| Summary/Abstract |
Bilateral relations between China and Japan are in a state of disrepair.1 The current nadir began on September 7, 2010, when the Chinese fishing trawler Minjinyu 5179 collided into two Japan Coast Guard vessels in waters near the Japanese-administered Senkaku Islands (Pinnacle Islands in English). Following the arrest of the captain, Beijing cancelled meetings and cultural exchanges, demanded apologies as well as compensation for holding him, and repeatedly summoned Japan's ambassador. Beijing even restrained Japan-bound rare-earths’ exports and subjected many Japanese imports to lengthy customs inspections. Subsequent events sunk ties to new lows, including Tokyo's September 2012 purchase of three of the Senkaku Islands from their private Japanese owners and Beijing's November 2013 declaration of an expansive Air Defense Identification Zone (ADIZ) that overlaps considerably with Japan's (including the Senkakus). Peppered in-between have been derisive statements by officials, for example when their ambassadors to the United Kingdom compared each other's country to Lord Voldemort, the antagonist in the Harry Potter series, in dueling January 2014 op-eds in Britain's The Telegraph.
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