Areas of concern

John Cochrane, of Exclusive Analysis, reviews the latest security flashpoints around the world

China has maritime disputes with Japan and a number of Southeast Asian countries concerning islands to China’s east and south. Nationalism, history, uneasy Sino-Japanese relations and competition for energy supplies have aggravated the disputes. The most apparent of these is the dispute around the Senkaku/Diaoyu Islets, which were bought from private citizens by the Japanese government in September 2012.