China and Japan are engaged in a long-term test of wills over disputed waters and territory in the East China Sea.<\/b>
While attention over the past year in the Asia-Pacific has been focused on developments in the South China Sea \u2013 in particular China\u2019s ongoing island-building efforts and expansion of coast guard activities \u2013 a new and potentially more destabilizing \u201cnormal\u201d has set in around the East China Sea between China and Japan. This \u201cnormal\u201d sees China\u2019s air and coast guard forces penetrating Japanese airspace and territorial waters near the disputed Senkaku\/Diaoyu islands with increasing and sustained frequency.
By most accounts, Japan\u2019s air force and coast guard assets have thus far succeeded in monitoring and deterring China from the types of adventurism that Japan fears might escalate to conflict. Over time, however, Japan\u2019s ability to consistently counter the threat from China will be under increasing pressure and adjustments in Japanese military force composition and interoperability between military and civilian bureaucracies are necessary to address the challenge.
China\u2019s Increased Maritime Activity in the East China Sea
Simmering tensions between China and Japan in the East China Sea came to a head on September 11, 2012 when the Japanese government\u00a0purchased three of the disputed Senkaku islands\u00a0\u2013\u00a0claimed by both China and Japan but administered by Japan\u00a0\u2013\u00a0from private owners. The purchase was in part prompted by threats by\u00a0right-wing Tokyo Governor Shintaro Ishihara\u00a0to develop the islands, which the Japanese government worried might have upset relations with China. Soon after the purchase was announced, street protests broke out across China followed by strongly-worded Chinese government statements delegitimizing the purchase.
Beijing, however, was intent on signaling to Tokyo that actions speak louder than words. From China\u2019s perspective, Japanese actions were a flagrant and arrogant violation of Chinese sovereignty necessitating sustained Chinese military expressions of jurisdiction and power.<\/p>\n