How Close Are China And Japan To War?

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The Sino–Japanese Standoff -- Michael Auslin, NRO

Japan and China inch toward war — but how close are they?

It’s been easy of late to get hyperbolic about the chance of conflict in East Asia. China appears to be the first serious military challenger America has had since the Soviet Union, and it is clearly beginning to throw its weight around in the waters of Asia. Especially raising tensions in the region is a passel of territorial disputes over islets that has pitted China against countries in southeast and northeast Asia and put Japan at odds with all its major neighbors. But the one key disagreement is between Japan and China in the East China Sea. There, an archipelago called the Senkaku Islands is claimed by Japan, Taiwan, and China. The islands sit near rich undersea oil and gas deposits, but, being situated just northeast of Taiwan, they also are in a crucial strategic location. They form the southernmost link in a chain of islands (including Okinawa and others) held by Japan that separate the East China Sea from the Pacific. The chain that ends with the Senkakus thus acts as a defensive barrier that conceivably could be used to prevent Chinese naval vessels from entering the wider Pacific.

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My Comment: Until recently I was always skeptical that the Chinese would press their claims on their maritime border with Japan .... but the Chinese are now pushing their territorial claims against everyone (including the Japanese), and they are showing no interest in backing down to any of these countries .... Japan included.