Rejoinder...

...and of course, as if written by a hollywood film writer, the obvious distraction tactic du jour follows...this would be hilarious comedy if it were not real life.

BEIJING, Oct 26 (Reuters) - China reserves the right to take strong
countermeasures if Japan "creates incidents" in the waters around a
group of disputed uninhabited islands in the East China Sea, a Chinese
vice foreign minister said on Friday.

"We are watching very closely what action Japan might take regarding
the Diaoyu islands and their adjacent waters," Zhang Zhijun said at an
unusual late night news briefing. "The action that Japan might take
will shape China's countermeasures."

Sino-Japanese relations took a dive after the Japanese government
bought the islands, called Senkaku in Japan and Diaoyu in China, from
a private Japanese owner in September, triggering violent protests and
calls for boycotts of Japanese products across China.

"If Japan continues down its current wrong path and takes more
erroneous actions and creates incidents regarding the Diaoyu Islands
and challenges China, China will definitely take strong measures to
respond to that," Zhang said.