Fire-control radar row is Tokyo's attempt to get more overt outside support and push for constitutional change.

Ever since the rightists in Japan took to raising trouble by purchasing the Diaoyu Islands, the Obama administration has never had a real sense of the risks lurking in the Japanese provocation.

Containment is simply not a relevant policy tool for dealing with a rising China. Asia’s internal balance of power should be the key to our strategy.

From a scholarly perspective, the rise of China and the resulting “power shift” that has accompanied this rise has provided a host of teachable moments. Nowhere is this more clearly seen than in the ongoing territorial disputes in the East China Sea.

Despite the US’ claims to impartiality in the territorial disputes in the South and East China Seas, it has made its preference very clear - entirely at the expense of China. US involvement in the region stands at the crossroads, with the current US course destined to only bring increased tension.

It is imperative that Washington makes its position in the South China Sea clear in order to reduce the risk to the United States and its interests.