In 2013, the dispute between China and Japan over uninhabited islands in the East China Sea only got worse. It is true that the rhetoric, shrill at the start of the year, did not escalate and – at times – abated. It is true too that sales of Japanese goods in China, including cars, recovered strongly in the second half, after a state-condoned boycott earlier in the year.
But in November, Beijing wrongfooted Tokyo when it declared an “Air Defence Identification Zone” (ADIZ), covering airspace over the disputed islands, called Senkaku by Japan and Diaoyu by China. Taiwan also claims the islands. And, this week, Shinzo Abe, the Japanese prime minister, has offended Beijing by paying tribute at the Yasukuni shrine, which honours Japan’s war dead – including war criminals convicted for offences in China.
Even before this autumn, Beijing had greatly increased the number of ships and aircraft circling the islands. China’s strategy seems clear. It wants to establish its own record of administrative presence in order to contest Japan’s longstanding claim that it has sole administrative control. Much to Beijing’s frustration, Tokyo does not even admit the sovereignty of the islands is in dispute, a legal and diplomatic position that appears to be getting less tenable with each passing day.