The confrontation between China and Japan over the Diaoyu Islands triggered speculation about war. Japanese media said it was very likely (picture)

The confrontation over the Diaoyu Islands between China and Japan triggered speculation about war. Japanese media said it was very likely (picture). The Chinese fishery administration ship fleet sailed into the waters around the Diaoyu Islands on the 11th to conduct normal patrols...

The Chinese fishery administration ship fleet sailed into the waters around the Diaoyu Islands on the 11th to conduct normal patrols and was "warned" by a Japanese Coast Guard patrol vessel. The picture shows China’s Yuzheng 35001 (top) and the Japan Coast Guard patrol vessel traveling in the waters.

"Will there be a war between Japan and China over the Diaoyu Islands?" What prompted Japan's "Yomiuri Shimbun" to raise this question was another fierce confrontation between China and Japan over the Diaoyu Islands.

On the 11th, three Chinese fishery administration vessels entered 12 nautical miles of the Diaoyu Islands for patrolling. They were warned by a patrol vessel of the Japanese Coast Guard. The Chinese vessels refused to leave and demanded that the Japanese vessels quickly withdraw from China's territorial waters. The angry Japanese government summoned the Chinese Ambassador to Japan Cheng Yonghua to protest on the same day, and the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs rejected Japan's representations.

The British "Financial Times" commented that this incident further intensified friction in "one of the most dangerous conflict points in East Asia". An analysis by the "Yomiuri Shimbun" said that if the current situation continues, the possibility of armed conflict between Japan and China is "very high." The article also said that in order to prevent the United States from participating in the war, China will choose the method of "small-scale war".

According to Geng Xin, a Chinese scholar in Japan, although China and Japan are "far from reaching that point," the emergence of this argument reflects the current predicament of Sino-Japanese relations.

Just as the conflict between China and Japan over the Diaoyu Islands dispute intensified, a 6-day-old Chinese giant panda at Tokyo's Ueno Zoo suddenly died of illness. South Korea's YTN TV station commented that this became a "true portrayal" of the current relationship between the two countries.

Data map: China Maritime Surveillance Ship 84.

Data map: Diaoyu Islands have been an integral part of China since ancient times.