ABSTRACT
This chapter presents a case study of China’s efforts to coerce Japan over conflicts of interest in and around the East China Sea (ECS). These issues range from competing territorial claims to resource extraction and military posture. The chapter argues that China has used a gradual “salami slicing” approach to increasing its military presence and operations aimed at encroaching on its neighbors in the region, largely with impunity. The chapter gives particular attention to competing territorial and economic claims, especially the dispute over the Senkaku/Diaoyu Islands, as well as tensions surrounding overlapping air defense identification zones (ADIZ) in the ECS.
