The horcrux of the matter

摘要

Hardly a day goes by without a new flare-up in the war of diplomatic attrition being fought out by China and Japan. Japan is still complaining about China's declaration in November of an "Air Defence Identification Zone" covering part of the East China Sea, including islands controlled by Japan. China keeps condemning the visit on December 26th by Shinzo Abe, Japan's prime minister, to the Yasukuni shrine in Tokyo, where among the war dead honoured are high-ranking war criminals. Since then more than 30 Chinese ambassadors have invaded the op-ed pages of newspapers around the world to accuse Japan of seeking to revive its militarist past. Japanese diplomats have responded with articles accusing China of aggressive military expansion.