By Mina Pollmann

July 1, 2015

"In recent weeks, the world has turned its collective attention to China's intensive artificial island building activity in the South China Sea, where the Paracel Islands, the Spratly Islands, the Scarborough Shoal and a number of other features are disputed territory. Although Japan is not directly involved in the disputes - China, Taiwan, the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia, and Brunei have overlapping claims - it is nonetheless an interested party.

Japanese policymakers closely monitor developments in the South China Sea and seek to shape both actual Chinese behavior and the global discourse about such behavior. For Japan, a major concern is that the handling of the territorial disputes in the South China Sea could set a precedent with the potential to negatively affect how China will act vis-à-vis Japan in the East China Sea, where the Senkaku/Diaoyu Islands are disputed between Japan and China."

Read more:
http://thediplomat.com/2015/07/japans-south-china-sea-strategy/

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