The rising tension this week in the East China Sea could force the Obama administration to revive its plan for a “pivot to Asia,” a revamped engagement with China and its neighbors that’s been overshadowed by Middle East conflicts and other crises. President Barack Obama bowed out of two summits in southeast Asia last month because of the U.S. government shutdown. Vice President Joe Biden leaves Sunday for a weeklong trip to Asia and is expected to relay Obama’s concerns with Beijing’s claim last weekend of an “air defense identification zone” in contested waters between China and Japan. U.S. officials are worried that such a provocation invites low-level, tit-for-tat escalations that could build into a real conflict in which the Obama administration would have to intervene on behalf of allied Japan.
Let's see. Abenomics and the nuclear reactor cleanup are a total disaster in Japan and China has serious issues selling their 3 cent garbage to a world economy flat on it's back. Looks like a great time for a distraction war for both of them.