• China actively wants to change the status quo in the Pacific and poses a more immediate threat to Japan.
  • Russia has also been building up its Pacific fleet to be a formidable force in the region.
  • Most of Japan’s response has been geared towards Japan’s acquisition of more military equipment and systems.

China and Russia are sending aircraft and naval vessels into Japanese territory, and the two countries show no sign of slowing down.

China’s aggressive activity in the South China Sea is well documented. It has disputes with five different countries over a number of islands and waters that they claim to control. Comparatively, the East China Sea — where this conflict with Japan has been unfolding — has been much more calm.

At the center of China and Japan’s feud is the Senkaku Islands, a group of uninhabited islands under Japanese control, but claimed by China who call them the Diaoyu Islands.

 

Read the whole story from Business Insider.