China's near-constant Senkaku incursions creating unease in Japan

"There is no doubt that the increase in vessel size is contributing to the continuation of these activities," the senior official said. "What we can do at the scene is to avoid creating a situation that makes it difficult for the two countries to resolve the issue through dialogue," an official said, summing up the quiet, fraught choreography on the East China Sea. But in the shadow of swelling fleets and hardening strategies, the question is no longer whether the status quo is sustainable; it is how long the area can stay calm when a storm is already brewing.