the drumbeats of war in east asia, page-8

Oil, gas, rich fishing grounds, rich in mineral deposits and most importantly of all 'open access to the Pacific' for the Chinese.

The following article might not be the most recent, but it is well worth a read just the same.

http://english.pravda.ru/world/asia/17-07-2012/121658-china_territorial_claims-0/

In this powerplay the Chinese have factored into their calculations two things which are highly debatable.

1) That the US will not intervene should there be a 'shooting war' between Japan and China despite the fact they have a treaty obligation to do so (Note that Australia would also be obligated to fight alongside Japan and the US given the US-Japan-Australia military alliance)

2) That the Japanese Government will not change Article 9 of their Constitution and re-arm. Japan has the capacity to become a very substantial military force in a very short time frame should they choose to do so.