China Keeps Up Pressure on Japan Over Disputed Islands With Patrols
China Keeps Up Pressure on Japan Over Disputed Islands With Patrols
Chinese patrol ships entered waters around a disputed island group in the East China Sea for a 14th straight day on Friday, in what analysts here called a sign that China had embarked on what appeared to be a new, long-term strategy for challenging Japan’s control of the islands.
While Chinese ships have sailed near the islands before, this is the first time since a recent flare-up began that they have plied the waters so consistently. Analysts say that suggests China is trying to wear down Japan’s resolve in the dispute, and possibly even trying to chip away at Japan’s claim of having effective control over the uninhabited islands established in part by its own maritime patrols.
“This is the beginning of a war of patience, a war of attrition,” said Kunihiko Miyake, research director at the Canon Institute for Global Studies in Tokyo. “This promises to be a long, long showdown in which China tries not to provoke Japan, but instead to discourage Japan from continuing to try to control those islands.”