SENKAKU/DIAOYU ISLANDS – LANDMARK IN REDEFINING THE POWER POLITICS IN THE EAST CHINA SEA
SENKAKU/DIAOYU ISLANDS – LANDMARK IN REDEFINING THE POWER POLITICS IN THE EAST CHINA SEA

Summary/Abstract: The Senkaku/Diaoyu islands have been shaping security relations between China and Japan since 1970, disrupting the entire region of the East China Sea. For Japan, Senkaku is a guarantor of control and sovereignty. For China, the Diaoyu are a witness of defeat and humiliation. But for both players, the islands are a point of geostrategic and economic interest, an objective of utmost importance. The disagreements concerning the Senkaku/Diaoyu islands demonstrate a sustained struggle for power, initiated by antagonistic ideologies and offensive behaviour. The paper presents the Chinese and Japanese courses of action, stimulated by the dynamic dispute over Senkaku/Diaoyu and the results of strategic calculations, consolidated into a counter-balancing mechanism, specific to power politics. This article aims to provide a perspective on the dynamics of the relationship between China and Japan in relation to the islands of Senkaku/ Diaoyu. The main objective is to determine the impact of conflict dynamics on the evolution of the actors’ behaviour which continually gravitates towards an arms race.

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