucial for both nations.

East Africa acquiring the southern Ryukyu Islands is essentially to provide supply resources, vessel maintenance, and troop stationing for the East Africa-Lan Fang-Alaska routes or the Far East Empire’s routes.

In fact, this is something the coast of the Far East Empire could do, but Ernst doesn’t want to station troops there, as that would turn the Far East Empire into a colony of his.

The southern Ryukyu Islands are not small, and the resources are relatively abundant; capable of supporting over ten thousand people in later generations, though in this era, it’s only a scale of thousands, making East African occupation easier.

"Since you have a plan, naturally I won’t oppose. However, establishing a firm foothold here won’t be easy; relying on diplomatic maneuvering can only acquire nominal governing rights."

In practice, it’s not governing rights but stewardship rights, with East Africa proposing to steward the area on behalf of the Far East. This detail is unimportant to East Africa but significant to the Far East Empire, as it’s a territorial issue, even if nominally still theirs, it preserves face a bit. It’s like having too much debt and not worrying about it.

In fact, the reason the Far East Empire squabbled with Japan is due to being closed off for too long, with only forty years having passed since 1840. The Far East Empire’s shipbuilding, ports, navy, and sailors are all new, like Jiaozhou Port, built with the help of the Heixinggen consortium. Otherwise, the Far East Empire wouldn’t have Japan disrespecting them.

The Far East Empire’s progress in maritime ventures is still underdeveloped compared to East Africa. East Africa was established just twenty or thirty years after the Far East Empire opened up, and the process of opening was gradual, with many bays previously neglected, with foreign pressure forcing them open. This process wasn’t instant, lasting until the Treaty of Xinchou in history.

Thus, many of the future ports in the Far East are still undeveloped; only the trade ports forced open by foreign powers boast modernized facilities.

Of course, it’s not to say many ports don’t exist in the closed-off state, just they’re undeveloped without official endorsement. After all, many Chinese going to Nanyang couldn’t have swum there.

East Africa’s start was a bit late, but with German technological support, Austria-Hungary’s naval backing, Heixinggen consortium’s overseas trade expansion, East African immigration and slave trade expansion, overseas colonization, and port construction, East Africa’s maritime endeavors flourished, at least not lagging behind.

East Africa, like the Far East Empire, was closed off, yet continuously engaged in maritime activities, just not allowing foreign forces to participate in its marine trade. Those newly built ports are solely for domestic commercial vessels and naval usage, functioning as a one-way valve structure for isolation, unlike the Far East Empire’s complete shutdown.