Winning an unprecedented third term at the 20th Chinese Communist Party congress will give Xi Jinping the freedom to change the status quo by force.
Tokyo hopes that, through direct talks with Beijing, it can encourage restraint on the Taiwan situation and China's provocative behavior around the Senkakus.
Amicable relations with a stable Beijing has proved a fantasy. In fact, Tokyo needs to conduct a wholesale reframing of our relations with that country.
“China sees its regulation of Japanese fishing vessels as a key stratagem” for controlling Japanese waters in the region, explains Professor Yoshihiko Yamada.
Taking advantage of the Islands’ poverty, China is gradually upping the ante in the maritime realm in and around Australia and New Zealand’s strategic backyard.
Beijing’s immense economic stakes in extracting hydrocarbon resources from the East China Sea are directly linked to its self-professed territorial claims.
PRC live fire exercise near Taiwan evoked chilling images of war (and the PLA in action) just as Japan was remembering the atomic bombing of Hiroshima.
China, which denies the authority of the international body, continues threatening behavior and unilateral changes to the status quo in the South China Sea.
The CCP understands that it must act to maintain public support, which means expanding China’s sphere of influence, especially along its eastern borders.
China’s unilateral intrusions appear targeted at making claims for deposits of rare metals and methane hydrate discovered earlier by Japanese researchers.
China hopes to block recognition of Japan’s extended continental shelf near Minamitorishima, interfering with development of seabed natural resources there.
Some may say it’s unthinkable that the United States would not fight to defend the Senkakus. Perhaps it would have been impossible until now.