looks quite outrageous, SDF is alerted even if China is flying in its own undisputed Chinese EEZ. no wonder.

i ask because chinese media reported that it includes part of the area west of japan’s EEZ claim zone, 130 km east of china’s coastline.

all i know is japan’s own EEZ, which is not as outrageous.

it could also be said that “(some factions in japan/etc) are deliberately provoking china to react’....you need to give them an excuse, don’t you? and more of the yasukuni shit happened since a year ago, was there any large street protest?

anyway, the fact that china is upping its defense spending has more to do with taiwan, than anything else. (also securing oil import, etc). it is trying to build a credible deterrant on taiwan. there is really nothing against japan, until japan prepared itself to intervene in taiwan, that was what hit china’s nerve.

Additionally, they have done so in a way that has not caused great consternation in the region to the point where states balance against it—they have been incredibly pragmatic and efficient in this regard.

And precisely who is in the international system? Given that there is no one to guarantee a state’s security why should any state be trusted? What makes China less trustworthy than other states in the region—is it just their increase in military spending, spending disproportionate to the threats they face (as we define them)? Is it their desire to achieve Great Power status or regional hegemony? Who would not want to achieve these things and the advantages that accompany them? If I am not mistaken, that was and is an integral part of US grand strategy and it seems to be working out pretty well for us. China would be silly not to modernize and grow its military.

Unlike some other psuedo-great powers in the world I would think analysts who appreciate deft strategic thinking would be applauding China for understanding how international relations really works :)