Territorial dispute

Chinese actress-singer Li Bingbing didn't turn up at the Tokyo premiere of Hollywood blockbuster Resident Evil, and her hosts knew why. Another Chinese pop singer, Sun Nan, cancelled her concert in Tokyo, which cost her at least one million yuan. But there are no regrets on their part, for they are part of the Chinese populace that is on the streets for the last several days protesting the Japanese purchase of the Diaoyu islands.
The mini archipelago, covering seven square kilometres, in the East China Sea, and remain strategically important as its adverse occupation can prove to be a threat to seal off Chinese naval access to Western Pacific Ocean. More than that, the islands are historically part of China but were lost to Japan in the Sino-Japan war in 1894-95. In the wake of Japanese defeat in the World War II, the legitimacy of the Chinese claim to the islands was recognised by the victors of the war, which included the United States. But somehow the islands remained in the hands of a private landowner, who had even let out one of the rocks to the US air force for practice rocket-firing.
Excepting one or two upshots the controversial positions of China and Japan had taken the backseat as their bilateral relations made significant gains. But things lost their cool last week when the islands, known in that country as Senkaku islands, were bought over by Japan, triggering furious popular reaction in China. Protesters in Beijing laid siege to the Japanese embassy and the Chinese navy conducted surveillance trip to the islands.
But there is no audible sound of war drums; because the Japanese stand is not only illegal and untenable it is quite laughable also. According to one of Japan's premier newspapers Asahi Shimbun, the government of Japan bought the islands to pre-empt Tokyo governor Shintaro Ishihara's announced plan to purchase the islands, which it thought would seriously provoke Chinese people and government - something in line with the governor's history of inciting the Chinese. So, the Noda government went ahead to buy the islands because it thought 'doing so would make it easier to prevent unnecessary friction with China'. But the Chinese foreign ministry hasn't bought this explanation saying both the governor and Noda government are humming the same tune. Nor does the world think that way. There is a known history of Japan trying to gain control over this and some other groups of islands in the region. It is in dispute with Russia over Kuril islands and with South Korea over the Dokdo islands. The latest Japanese move quite aptly fits the American plan to augment its naval presence in Asia-Pacific region that further endorses the perception that Tokyo and Washington are on the same length. China is therefore quite rightly concerned over Japan's latest move in the East China Sea.
Certainly then US Defence Secretary Leon Panetta's denial in Beijing that the US tilt to Asia is not against China does not appear to have won over the Chinese mind, as on ground, the reality is just the opposite. China's rapid economic and military rise or its soft power image is said to be seen in Washington, Tokyo and the capitals of their regional allies as a threat to their near monopolistic presence in the Pacific region. Then there are also political incentives for leaders in the United States and Japan to raise tensions with China. President Obama's decision to reassert American military position in the Pacific region may be as much motivated as a move to make up for the loss of face in Afghanistan. And the Japanese Political Right wants to put on a new face for their country which is fast losing its economic superiority in the region to a rising China. Whatever the American ball game in the Asia-Pacific region, it is in the interest of both China and Japan to employ political and diplomatic tools to resolve their differences over the Diaoyu/Senkaku islands without any further loss of time as both the countries cannot afford to let crisis worsen. Although, some Japanese firms such as Panasonic and Canon have shut down factories in China following protests in relation to territorial dispute, disruption to business, according to regional strategists, will be short-lived as the two trade partners cannot afford to let the situation get out of hand.