China long planned diplomatic assault on Diaoyus, report says
Annual report says actions Beijing took in reaction to Japan's proposal to buy the Diaoyus show meticulous measures were in place to stake claim
The current round of Sino-Japanese tensions may have been triggered last April when the then-governor of Tokyo announced plans to buy the Diaoyus/Senkakus, but Japanese defence analysts believe Beijing was plotting a diplomatic assault on the sovereignty of the islands.
Japan's National Institutes of Defence Studies (NIDS) released its annual East Asian Strategic Review early today, analysing changes in the security environment over the past 12 months.
China, inevitably, accounts for a large percentage of the complete report, including discussion of how political changes in Beijing are likely to affect its foreign and security policies. However, the study lingers on what are termed "increasingly strained relations with Japan".
"China reacted furiously to governor of Tokyo Shintaro Ishihara's announcement on April 16 of his prefecture's proposal to buy the islands and to the Japanese government's decision on September 11 to purchase three of the islands," the report said.
"However, there had been signs of the rising tension even before Ishihara's plan.
"The actions that China subsequently took clearly reveal that it was already meticulously planning measures for advancing its claim over the Senkakus from a very early stage," the report said. "China has used the same approach with regard to the South China Sea and shows no hesitation in carrying out actions that cause friction with neighbours."
Dr Eiichi Katahara, director of the Regional Studies Department of the NIDS, which is affiliated with Japan's Defence Ministry, said Japan's responses throughout the ongoing dispute had been measured and appropriate.