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Big U.S. Fleet Nears Disputed Islands, But What For? By Kirk Spitzer | September 30, 2012 TOKYO – It’s probably just a coincidence; no need to worry yet. But the U.S. has quietly assembled a powerful air, land and sea armada not far from where Japan and China are squaring off over disputed islands in the East China Sea. Two Navy aircraft carrier battle groups and a Marine Corps air-ground task force have begun operating in the Western Pacific, within easy reach of the Senkaku Islands. That’s where Japanese and Chinese patrol boats are engaged in an increasingly tense standoff.

UPDATE: As Violent Anti-Japan Protests Spread Across China, 1,000 Fishing Boats Headed To Disputed Islands NHK, KYODO, THE ASAHI SHIMBUN, THE DAILY YOMIURI (Japan), CHINA DAILY, XINHUA (China), THE STANDARD (Hong Kong), THE GLOBE AND MAIL (Canada) Worldcrunch Around 1,000 Chinese fishing boats are expected to arrive in waters near the Senkaku Islands claimed by China later Monday, reports Kyodo news, in what may be Beijing's additional countermeasures over Japan's nationalization of the islets. If a large number of Chinese vessels intrude into Japanese territorial waters around the Japanese-controlled islands in the East China Sea, says Kyodo, it could trigger...

August 15, 4:59 pm | By Xu Weiwei HK activists land on Diaoyu Islands, plant flag Pro-China activists from Hong Kong Wednesday planted the five-starred red Chinese flag on the Diaoyu islands, known as the Senkaku in Japan, according to Phoenix TV. Phoenix TV said seven activists have landed on the islands on 4:30 p.m. on Wednesday but three of them were controlled by Japan. Body conflicts didn't happen. A Hong Kong activist group of 14 people set sail on Sunday for the Diaoyu Islands in the East China Sea, in an attempt to join forces with counterparts from the...

HK, Taiwan, mainland activists plan to land on Diaoyu islands A Hong Kong activist group set sail on Sunday for the Diaoyu Islands in the East China Sea, known as the Senkaku in Japan, in an attempt to join forces with counterparts from the mainland China and Taiwan to assert China's sovereignty over the islands. The official Global Times reported that the Action Committee for Defending the Diaoyu Islands set sail at noon from the Tsim Sha Tsui pier in Hong Kong with four crewmembers and 11 activists aboard, including one Macanese and one mainland Chinese. Chan Miu-tak, chairman of...

A long-festering Sino-Japanese rivalry is becoming increasingly apparent. If tensions between the Asian giants continue to sky-rocket, Northeast Asian peace and stability may crumble, provoking serious consequences for American interests. Beijing has been stoking the fires of Chinese nationalism recently, precipitating one diplomatic crisis after another. In the process, it has called into question whether China remains committed to pursuing its self-proclaimed "peaceful rise." Last month, Beijing passed a militant "anti-secession" law directed at Taiwan. The action came just before the European Union was poised to lift its arms embargo against China. Beijing's move cooled E.U.-Chinese relations precipitously, leading Brussels...