Tensions Higher Between Japan and China

From the Asia Times:

Tensions between China and Japan over disputed islands in the East China Sea are once again running  high. This morning the Chinese Navy sent four Coast Guard vessels into the waters of the Senkaku / Diaoyu . It is a response to statements made by Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, who gave permission to his own troops to shoot down "drones or foreign aircraft entering our airspace without permission ." 

Soon after, on October 26, China issued one of the strongest statements in recent weeks: "if Japan fired on its unmanned aircraft it "would constitute a serious provocation, an act of war of sorts. We would have to take firm countermeasures, and all consequences would be the responsibility of the side that caused the provocation".