Major war/conflict cycle commencing? (update 3) Japan/China

Geopolitical tensions (which also start from economic tensions) went up a notch between China/Japan. The economic/financial tensions have bee followed in Asia Trade War posts

from Bloomberg 20th Sept 2010

"Diplomatic ties between the world’s second and third-biggest economies soured as China escalated a dispute over Japan’s extended detention of a fishing boat captain for a collision in disputed waters.

China yesterday severed senior-level government contacts with Japan, halting aviation talks and suspending a meeting on coal because of the incident. Foreign Ministry spokesman Ma Zhaoxu pledged “strong countermeasures” if Japan failed to release the captain. Japan’s government hasn’t been informed of the measures, a spokesman said today.

“Any so-called judicial proceedings the Japanese side takes against the Chinese captain are illegal and invalid,” Ma said in yesterday’s statement. “Japan will have to bear all of the consequences.”

The dispute has sent relations to their worst point since 2005, when thousands of Chinese protested Japanese textbooks that downplayed wartime atrocities, at a time when economic ties are strengthening. Nissan Motor Co. Chief Executive Officer Carlos Ghosn, today said in the city of Zhengzhou that China accounts for 23 percent of sales for the Japanese automaker.

Zhu Feng, a professor of international relations at Peking University, said that while the quarrel is “very serious,” both governments will keep it from escalating into a conflict involving military force or economic sanctions."