‘Power Shift’ in East Asia? A Critical Reappraisal of Narratives on the Diaoyu/Senkaku Islands Incident in 2010

This article has problematised the 'power shift' narrative with respect to Sino-Japanese interaction over the Diaoyu/Senkaku Islands in 2010. In short, its context-specific prerequisites--Chinese 'aggressiveness' or 'pressure' and Japanese 'weakness' or 'defeat'--can be challenged through the argument that no unambiguous evidence exists that the detention of four Japanese nationals in China and the two-month halt in exports of rare earth metals to Japan must be interpreted in terms of the former, and that the sudden release of the Chinese trawler captain in late September 2010 should be construed in terms of the latter.