When Prime Minister Shinzo Abe told Japanese troops on Sunday that Tokyo opposed the use of force to change the status quo in Asia, his real audience was in Beijing.
The Chinese foreign ministry responded yesterday by accusing Japan’s leaders of “repeatedly making provocative remarks” and displaying “wild arrogance”. The Global Times, a nationalistic Communist party mouthpiece, said the chance that friction between the powers would “escalate into military clashes is growing”.
Sino-Japanese ties have been very tense since Tokyo last year bought three of the Senkaku Islands – a chain in the East China Sea that Japan controls but China claims – from their private owners. At the weekend, tensions flared again as Japan scrambled fighter jets to shadow Chinese jets in the area. Last month, China flew a drone aircraft near the islands, leading Japan to say it would consider shooting down unmanned aircraft that violated its airspace. China said that would be an “act of war” and that it would take “decisive action to strike back”.