Saturday, March 9, 2013

Will China Wear Down Japan Over Their Island Disputes

The islands known as the Senkaku in Japan and the Diaoyu in China are seen in this photograph taken on a surveillance plane on Dec. 13, 2012, and provided by the State Oceanic Administration of the People's Republic of China. Reuters/file

China Navy Seeks To "Wear Out" Japanese Ships In Disputed Waters -- Reuters

(Reuters) - China's naval and paramilitary ships are churning up the ocean around islands it disputes with Tokyo in what experts say is a strategy to overwhelm the numerically inferior Japanese forces that must sail out to detect and track the flotillas.

A daily stream of bulletins announce ship deployments into the East China Sea, naval combat exercises, the launch of new warships and commentaries calling for resolute defense of Chinese territory.

"The operational goal in the East China Sea is to wear out the Japanese Maritime Self Defence Force and the Japan Coast Guard," said James Holmes, a maritime strategy expert at the Newport, Rhode Island U.S. Naval War College.

It wasn't until China became embroiled in the high stakes territorial dispute with Japan late last year that its secretive military opened up.

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Update: China plans to overwhelm Japanese ships by consistent deployments near Senkakus -- Japan Daily Press 

Comment: This has clearly become a battle of wills, and one in which Japan is beginning to feel isolated.

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