Chinese leaders routinely demand that Japan apologize for its behavior during the war. In a way, it is understandable why the Chinese leadership might want to divert attention to external rivals. The country is undergoing a wrenching economic transformation. Inefficient state-owned companies are being forced to become more efficient or go out of business. Millions of workers are losing their jobs and China has no established safety net to ease the pain.
Unemployment is in double digits in many urban areas.
And unrest has been growing in rural areas, where local despots impose arbitrary and exorbitant taxes and fees. That would be very provocative. But the standoff over the spy plane does seem designed to set a tone, to suggest that the Chinese won't be bullied by the US and to make the US think twice before defying China's explicit warnings against selling Aegis to Taiwan. For now, the spy plane standoff seems to strengthen the hand of those in the US who view China as a strategic rival or an outright adversary. Certainly, the American public is angry about China's refusal to release the 24 crew members.